In the most simple of terms, I am a ponytail girl. The nature of my fast-paced schedule—including a full load of classes, three jobs, fitness classes, and somewhat of a social life—does not allow leisure time for styling hair. While blonde hair blowing in the wind sounds elegant in theory, the reality faces more hair in my mouth and eyes rather than flowing with my active lifestyle. Thus, my hair remains up and out of the way at all times. Even if my hair decides to cooperate daily, it becomes a matter of self motivation.
Hence, I am hoping to bring back my patience and appreciation for my locks through this experiment. From Friday the 26th to Sunday the 28th, my hair will consistently be beyond my shoulders and out of a ponytail or bun. My
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To my surprise, my struggles at the gym nor hair flying into my mouth bothered me as much as my epiphany. As I looked in the locker room mirror, played with my hair during class, and embraced the essence of my hair, I realized why it always ended up in a ponytail. Even though I was initially struck with confidence by my style, I was saddened to see myself become more so concerned with my appearance rather than my intelligence. In class, for example, I caught myself fixing my hair before entering a discussion rather than articulating my thoughts in my head. Same went for when I went to dinner with my boyfriend. I indulged in my appearance which put the conversation in second position. My conclusions became clear. I converted to the ponytail not for its ease or simplicity but for self control over my ego. Like most people, hair is apart of their identity due to its many adjustments with trends and personal revamping. My hair became essential to my identity—to the point of becoming self-absorbed—and this version of myself was not the individual I wished to be or continue to be. Even though throughout the three days I felt confident in my walk and talk, it was a fuzzy glaze over my true self. With my hair behind my face, I feel motivated to focus on my education over my image, my talk over my walk, and above all, my selflessness over my vanity. I first perceived my monotonous style to be a flaw, but in truth, it became my strength. I hold myself to a better quality life because of it; even though it may not be the best way to leave the house, I appreciate myself more for sleeping the extra 20 minutes, strengthening my mind through class, and providing an alternate route to self confidence. Following the experiment, the confidence of my voice and the concern for my education ruled once again once my ponytail made a
A person’s self-projected image is very important. We often hide our own fears because we do not want to acknowledge our dreads. We are afraid that if we show our dreads, our images as great persons will be ruined. People want to feel important, significant and superior; people do not want to feel inferior, subordinate and insignificant. We are afraid that if we concede our fears, others will dismiss us as unimportant. This is even more true for an ambitious young man like Duddy. He springs from humble beginnings, but clearly, he is very eager to become a successful and powerful man. "...his bony cheeks were criss-crossed with scratches as he shaved twice daily in his attempt to encourage a beard." This clearly indicates to the readers that Duddy wants and tries to be someone that he is not. He wants himself and others to think that he is of great significance. The fact that his friends, family and others reject him make his self-projected image even more preponderant. He must convince himself and others that he is a very important figure and he does this by denying his insecurities.
The novel The Good Earth,by Pearl S. Buck, follows the life of the protagonist, Wang Lung, who is an impoverished farmer. Throughout the novel, Buck uses the symbol of hair to highlight Wang Lung’s change from conservative to modern values. At first, Wang Lung’s hair represents traditionalism and his respect for it, but as the novel progresses the symbol slowly shifts to one that exemplifies modernism and Wang Lung’s abandonment of ancient values. In the beginning of the novel, Wang Lung’s hair symbolizes his loyalty to traditional principles. Buck demonstrates Wang Lung’s values when he refuses to cut his customary ponytail, out of respect to his father and the values by which his father raised Wang Lung. As the novel progresses, hair not only represents traditionalism, but also hints at modernism as well. Buck demonstrates the symbol’s shift
Cornrows updo with a weave ponytail is basically two hair styles in one. The cornrows are generally small in size, and the weave is usually sewn or wrapped around the ponytail. The weave ponytail is usually done with curly or weave hair. Cornrows updo with a weave ponytail usually last two to four weeks. This process generally takes 1½ to 2 hours depending on the desired size of cornrows.
In the recent past year or two, a woman’s natural hair has become a big thing. Before, African American women, to be specific, were so disgusted by their hair. They would do anything in their power to change the “nappy” aspect of their hair to “beautiful”. They would use relaxers very so often and hot combs.
inundated with this idea of what “good hair” is, to the point that it seemed natural to force that same ideal upon me.
