The Curly Hair Hypothesis
As a child I had straight (albeit wavy) hair. There isn't a single photo of me as a child with curly hair, because I didn't have it! I loved my hair! It was great!
And then it went curly when I was like…11? And I when I say curly, I mean CURLY. Not to mention I have enough head on my hair for two people (easy). No seriously…sometimes hairdressers up the charge, or charge me double because I have so much hair.
So you get the picture…I have a lot of curly hair.
The odd thing is…I get treated TOTALLY different when I straighten my hair (which takes about 3 hours).
By the time I got to college, my hair relaxed to a mildly manageable point and I began to get Keratin treatments and straighten it. I noticed immediately a jarring difference in how I was perceived and treated.
People thought I was older when my hair was straight. Not to mention, they paid more attention to me!
When my hair was curly, people perceived me to be younger and "nerdy." I was treated like I was super smart (which I don't contest). But guys don't really to notice me as much.
I remember reading once that during job interviews, women who wear their hair curly tend to fair better then those with straight hair. This was the first time I realized that it wasn't just me…that there are other women who go back and forth between curly and straight hairstyles and notice these differences in treatment too.
I think the whole thing is bollocks! And I'm not even British!
A person should be treated the same despite a changing appearance. I'm still the same person, whether I have curly hair, or have slaved over a flat iron for hours to meet society's expectations regarding "sexy" straight hair.
It's most entertaining when I meet new people. They see me with one hairstyle or the other and if they see me again with the opposite style, they're like…completely shocked! Like I've morphed into an alien or grown a third eyeball or something!
The first time I got my hair straightened in college, I knocked on my friend's door and they almost didn't open it because I looked so different! It's rather comedic.
The thing that totally ticks me off (and it happens EVERY time) is when people only see my hair curly and they're like "OH! Let me straighten it for you!"
I'm a grown ass woman, I don't need other people straightening my hair. It's like they're DETERMINED to get my hair straight, like it being curly is a defect I need to fix.
First they'll offer to flat iron it themselves. When I decline they'll tell me how easy it is (which it's not), as if I've never done it. And then they'll move on to talking about the Keratin treatment, which costs $350+ for me (because I have so much hair and they have to use more Keratin), not to mention that it reeks of chemicals and only takes out the frizz (NOT the curl)...so I still have to straighten it.
It's fun to just keep refuting their suggestions and watch them get frustrated.
The worst thing though, is the fact that I was bullied in school because of my hair...I mean, c'mon, grow up kids! Well...I guess they have by now.
Neither of my parents have super curly hair (just wavy), so my mom didn't exactly know what to use on or do with my hair. And I lived in a little podunk town where the hairdresser did the worst thing you could possibly do to curly hair... HARDCORE LAYER IT. I had a triangle of hair framing my face. I wore a hat for months.
It really doesn't help that "Lizzy" rhymes with "Frizzy." "Frizzy Lizzy." Well...it didn't really matter because Frizzy Lizzy knew her shit. I did well in school and embraced the ponytail as the end-all means to tame my unruly hair until I learned better.
It's just really sad that people make fun of you, or look past you completely (guys) because you don't meet their standards of "beauty." Eventually I learned how to deal with my mane of gorgeous awesomeness, and I do believe that everyone who passed me by... missed out.
P.S. I would have rocked the shit out of my hair if I had been around in the 80s.
And then it went curly when I was like…11? And I when I say curly, I mean CURLY. Not to mention I have enough head on my hair for two people (easy). No seriously…sometimes hairdressers up the charge, or charge me double because I have so much hair.
So you get the picture…I have a lot of curly hair.
The odd thing is…I get treated TOTALLY different when I straighten my hair (which takes about 3 hours).
By the time I got to college, my hair relaxed to a mildly manageable point and I began to get Keratin treatments and straighten it. I noticed immediately a jarring difference in how I was perceived and treated.
People thought I was older when my hair was straight. Not to mention, they paid more attention to me!
When my hair was curly, people perceived me to be younger and "nerdy." I was treated like I was super smart (which I don't contest). But guys don't really to notice me as much.
I remember reading once that during job interviews, women who wear their hair curly tend to fair better then those with straight hair. This was the first time I realized that it wasn't just me…that there are other women who go back and forth between curly and straight hairstyles and notice these differences in treatment too.
I think the whole thing is bollocks! And I'm not even British!
A person should be treated the same despite a changing appearance. I'm still the same person, whether I have curly hair, or have slaved over a flat iron for hours to meet society's expectations regarding "sexy" straight hair.
It's most entertaining when I meet new people. They see me with one hairstyle or the other and if they see me again with the opposite style, they're like…completely shocked! Like I've morphed into an alien or grown a third eyeball or something!
The first time I got my hair straightened in college, I knocked on my friend's door and they almost didn't open it because I looked so different! It's rather comedic.
The thing that totally ticks me off (and it happens EVERY time) is when people only see my hair curly and they're like "OH! Let me straighten it for you!"
I'm a grown ass woman, I don't need other people straightening my hair. It's like they're DETERMINED to get my hair straight, like it being curly is a defect I need to fix.
First they'll offer to flat iron it themselves. When I decline they'll tell me how easy it is (which it's not), as if I've never done it. And then they'll move on to talking about the Keratin treatment, which costs $350+ for me (because I have so much hair and they have to use more Keratin), not to mention that it reeks of chemicals and only takes out the frizz (NOT the curl)...so I still have to straighten it.
It's fun to just keep refuting their suggestions and watch them get frustrated.
The worst thing though, is the fact that I was bullied in school because of my hair...I mean, c'mon, grow up kids! Well...I guess they have by now.
Neither of my parents have super curly hair (just wavy), so my mom didn't exactly know what to use on or do with my hair. And I lived in a little podunk town where the hairdresser did the worst thing you could possibly do to curly hair... HARDCORE LAYER IT. I had a triangle of hair framing my face. I wore a hat for months.
It really doesn't help that "Lizzy" rhymes with "Frizzy." "Frizzy Lizzy." Well...it didn't really matter because Frizzy Lizzy knew her shit. I did well in school and embraced the ponytail as the end-all means to tame my unruly hair until I learned better.
It's just really sad that people make fun of you, or look past you completely (guys) because you don't meet their standards of "beauty." Eventually I learned how to deal with my mane of gorgeous awesomeness, and I do believe that everyone who passed me by... missed out.
P.S. I would have rocked the shit out of my hair if I had been around in the 80s.
This is when I first realized I could straighten my hair and have it look good.
This is me with curly hair.
You're gorgeous!
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