Sunday, April 10, 2011

Just FYI I Chopped All My Hair Off

Yep, it's true. And here's why.

I remember when I found out that I was going to Africa that my dad asked me if I was going to buzz my head. I thought that it would be super cool if I did that, but I hesitated. I liked my hair. It was finally growing out and I no longer had awkward bangs, (which was a huge accomplishment and a long time coming, thank you very much). So long story short, I didn't touch it. I didn't think I needed to. However, I now recognize I was just telling myself that because I didn't have the courage to do it.

Upon arriving to Mali I saw that so many girls in my stage had short hair. They looked really cute, and I was a little jealous that they had the chutzpah to cut their hair. My friend Michaela (who has an adorable short-do) encouraged me to take the plunge, but I mostly brushed it off until one morning this week. I was taking a bucket bath and couldn't get all of the soap out of my hair. I knew it was going to look ridiculous and greasy for the rest of the day, and that really irritated me. At the same time, Michaela stepped out of the shower next to me, practically radiating with her cute, clean pixie cut. So I decided then and there that I was going to stop vacillating and get my hair cut.

A few hours later, I had the shortest hair I had had since I was about three years old. To my credit, I neither styled my hair like a bowl cut nor was wearing androgynous clothing (thanks Mom, for letting me get those out of the way early in life). I loved it. I still love it, and I'm so glad I did it.

I think that for many girls, and for me particularly, I felt as though I needed long hair to feel pretty. I resented that so much. I mean, after two months in Mali, slowly but surely the little things that I used to do in the US to keep up my appearances, such as putting on make-up or shaving my legs regularly, had fallen by the wayside. It's not like I'm lazy, but sometimes, things like that just don't make sense here. Interestingly, I could come to terms with those concessions, but I was really struggling about what to do with my hair. I finally realized that not only is this the perfect time in my life to do something this extreme (I have two years to grow it out if I end up deciding it's not for me), but I needed to learn how to feel pretty without something so prototypically feminine. If I can feel beautiful and self-confident while I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer with short hair, I can feel beautiful and self-confident anywhere, at any time.



1 comment:

  1. your hair looks adorable and awesome!! it really suits you

    ReplyDelete