Hair Discrimination - WTH?

November 19, 2008 by thinkhappy

Do you ever wonder how much impact your hair has on the impression that you give to others? I hadn't given much though to this until my boys grew their hair long was met by not-so-nice stares and comments.

Now I see that hair discrimination crosses the gender barrier, as well as the age barrier. I have heard many comments from women (yes, women!) about older women having hair that is too "young" for them. Whether they had extensions put on or had it colored and highlighted didn't seem to matter. Apparently, there is such a thing as having too young hair!

My two youngest boys now have very long hair. One is seven years old with gorgeous shiny, dark hair that is mostly staight but does have a bit of body. It is gorgeous and I would love to have his hair. But, boys being boys, he spends 20 minutes in the morning making it look "right" for his style, and by mid afternoon it looks a little like it's been driven in a convertable around the state a bit. My nine year old has beautiful thick curls. When wet, these curls can be pulled stretch to the equivalent length of where a bra might hit a girl - mid back. When it's dry, it drops just below his shoulders and in front of his eyes.

Amazing enough, I have had many other parents ask me when I'm going to cut their hair, assuming, I suppose, that I don't approve of it. Wrong! I love my boys long hair. Sometimes I might want to brush it more or style it different, which I don't dare do, but their hair is an expression of who they are. My seven year old likes to put streaks of red in his sometimes - Okay, dude. If it makes you smile and you're an A student who is good to all people - go for it!

The nerve of these people. I sometimes wonder if they want me to give in so that they don't feel the pressure to God forbid let their children express themselves in some creative or different way. Hmm...

Although, my own 18 year old told me that he equates long hair on boys to being "dirty". So you see, the hair discrimination knows no boundaries - young or old, male or female - apparently we are all fair game. This is the same boy that, 14 years ago, when he was in a private school and 4 years old, begged me to dye his hair green and make it into a mohawk. And guess what - I have the pics to prove it! LOL!

I suppose this means that I have to pay more attention to my own curly mane. And quite frankly, any preparation that takes longer than 7 minutes is just too long for me. And if my kids are good boys, then I really don't care if they shave their heads, wear wigs, or dye their hair purple.

When will we ever stop judging books by their cover?

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