Once again, I have been fooled by The Haircut.
Virtually every girl I know saws off her hair at about 11 or 12. Someone please tell me why. Is it a secret feminine ritual, some pretext for entry into the Bacchanal order?
It can be disconcerting, even cause some identity problems, since at that age, it's not easy to tell the difference, under the normal circumstances of a normal non-sicko or pediatrician type-person, of boy from girl in any other way.
I had to interview a group of kids for a newspaper article a while ago, and thought that I would dignify them by addressing each as sir or ma'am. Well-behaved children deserve adult respect, that's my belief.
Well, one short-haired sir-so-called, very indignantly informed me that she was a girl, not a boy. Oops. I felt guilty for quite some time. After all, it cut me to the quick in my early, high-pitched teen years when callers to my home thought that I was a girl, not the suave young dude I imagined myself to be.
Today I had another get-together with a bunch of kids, and I was quite surprised to learn that the young fellow at table such and such was actually, um, a fellowette, as revealed when the person in charge called out her name. And when I heard that name, I realized that it was the same young lady whom I had met a few years ago with long, strawberry blonde locks, now shorn quite short. Yep, same facial structure, same kid. Just a foot taller or so and with very little hair.
Curious and curiouser.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The haircut
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8 comments:
This was the reason my sister got earings. Her father never would have agreed to it otherwise. I think earings are easier to care for than hair....
Thanks for your comments, Lilia.
So it seems that in her case, it was externally-motivated, not something she really wanted to do.
And Adena's mom clipped hers for practical reasons. Practical is not in the vocabulary of a ten year old, so I'm guessing that external motivation was also involved in her case.
I think my comment may interest you,cos In India, be it a girl or a boy, they would have sacrificed their hair atleast once (during their childhood)... It’s a kinda ritual that is performed by almost every Hindu in India... :(
Of course your comment is of interest, Nivi.
When you say sacrifice, do you mean that the hair is simply cut off or that it is cut off and burned in some sacred setting?
I'm curious.
Hmmmm it’s like simply taking off your hair to show God that you are purified... well that’s what they say, though I don believe these stuff... :-)
Nivi, you bring up a fascinating point -- how religion and hair often get tangled up together.
Pun intended.
Jews had/have laws against cutting their beards -- and the special vow of the Nazarite included not cutting his hair.
Strict Muslims also grow out their beards.
Paul the Christian apostle wrote that long hair on a man was shameful but a glory to woman.
Rastafarians and Sikhs do not cut their hair for religious reasons.
Oh.. you seem to know so much... I dont know what to say...
Thanks, Nivi, but the secret truth is: I know nothing at all. That's why I ask all these questions.
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