Spring is approaching and that means that we can throw on our denim shorts, store away our heavy scarves and restock on swim suits.
The new season gives us the opportunity to reinvent ourselves, permanently or just for the aesthetics for the next few months. This spring, its time to cut it off. This can mean many things. Cut off bad relationships, toxic people, but more excitingly and less dramatic, your hair.
For centuries, women have been visualized and expected to be lean and tall, with long luscious hair. But in the past few years, females as a collective have completely revamped this stereotype. From bobs to long bobs, to pixie cuts and buzz cuts, women across the globe have been shedding light on a new type of femininity.
UH females aren’t to be excluded in this ray of game changers. Here are three that made that chop and never want to look back.
Fairyn Helaire, sophomore
When did you first cut your hair?
“I had it relaxed for a long time but I didn’t want to do it anymore, so I said I was going to go natural. But when I went natural, I didn’t want to deal with a lot of hair. Came September of last year I cut it. After it all happened, I was feeling my hair and I was like ‘wow I feel free’”
Were you scared?
“I was sick of my it at the time because with the texture of my hair, I had to put a lot of stuff in it in the morning to get it to look the way I wanted to and I was tired of doing that. I just wanted to cut it off!”
How do you feel about it now?
“I love it! I really didn’t think I was going to pull it off but people started telling me I looked really good.
What was the reaction from your family and friends?
“My mom picked me up from the hair salon, and I was trying to hide from her trying to be dramatic, I knocked on the window and she stared at me and went “Oh wow!! It looks good! I was definitely relieved.”
How do you feel like society perceives girls with short hair?
“I feel like we are perceived as more masculine. Society says that girls with long hair are more feminine, approachable, and desirable. I didn’t understand that. But lately I’ve been seeing in the past few years a lot more women chopping off their hair. But in the end, it’s about what you want and how liberated you feel in whatever hair length or style you have instead of what society or your family deems beautiful.”
Madeline McCoy, sophomore
When did you first cut your hair?
“I’d wanted to toward the second half of high school, but my mom would always shut down the idea. She’d say that I’d “look gay” or something. I had it at around shoulder length at the time. Finally during my first year of living on campus, it was really hot and while walking around everywhere, it was such a nuisance to have my sweaty hair on my neck all the time. I just wanted it all gone, I didn’t even care what it would like. So as soon as I finished my spring semester of my first year, I immediately cut it off as soon as I had moved back home and I have not looked back once.”
How did your mom react?
“She was really mad going into it. So I cut it off and she goes ‘Oh it’s so cute!’ and she’s been super fine ever since.”
How did your friends react?
“All my friends were really excited. I even had a friend who cut her hair off too. It was cool to see that I influenced that.”
How does it make you feel as a woman?
“I’m just really happy as myself. I think it’s a really big thing that I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, and I just decided to cut it off. I’m doing me, but I’ve received positive responses along the way so that’s really cool. I did it for myself but everyone is encouraging of it so it’s feels great.”
An Nguyen, freshman
When did you first cut it off?
“Early February. I guess at that point I had bleach blonde hair and it was such a hassle to maintain and I wanted to cut off that damaged part of my hair. My mom told me not to cut it before the new year simply because she thought that long hair was more feminine. I had decided that cutting my hair was a little bit like a Mulan thing. Doing this was kind of a way of rebelling against what my family thought and the standards they had set for me.”
How did your family and friends react?
“My friends really liked it, although, they’ve been supportive with all my hair modifications. My parents reacted a lot differently than I expected because they liked it and said it made me look younger and more youthful.”
What was your biggest fear coming into the “short hair” life?
“I didn’t know if it would frame my face well. But fortunately it did. Because people say that longhair covers more of your face and cheeks, and I have big cheeks so I was worried that it would accentuate them. But after cutting it, I realized I loved the way my face looked and how I no longer had to hide behind my long hair.”
How does it make you feel as a woman?
“It made me feel a little more sophisticated because I looked younger but I felt more mature. I had so much colored hair and long hair before and I felt like I just needed a change. Chopping it off has showed me that I don’t need long luscious hair to be feminine or fee beautiful, cause my short hair expresses my personality much more accurately.”
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