Anastasia GLAZYRINA

My Hair

Anastasia Glazyrina

When I see somebody for the first time, the first thing I look at is the persons’ hair. How well it looks, what is the haircut, how well it fits into his or her personal style. As for me, I have long blond hair which I try to maintain in the best possible condition. I did this routine so many times in my life: brush it, style it, squeeze out different hair products onto them: shampoos, conditioners, oils to name a few. And if you have long hair, you know, it demands a lot of hard work just that it looks good.

It was about six years ago, when I got tired of doing this hair routine, and decided to cut my hair shorter: shoulder-length haircut versus loin-length hair I had had before. There were few people that missed this fact. But for the most part it hit like a bombshell, probably, due to the fact that it was the first time I cut my hair that short. The most popular question was: “Why did you do that? You had such a beautiful hair”. The statement was meant to be a compliment for my hair, I guess. But for me, it sounded more like “You made a HUUUGE mistake!” A few girls even said that it was brave to cut such long hair and that they wouldn't have had courage to do that. Courage? Courage for me is about leading men into battle, conquering the mountains or risking in business. Why to do such a small thing, to cut hair short, we need courage?

There are strong stereotypes about femininity which is associated with long hair, curvy and hairless body, soft features, being always calm and gentle, wearing skirts and dresses. Every girl some-when doubts her femininity because she obviously doesn't fit all the criteria. And more precisely I don't fit all the criteria of femininity that society tries to impose on women. When I was a teenager, I thought I had something of a boyish-like behavior. I loved doing sports, all of them, from playing basketball to snowboarding to swimming. I loved to compete, not only with other girls but with boys, too. I tried to be a leader. I always thought of myself that I am “not like other girls” type because of the necessity to fit all the “girly” standards which I tried to distance from. But when I look back now, I think I was a pretty normal girl just being more active than others and having good relations with other people (not to mention that pants suited my lifestyle better than skirts).

The things, that I regret the most in my teenage years, were distancing from other girls and thinking that something was wrong with me. I wish somebody was there to say: “It's okay to be who you are and there’s no need to comply to all the mythical standards or feel bad that you cannot meet these expectations!”

When I am looking at somebody's hair, I think more of what this haircut can tell me about the personality, way of life, sometimes even person’s values, rather than whether it fits a certain stereotypical image of male or female.