The long and short of it….hair!

Hair style is the final tip-off of whether or not a woman really knows herself. Hubert de Givenchy, Vogue, July 1985.

Well, I truly KNOW myself!! That’s my head with the shortest, cropped hair that I absolutely love, love and love!! I am confident in my look and turn many a heads, might I say mostly with admiration, some with intrigue, others with quizzical amazement and yet others with “what the **&$$!!!” To the latter of those I say “I KNOW myself and am COMFORTABLE with myself. I have the guts to NON-CONFORM!!” Monsieur Givenchy would have been proud of me.

Women with short hair have raised many a points of debate and controversies. Are they attractive, unattractive, cute, un-feminine, gay, getting up there in age, trying to make a point in the “man’s world” etc. etc.

None of the short-haired women below are within 10 miles of a negative connotation because of their short hair. They are simply stunning, striking, ravishing and spectacular!

Face it, the idea of long, lustrous, thick hair, flowing in the breeze is drilled in our psyche as children. I mean take a look at Barbie, her hair is the most prominent part of her anatomy (other than her “ample plastic bosom”)

Even our fairy tales narrate stories of the beautiful princesses’ with mile long hair, a la Rapunzel!

It is true that a short-haired woman can have oomph of sexiness, but she will have much fewer guys hit on her than a homey looking girl with long hair.

What is the psychology behind it? 99.9% of men love women with long hair. The long, lustrous hair flying in the wind is their ultimate fantasy. Check out any beer commercial and you will see a long haired, leggy woman miraculously caught in a wind storm. Rather amusing!

Most men are intimidated by short haired women as they think that such women are stronger and more independent. They do not portray the virginal, helpless, “girl-like” qualities associated with a woman with long hair. A man feels helpless as he cannot “rescue” or for a lack of a better term “control” her.

In the same vein, most women dress to please a man and attract the male attention. Nothing wrong with that, but somewhere in the process they lose their own identities, individualities and sense of self-worth.

Take a look at the women below. Would they be this stunning with long hair? I think not. Halle Berry is a prime example; she looks “plain” with long hair and “ravishing” with short hair.

Take a cue from Anton Chekov who said, when a woman isn’t beautiful, people always say, “You have lovely eyes, you have lovely hair.” So, when someone is complimenting your hair it is not necessarily a “compliment!”

Now, mind you, I am not a die-hard, man-hating feminist. I love the male attention just the same as the next girl. But, I want women to be bold and to experiment with their look. I want them to live for themselves. I want them to take fashion risks. So what if they fail? After all it is only hair and will grow back. I want them to derive their self-worth from deep within and not solely base it on their physicality. I want WOMEN TO NON-CONFORM and BE!