Hair plays an integral part of our identity

Everyone’s hair plays an integral role in their identity and how they are perceived by the world. Just as we change up our style of clothing every once in a while to express our personalities and the stage of life which we’re at, many people also like to frequently change their hair colour and style. Every day we are growing and developing as people, so consequently our hair will also change over time to suit who we are. Girls are typically associated with having a drastic hair change when they go through a break-up; as her new hair signifies a fresh beginning, and she moves on from her old hair in the same way she moves on from her ex. Particularly during their teenage years, people will go through different phases and subsequently experiment with new hair colours and styles as they explore who they are. But how much does our hair define who we are as people and influence preconceptions people make about us? 

Blonde, brunette, black, ginger. Each hair colour has different connotations and characteristics which have been attributed throughout history or due to popular culture. Colour can play a huge part in how a woman sees herself and how she is perceived by others. Blonde hair is generally associated with being dumb, ditsy and shallow-minded. I’m sure we’ve all heard of blonde jokes or can think of movie characters who have been portrayed as the “dumb-blonde”. One of the most strikingly blatant blonde Hollywood characters that springs to mind is Poppy Moore from ‘Wild Child’. As a blonde, she is reckless, rude and shallow-minded. However, as soon as she goes to the hairdresser and has her hair dyed brown, she instantly becomes more down-to-earth and matures. Just by changing her hair colour, she somehow instantaneously became a different person!? Another character whose hair plays an integral role in her identity is Elle Woods from ‘Legally Blonde’. When her boyfriend, Warner, breaks up with her, she asks him if it’s because she’s “too blonde?”, to which he replies “no”. Elle later discovers that Warner is engaged to Vivian Kensington: a sensible, high-status, soon-to-be-lawyer, who you guessed it, also just happens to be a brunette! At Harvard, Elle quickly grows to become a successful law school student, in spite of being a blonde female. She’s not getting praise for simply being an excellent lawyer; she’s getting it because in spite of being blonde, being female, and being interested in fashion, she’s highly intelligent and successful. Why should the colour of someone’s hair be a determining factor for their capabilities?

It's not just popular culture though. Different periods of history, cultures and religious influences can also play a part in connotations we draw with hair colours. In various times and cultures, ginger hair has been prized, feared and ridiculed. Between the 16^th to 18^th centuries, many people believed that redheads were affiliated with witchcraft and magical abilities. Thousands of people were sentenced during witch trials, many of whom were drowned or burned at stake, in an attempt to cleanse society of all witches. The stigmatisation and horrendous treatment of people with ginger hair has had a tremendous influence on many literary characters. One of my favourite childhood books was ‘Anne of Green Gables’, in which the main character, Anne Shirley, is portrayed as a fiery, short-tempered and daring girl. She is regularly reprimanded and told she is “wicked” on account of her red hair. Anne claims “you’d find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair”, and her mischievous behaviour throughout the book is attributed to her red hair colour. It’s not just Anne though, many redhead characters in books and films are regularly portrayed in a similar way- Hetty Feather, Merida, Annie. Of course, there’s plenty of characters that happen to have ginger hair and aren’t attributed with these characteristics, but for the ones that are: how can the colour of someone’s hair determine their personality traits?

Through all of these questions, I’ve been asking myself how much my hair colour plays a part in my identity. Over the past couple of years, my hair has been through a (rather concerning!) number of changes. When I’m asked why I feel the need to constantly change my hair colour and length, I tend to reply jokingly that it’s to mark a significant life event. All of my hair changes seem to have coincided with a major life decision I’ve had to make, or with a personal crisis I’ve had. In all seriousness though, I’ve realised that one of my ways of coping with stress or worries is to change something about my hair. At the beginning of 2019, I cut myself a fringe 15 minutes before I needed to leave the house in a spur of the moment decision. This also happened to coincide with a period of my life when I was majorly stuck in a rut about what I wanted to do with my future. Before my 18^th birthday, I trimmed a few inches off my hair as I wanted a more sophisticated and mature look as I entered into adulthood, and no longer wanted to be seen as a child (no thanks to my baby face!). I won’t even get started on exam season in Year 13 when I cut, then dyed my hair, each after 2 horrendous exams that left me feeling despondent. By changing my hair in all of these situations, I felt that I was somehow able to move on from a situation and feel like a new person who could tackle whatever I was facing. Each of my different hair changes has been appropriate to the stage of life I’m at and I use my hair to express some aspect of my personality or change I’ve made. I like having a lot of variety in life and quickly get bored of having a set structure. Changing up my hair satisfies my tendency to make impulse decisions (particularly because I cut and dye my own hair, so I usually make the decision on the day to do something with my hair!).

Recently I decided to dye my hair burgundy and a couple of days ago I cut my hair to shoulder length. Firstly, I chose to dye my hair because it’s not exactly a natural colour and I wanted to branch out by trying something different. Perhaps it was to signify a new part of my life. The part of my life in which I’m growing up, learning to take myself less seriously and having FUN! I’ve chosen a colour which is adventurous and reflects how I’m being bolder and braver, and no longer constricting myself to the rules and regulations I was subjected to for years at school. Now that I’m on a gap year, I’m learning to live more spontaneously and in the moment. So, dyeing my hair a colour which is a bit more “out there” helps me reflect this. Whilst I was at school I was regularly in very formal settings where I didn’t think it would be appropriate to have a wacky hair colour in fear of judgement from other people. But I’m now learning to care less about what other people think and express who I really am. 

Secondly, I chose to cut my hair because I have (sadly!) been gifted the gene of a baby face, even at the age of 18. Therefore, I am regularly mistaken for being much younger than I actually am, being told that I look 14, 15, and (to my absolute horror the other day!), 12 years old. Suffice to say, I was not impressed. For some reason, I find that when I’ve got longer hair or leave it down, people tend to think I’m much younger than my age and therefore expect that I’m naïve or immature because I look “more girly”. On the other hand, when I’ve got shorter hair or it’s tied up, people will treat me differently because I look more mature and grown up. It surprises me that the length of a woman’s hair can determine how she is treated by others. Hair length determines whether a female is treated as a girl or a woman, a valid or an invalid. In a male dominated work-world, if I want my voice to be heard and be respected, I have to tie up my hair and get the job done. I don’t think that the way a girl’s hair is should determine the level of respect she deserves. But the world we live in means that sometimes, she has no choice.

At the end of the day, even though I’ve been through a plethora of hair styles and colours- long hair, short hair, fringe, no fringe, brown hair, blonde dip-dye, slightly ginger, black hair, and now burgundy hair; I’m still the same girl underneath with the same brain, the same values and the same morals. No matter how much my hair changes, I remain the same person with the same brain and heart.

Do you agree with my views on hair length and colour? How does stereotypes of hair colour influence how you perceive someone? And to what extent does your hair colour play an integral part in your identity? Please comment down below and subscribe to my blog. I hope you have a fab weekend!

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