Last week we had the great fortune of having Professor Alma Lopez guest lecture our class. Professor Lopez showed us her short digital video about the realities of queer women of color and the issues they face with their short "boi" hair. This short documentary was not only entertaining but also educational. Being in the queer community, I know a little about butch hair issues from my friends, but the documentary really gave me a whole new perspective on boi hair while also allowing me to relate to the women in the video. The women expressed a sense of freedom with having short hair, I can relate to this. I occasionally braid the left side of my head as a way of expressing myself. Despite the style not being "traditionally" feminine, just as the women in the video spoke about, I feel myself resisting societal norms when I braid my hair. Some people may think how can a haircut or style bring such strong emotions or effect a person's life. Well all I can say is, what we do to the outside, allows us to express what we feel on the inside. Disregarding what others want for you, and living true to yourself, even by just a simple haircut, is truly empowering and liberating.
-Katherine Batanero
I have never had short hair before so listening to the problems that these women face for not conforming to mainstream ideals of female beauty was an eye opener for me. It's these simple things that we often overlook that are so blatantly in-your-face obvious of the constant perpetuation and striving of maintaining gender norms... so obvious that we forget that it's entirely socially constructed.
ReplyDeleteI have had green hair in the 3rd grade and donned blue hair periodically throughout my young teen years. Recently, I dyed my hair to a neutral brown after having had pink hair for the past year and also took out my facial piercings. It's amazing how differently people perceive you based on outward appearances. When I had pink hair (just some streaks, not even the entire hair), people would ask me things like "Are you a DJ?" or make comments like "You're edgy", "You're artsy", which would make me laugh out loud because I would never receive comments like these when I have "normal" hair.
Amazing how humans have this tendency to need to categorize everything and everyone based on appearance.