Revolutionary fashions made it acceptable to show more skin, develop different styles, and be able for women to express themselves. Women began to liberate themselves from the traditional long hairstyles and turn to the new and shorter masculine hairdos. “The bob appeared in the US shortly. Women with bobs needed more frequent haircuts, and wanted permanent waves” (Monet). Women began to cut their hair shorter, cringing their hair, and finger waving it.
The kids I went to school with, the boys I had romantic relationships with, and even my family members, all made negative comments about my body hair. As a young kid, I believed my body hair was a personal problem. Experimenting with different hair removal procedures, some even painful. I wasted hours removing the hair on my body, in attempts to feel better about myself. My low self esteem became linked with the hair on my body. I believed I had too much body hair for a girl but according to Mills (1959) and the social imagination, I had too much body hair for society. My peers, as well as my family, had been socialized to believe that women’s body hair was gross, and unfeminine. Women had been taught to remove their body hair for decades now in the western world, and it was showcased or the lack there of hair was showcased in all forms of media. As a young girl, my mom bought me my first razor and paid for the electrolysis for the hair on my arm. It was in these actions, where the idea that it was my own problem started to form because it felt like I needed treatment for this problem of mine. I was perceiving a deep seated public issue as my own personal trouble. I can’t blame my mother or my peers because by the time my peers and even my parents were born, the western world had already determined that women should not have body hair. Christina Hope (1982) explains that in 1914 in America magazine’s had just begun
A woman’s hair is often referred to as her “crown and glory.” Hair is a salient physical characteristic of one’s self concept and how others view their level of attractiveness. One of the major intra-prejudice amongst African Americans is hair texture. This stigma is especially prevalent among African American women. For African American women, hair carries an even greater psychological complexity. Starting from slavery, African Americans were judged by the texture and curl pattern of their hair. For example, Blacks with lighter skin color and straight/wavy hair had certain advantages oppose to those Blacks who possessed more afro-centric features, such as darker skin and kinky hair (Myrdal, 1962; Neal & Wilson, 1989; Parrish 1944; Poussaint, 1975; Reuter, 1917). While a plethora of commentaries have been written on black hair, few empirical studies exist that have examined the reverberating consequences of slavery, as it relates to the western indoctrination of hair and its impact on racial identity/self-concept among African American women.
I performed a convenient survey of thirty-five women of African American or Caribbean descent ages 16 to 25 on the topic of relaxed hair. Out of the thirty-five I surveyed, 71 percent of the women were relaxed, while 29 percent were all natural. However, through this survey I discovered, 17 percent of those who were natural take 2-3hrs to style their hair, while 31 percent of women who relaxes their hair take 0 to 30 minutes. Yet, 29 percent of those who rela...
After having a self-reflection of myself I realized that I wanted to be distinctive, I wanted to reconstruct the way I was living. I was tired of just the same repetitive schedule that I followed in high school. I would get up at six twenty in the morning which was the perfectly set time that I determined was necessary to complete my morning routine. I would then head to school which I went through the same repetitive schedule as the previous day. Then I would travel back home consume whatever was prepared by my mother, play some videogames for hours then tend to my my homework and finally head to bed to repeat another average day. It was until one day one of my friend invited me to go to the gym with him. He took me to the gym which was not too far away from my school and lead me to the doorway to bodybuilding. It was just after a couple of
Why is it that the Black community consider hair that closely resembles that of a white person’s hair or a white person’s hair as good hair and other types bad hair?
is an unescapeable part of your life. Where your hair can not always be neat
Making little boys or girls with kinky natural curly hair say “My hair isn’t like that.”
Once in awhile people decide to make a change in their daily life, but one of the changes most people make in their life is getting a haircut. Haircuts make you feel new and good about yourself, but if you want to get the dream haircut you should know everything about how to do it. Getting haircuts is one of those things you can do at home or get at a salon, but if you want to do it at home you should know every single detail about how to do it.
I have learned a lot about myself in this class, and through writing this paper. I have come to the bluntly honest truth about myself that is sometimes hard for me to succumb to. I think now being consciously aware of how I am and why I am the way I am will help me to continue to strive for better and continue to learn about