When I was 16-years-old, I woke up one summer morning and decided that it was time for my hair to go. I went to a local salon in my town and cut over seven inches of my brown, curly locks off and I have never looked back.
As the years have progressed, my styles have gotten shorter and shorter. I've gone from a near bob to a boy cut that resembled what Emma Watson had in 2010, and at one point I even had a full mohawk (which was super fun, I might add). Now, in present day, I'm back to that Emma Watson cut and I couldn't be happier. My short hair makes me feel good. It's become a part of my identity, something that makes me feel confident and cute and feminine.
While most view my short haircut as a simple stylistic choice, others can't seem to get past seeing my hair as some sort of metaphorical middle finger to the established patriarchy. While, yes, I will always flip the bird to patriarchies and do what I can to help end them; I'm not going to do that with a haircut. I've dealt with this notion for about as long as I've had short hair. Some people are really convinced that there's a sort of ulterior motive behind my choice in hair length.
First and foremost, I would like to point out just how ludicrous this idea is. A haircut is a personal choice meant to compliment someone's style. When I woke up that summer morning and made the decision to chop my locks off, I wasn't thinking, 'Yeah, screw you, patriarchy!' A political agenda did not fuel my trip to the hair salon. I made the choice to cut off all of my hair because I wanted to. I liked the way pixie cuts looked on celebrities and thought one would look good on me, too. (And I was totally right, by the way.)
As I've paid more and more attention to the notion that women with short haircuts are attempting to make a political statement, I've started to understand more where this idea might come from. Unfortunately, even in 2016, far too many people have a cookie cutter understanding of what femininity and womanhood is, and that generally revolves around makeup, "girly" clothes and to bring my point together, longer hair. Characteristics that counter these traditionally feminine traits, like not wearing makeup, hating skirts and having a pixie cut, are generally perceived as more masculine.
Therefore, the idea of a woman cutting her hair short could be seen as a challenge to the box that people place femininity into. "She's doing it because she wants to disrupt an established conception of what it means to be a woman." In all reality, that woman probably just wanted a short haircut because, well, she wanted one. It's really that simple.
If the belief of short hair on women representing a political or social movement is indicative of anything, it's exactly how narrow the view of gender really is for some people. It shows just how badly people need to understand that femininity and masculinity do not have set definitions. Me having very short hair, disliking the color pink and preferring a pair of pants over a skirt does not lessen my femininity. It does not make me any less of a woman. My hair is not a challenge to gender binaries. My hair is me embracing what makes me comfortable and happy. Incidentally, I feel more feminine with my pixie cut than I ever did with long hair.
Society today needs to allow women to do what they want without accusing them of fulfilling some sort of political agenda. A woman deciding to wear pants, no makeup and have a short haircut does not mean she's singlehandedly trying to dismantle the patriarchy. Similarly, a woman who enjoys wearing a lot of makeup, wearing traditionally feminine clothes and having hair below her waist does not indicate that she is enforcing patriarchal expectations for women. These are ladies simply dressing in ways that make them happy and feel confident.
Femininity and womanhood do not have single-faceted definitions. So much goes into "what it means to be a woman," and style choice is not the deciding factor in that. Let women present themselves in whichever way makes them feel good about themselves, whether that way "challenges" traditional gender roles or not. They're simply presenting themselves to the world in a way that makes them happy.
My short hair is not a disruption to the establishment. It is a choice I made five years ago that has led to me feeling confident in the way I look. And let's be real here; if I wanted to overthrow the patriarchy, do you really think I'd try to do that with a haircut?
