Buzzfeed: 17 Things Not to Say to a Short-Haired Woman

Buzzfeed: 17 Things Not to Say to a Short-Haired Woman.

Society seems to think it's strange for young women to cut off their hair. When I got a pixie cut seven years ago, I expected it to be surprising to people, but I didn't expect it to be controversial. Apparently it was, because I got a lot of comments about it. Most of the time people said, 'Men don't like short hair,' 'I think women look better with long hair,' or 'When are you going to grow it out again? It looked so pretty when it was long.'

I think the implications of these statements reveal that the speaker feels threatened in some way, as if short hair represents a rejection of men, or of straightness, or of conventional beauty standards. Sometimes maybe it does -- but why is that threatening?

In the moment, I could never come up with what seemed like a good-enough comeback to these rude comments. Wouldn't most people agree that it's inappropriate to tell someone that you don't like their haircut? That it's just not your style, and so they shouldn't wear it either? Why is it that manners go out the window when it comes to short hair?

To answer all those people over the years who implied that my hair was unattractive and that men wouldn't like it. . . :

Did you ever think that maybe I dress/groom for myself rather than for other people?

Or that maybe I'm looking for the kind of guy who doesn't care about my hair or -- !!! -- even likes it?  (And I have).

You might've liked my long hair, but I hated it. I never felt proud or happy with my hairstyle until I cut it off.

It doesn't matter how many times you imply that you don't like it:

I wear it short because it makes me feel beautiful, because it feels like "me." Your opinion has nothing to do with that.




Courtesy of canburak, Flickr

This 2005 poster was the inspiration for my haircut.

Have you ever had short hair, and if so, what prompted you to try it?

Crazy orange pants

Shirt - JC Penney
Pants - dyed hand-me-downs

 

My friend got these wraparound pants from a distant relative. We had so much fun trying to figure out how to wear them and at one point, had them wrapped around the chest like overalls. My friend thought about throwing them out or cutting them up into napkins, because these things really were ugly. But she let me take them home. I thought, if you're going to have super huge, crazy wraparound pants, they can't be beige. They have to be a crazy color to match. So as you see, I dyed them orange!

 

This is my sister playing with them before the dye job.

 

 

You can see here that the back half of the pants tie around the front, and then the front half ties in the back, like a sash or an apron.

 

Blues

Scarf - shop in Florence
Shirt - JC Penney
Cardigan - JC Penney
Skirt - Target
Shoes - Payless

 

Above is the only photo I could find of my favorite scarf. (Funny, because it gets worn more than any other item!) The pattern is pretty, the colors go with just about anything, and it's soft without being so slippery that it's hard to tie around one's neck. Best €5 I ever spent.