Short Natural Hair Psychology – Where do you stand?
Guuuurl, pull up a chair, put the kettle on and let’s talk hair. Continue Reading…
Short Hair Psychology
I recently read an article in Curlynikki.com where a PH.D. Psychology Advisor stated that, ‘Your outward appearance projects things about you, and people will make judgments about you based on that.’ You don’t need to be a psychologist to know the effect hair has on us mere mortals, there is a reason why we feel a rush of endorphins-or to put in more basic terms, why we feel like we’re the shit- when we come out of the hair salon with a fab hairstyle. And the polar opposite of that is how low we get when a hair stylist butchers our hair.
Years ago, India Arie crooned, ‘I am not my hair’, as idealistic and forward thinking her message was- today we live in a Kim K world and not an India Arie one. And if the growing use of hair extensions are anything to go by- we are our hair, It defines us. The End.
In my opinion, hair is one of the assets women, and especially black women use to show their worth/wealth. You only have to look at the women in Real Housewives of Atlanta, Married to Medicine, Love and Hiphop and *Insert your Ratchet Reality TV Show Here* to see what I mean.
Luckily for me I am in Berlin, so I don’t feel the pressure of having a weave or a full head of buoyant Afro spiral curls. Actually, that’s not true, I do feel like when it comes to European men and natural hair they looooove Afro curls that are full and long. I know this because I used to wear weaves with spiral curls and they were fascinated by it and loved to dig their hands in it. So I do get moments when I feel less-than-worthy with my 4c type hair
At the moment when it comes to #HairGoals, this is how I would like my short hair to look-
iamflashdance.blogspot.com
I love that artfully messy short hair look and I’m continuously trying new curl enhancing products to see the effect they have on my hair.
When it comes to short hair psychology, how does my short afro hair make me feel?
Well sometimes, I do feel pressured to be on point like Solange is in the above picture- i.e. to balance out my short hair- my lipstick needs to be poppn’, my accessories on point and so on. The thing is I love to dress up, but I feel that on top of that I have to go the extra mile because I have short hair. Do you ever feel that way?
Also afro hair – even when it’s as short as mine- is still a lot of hard work, especially my TWA because I had the challenge of trying to grow back my hairline and my hair at the same time. I do sometimes get very frustrated with my hair, especially when it comes to the issue of shrinkage but that’s a topic for another time.
I enjoy thinking random thoughts and sometimes I think- would Olivia Pope from Scandal be a TV style icon if she had short natural hair? There is no doubt that Kerry Washington is beautiful and can rock any hairstyle, but I do wonder…
If you were to ask me when I feel the most confident about my short hair, I’d have to say it’s when the sun sets. When I’m just about to go out at night and I’ve loosened my hair from it’s large plaits, I feel my hair looks the ish. That’s because early into the night, I haven’t had to deal with kryptonite-esque elements like rain or sweat. Case in point- here I am clowning around at home-
I count myself lucky that for now- I work in a creative industry. If I worked in a more corporate environment, having my short natural hairstyle would be more of a problem. It is no secret that the business world is not fond of natural hair, braids, locks and the like as the complaint is those styles don’t look professional. I feel that women with long natural hair have it easier because they can put their hair up in a bun, do a long plait at the back etc. Tsigh…
Anywho, I’d love to hear from you guys regarding this short hair psychology topic. Does your short hair make you suffer from low self-esteem? When do you feel the most attractive with your hair? Who are your hair icons? Do tell, I’d love to know.
Till Soon
Bisous
