A Hairy Situation

My flatmate Aimée got her hair cut a few days ago, but she wasn’t happy with the result. The hairdresser got a bit scissor happy, it would seem, and just kept chopping and chopping until it was much shorter than she wanted it. She then proceeded to straighten out any trace of a kink in my flatmate’s normally very wavy hair.

To be honest, I liked the result. It was very different but it was chic and sleek and it suited her face. But us girls, we can be a bit funny about our hair. If it isn’t cut the way we want it then we can be left feeling bereft, mourning the loss of what actually takes months, or even years, to grow. If you ask a hairdresser for a style and they give you something different, especially when it involves a short style that can’t be undone, then you feel violated. Why though? It does all grow back in the end, right? So it shouldn’t really be a big deal.

Except it is. In some cultures women are forced to cover their hair in public because it is a symbol of their sexuality, and I can kind of see why this might be. Every once in a while there will be a documentary on television which delves into the depths of body language, analysing the intricacies of certain behaviour. You will notice that they never fail to mention that a woman, when interested in a man, will exhibit the subtle but significant ‘hair flick.’ A toss of the hair over the shoulder as she engages in conversation with the guy in question is a sure sign that she is open to flirtation – and possibly more. Long (looked after) hair is infinitely feminine, but shorter cuts also mark out a sassy, confident personality that are often equally, if not more, attractive to the opposite sex.

Most of us put a lot of effort into our hair. Even those of us that can’t afford to indulge in expensive salon cuts and endless styling products still ensure that it is clean and healthy looking. The majority of us probably own one failsafe conditioner that makes this possible. With the right cut it can frame our faces and accentuate our best features, as well as being an extension of our personality. When it’s gone it takes too long to grow back, and makes the bearer feel exposed and vulnerable, which is why when a hairdresser goes too far and cuts more than she should, it feels like ‘scalp rape.’ Last year my French flatmate (the rather unfriendly one) went to get her already short style trimmed – when she returned her hair had been all but shaved off as the stylist had tried to artistically etch an angular frame around her face. That was the first time I saw this girl cry. Actually, she sobbed as she gazed despairingly into the mirror for hours, trying to imagine how she could undo the horror of the scalp rape she had just undergone. It took a couple of months before it was at a decent length for her to do something with it.

Not many people know this, but if you cut somebody’s hair without their consent (whilst they are sleeping, for example) you can be charged with assault. This goes some way to testifying to the psychological distress a person can experience on losing their hair.

Aimée, luckily, has shorter hair now but it is just as lovely. Once she washed it and her curls came back it was clear, even to her I believe, that it still looked pretty much the same. It’s still long enough to tie up and the style still suits her face. Just beware girls – when you ask the hairdresser for a trim and they get that glint of excitement in their eye, it might be worth going somewhere else. The heartache of waiting for an unwanted hairstyle to grow out can be unbearable. Let’s hope I manage to make myself understood when I eventually go to get mine cut in Japan next year…