Brenda’s Unfortunate Record Of The Week #9

A friend’s off to get her a hair-cut and I was egging her on, ‘lob it off!’. I never used to interfere in this sort of thing, but recently it’s become a bit of a mission. 

My hair’s been cropped since I was 11 years old. I have a thick, voluminous and somewhat wild head of it. Growing up, I remember mats so bad they looked like pinecones. It could take days to comb them out, even with the help of ‘No More Tangles’. So I decided to cut it. My sister’s friend Vicky did the honours one day after school and I can still remember the smell of the apple conditioner she used. It went all curly, ended up looking like a bad 90’s perm and I had to go to a proper hairdresser a few days later to get more trimmed, but I haven’t looked back since. I can’t imagine myself with long hair. 

The preference for a tight crop really boils down to vanity, and the shorter the better. As soon as it starts growing a bit too much, I can feel those ringlets closing in & revert back to that painfully awkward 11 year old with the bad, bad, bob. Plus once you get over the frequent trips to the hairdresser (for me, every 6 weeks) it’s relatively low-maintenance. I’ve never been much of a primp and preener so this is the ideal way. Beyond that though, I’d never put much thought into it. Until recently, that is. 

Over the past wee while more and more very young women have done more than compliment me, ‘I love it! You’re so brave! I could never do that!’. The first few times really took me by surprise. What do you mean by brave? Why could you never do this? Is it the 1950s? But then looking around I’ve noticed far fewer ladies with cropped locks. So of course I’m thinking it’s symptomatic of a bigger issue.

I’m no scholar but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see feminism has taken some massive strides backwards. Be it our pink princess obsessed girls or Barbie-backing peers (another rant for another time, short of asking Dazed Digital what the fuck they think they’re doing?!), glass ceilings, sexual harassment, not to mention the wave of conservatism sweeping the globe. How handy that my fashion can double up as political statement. So yes, I am now a firm advocate of snipping it off. Boys can do their bit too. Instead of wondering ‘have you ever thought of growing it?’, ask yourself why it matters. Cause we’ve still got a long way to go. Besides, isn’t this the age of cuts? Might as well reclaim the fact and put it towards progress. Or something like that. Doh!