who owns your hairstyle?
August 25, 2007
I would think that, once I reach crone-hood, I’ll stop caring about what “other people” think about my appearance. Instead, I’ll demand to be treated the way aging male news anchors are treated: like a font of wisdom, to be paid more and more money for granting society the benefit of their experience, despite their graying, thinning hair. However, I’ve just learned via Lisa Black of WGAL.com’s entertainment desk that, no, even long post-post-post menopause, I’ll need to continue to consider what “they” think of my hair. And if I choose to keep long hair, well, I better look damn good in it or else they’ll all be “laughing behind [my] back.”
Here’s a message from the future long-haired, sexy older woman to those who might judge me for keeping my hair whatever length I want: screw you.
Entry Filed under: hair and aging. .
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1.
Suzanne | August 27, 2007 at 1:14 am
As I age I find that I have less and less hair where I want it and more and more where I don’t want it. While the hair on my head it thinning, I pluck my chin every day. Once my hair gets so thin that I can see through it, I think I’ll shave it. I can give in to that bald is beautiful look as an alternative to a few hairs here and there. But as for the hair on my chin–I can’t see myself giving in to that. I’m 47 now. Maybe when I’m older I’ll change my mind. My girlfriend says that if I lose my eyesight, she’ll pluck my chin for me. She doesn’t have any chin hair (yet.) What if we both lose our eyesight?
Here is another thing, though. I sort of expected the hair on my head to thin and I remember my grandmother plucking her chin hairs in the evenings. But, nobody warned me that my pubic hair would get thinner. It used to be thick and curly, bushy and dark. You couldn’t see any skin through there. Now, it is sparse and not so curly. There are a few grays. You can see right through it. I don’t obsess about my hair, pubic or otherwise, but when I stop to think about it, the emotions and issues that come up say something about my self image and sexuality and our society and expectations.
2.
Bekkah | August 29, 2007 at 12:42 am
first, this is an amazing site, thank you! I think women need the opportunity to be who they are and embrace, as well as rant about, what they were given!
anyway, to respond to this entry, I am 21 and I have the most ridiculously curly Jewish-Italian hair ever. in January, I shaved it to 1/2″. it was liberating! and so soft! hair has always been my biggest (and cheapest!) accessory and I just wanted a new accessory. the reactions went from “oh my god” to “way to go” to “I expected as much from you.” it’s now a few inches of crazy curls and I’m still loving it.