Five ways to style a scrunchie

Written by Sydney Rose | Photographs by Donna Keeya

Whether you’re fixing a bad hair day or trying to channel your inner VSCO girl, scrunchies have made a style comeback, and they’re here to stay for the new decade.

After being invented in the 1960’s and popularized by pop culture figures like Madonna in the 80’s and 90’s, the scrunchie is finding its way in the hair of the 21st century. There are many different patterns or designs for scrunchies, and sometimes you’ll have the urge to wear one, but you don’t know how. Well, here we have five different ways you can style that cute scrunchie you just know will pair well with your outfit of the day.

Ponytail

This is practically the main hairstyle a scrunchie was intended for. It’s great to keep your hair out of your face and show off the scrunchie as a nice accessory.

Model: Sydney Rose

Half up Half down

This is a style that gives someone the luxury of keeping some amount of hair out of their face as well as having some hair to frame their face at the same time. I’m a big fan of this look when I don’t feel like spending too much time on my hair, and a cute scrunchie is the perfect way to tie it all together.

Braided Back

As a variation of the half up half down style, this way of doing your hair adds a little more detail before meeting with the scrunchie to tie it all together.

Low Bun

A hairstyle as old as time, the most efficient looking way to use this scrunchie is to tie your hair back into a twisted bun at the nape of your neck. The good thing about the scrunchie is it holds everything together and gives a professional look at the same time.

Side Braid

One way to add a little texture to your hair and style it is a braid. I always felt awkward with a thin black hair tie at the end of my braid, so a scrunchie is a quick fix to this problem.

There are many uses for this chosen hair accessory that don’t even involve your hair. Many people chose to just sport their scrunchie on their wrists or use it alternatively for holding writing utensils together. There will always be a use for scrunchies one way or another and an opportunity for you to show off any scrunchies you’ve been holding on to.

by Anna

It’s no secret that there’s a double standard when it comes to gender norms. We’ve all heard the phrase, “you kick like a girl”, that boys would say to each other on the playground, and we’ve witnessed the teasing that occurred when a boy wore pink.

We see this example on TV, like in “Modern Family”, with Manny’s appreciation of essential oils, candles, and cosmetics being the butt of jokes. We see it in every movie where a guy in a dress is a whole entire joke by itself. We saw that femininity was a joke and that it wasn’t a good thing for a guy to do.

However, in the show “Kim Possible” the heroine has traditionally masculine traits such as physical strength and fighting skills, but those traits are never the butt of jokes. In fact, physically strong women characters are often held up on pedestals. Girls can do traditionally masculine things, but guys can’t do feminine things without the risk of ridicule. These TV shows are just a few examples, but this idea is displayed in many examples of media.

If, to put it crudely, it's okay for a girl to do guy things but not a guy to do girl things, this sends a message of women being inferior. A girl who sheds her femininity to be a badass is great, but a guy who sheds masculinity to wear makeup is a joke. The message is very clear and very harmful.

If women are seen as inferior, that allows for society to treat women badly, because if they’re inferior, who cares? This sexist mindset is subconscious most of the time, but still very harmful. And because society shows us that men don’t want to be like a woman, it can lead to overcompensation in their masculinity. If someone

This toxic masculinity that is taught from childhood can affect men’s emotional maturity. Boys are often told not to cry as kids, while girls often get a pass, since emotion is seen as feminine. Insults like “don’t be such a girl” can often be used against a crying child. According to psychotherapist Lena Aburdene Derhally, not giving a boy a place to express their emotions can lead to them as men having “the inability to understand and process their feelings.” Not understanding their emotions can lead to men using “unhealthy coping mechanisms”, such as drinking and violence.

Additionally, men may lean on the women they date, who end up doing a lot of emotional labor in the relationship. Men might even treat women like their therapist, because they don’t know how to healthily express emotion. Putting so much pressure on one person in the relationship is certainly unhealthy.

It’s clear that this double standard is bad. But the good news is that it’s getting better.

Stores like Target stopped labelling their toy sections as boy’s and girl’s, and men are encouraged to talk more about their emotions alongside with therapy getting destigmatized. Clearly, “femininity” in men is getting more normalized.

But there is still work to be done. Here’s one thing you can do.

If you have a son, or if you ever do, let him do supposedly “feminine” things. Let him cry and tell him it’s okay to cry. Ask about his emotions. Easy enough? Okay buy him a doll. Teach him a skincare routine. Makeup even. Sure you can buy him toy trucks and the like but include so-called “girl’s stuff” in that lineup. See what he likes and let him have it. You might think that he won’t like it, but many boys probably don’t even know it's an option. Boys need to be taught that there’s nothing wrong with “girl” stuff, and if they realize that, they might respect girls more.

It might be hard to unlearn our gender biases, but to end sexism, gender norms also need to end.

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Fashion and culture: Two Weeks in Pakistan

Pakistan is known for three things: fashion, food, and their scenic views. This winter break, I got the opportunity to visit the breathtaking Karachi, Pakistan. Karachi is a city with many spectacular features. As every tourist says, the food is unbelievably delicious, the sunsets and sunrises at seaview are breathtakingly beautiful, and the design district brings fashion to a whole new level. The intricate details of the traditional Pakistani “Shalwar kameez” is what makes it stand out from other cultures. From the fabrics to the hand embroidery, every piece is unique and showcases why it is a staple piece in Pakistani culture.

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