Entry 13: Gender- "Women, Power, and Hair"

Lady Gaga uses a resisting form of conformity

with her hairstyle to convey her power.

Thorne's study was interesting to me because I had made the connection that 

resistance to norm hairstyles was a form of showing power, but

I had never made the connection of accommodation as a form 

of taking power. I thought the girl who dyed her hair red was interesting too;

I see the vixen thing, but I mainly hear "gingers don't have souls" from

my friends when I talk about dying my hair. I also thought it was weird that 

the participant who's asian's boyfriend told her to change her hair.

Yes, I think hair can be seen as attractive, but from my experience with guys,

I've never heard of a guy really noticing hair unless it's a dramatic

change.

Personally, I rarely considered power when I style my hair; I guess

I would fall into the third category. I just kind of go through cycles

of growing my hair out, donating it, and then cutting it really short.

About a month ago, though, I was at a friend's house and I straightened my 

hair before we went out. My hair is pretty much down to my butt when 

straightened, so sometimes people will make comments about 

its length. One of my friends asked why girls did that. 

He also started asking why we get dressed up even if we know

we're just hanging out with friends. I gave a kind of smart-alec

remark, like would you rather us look like shit...but he had a pretty

good point. If I had to answer completely honestly, I think

it would be because I want to control people's perception

of me and on some level to have people, no one in particular,

to think I'm attractive...not that hair alone can do that...and

I guess me wanting people to find me attractive relates to power in ways 

I've never consciously noticed.