Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer
Here baby, there, momma, everywhere, daddy, daddy
hair, hair, hair, hair, hair,
Hair, hair, hair ...
I want long, straight, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy, shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka dotted, twisted, beaded, braided
Powered, flowered and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled and sphagettied
— From “Hair,” the musical
@:
Just about everyone should recognize these lyrics and its melody, especially those from the “hippie” generation.
And I sure hope that everyone remembers the reference to “hippies”
Free spirits. Woodstock. Jimi Hendrix. Beads. Janice Joplin. Bell bottoms. Tie dye shirts. And long, long, long, long, and then a little bit longer, hair.
It often was wild and crazy looking. It was unconventional, especially for the time. Kinda hard to find these days as well.
But I wasn’t planning on talkin’ about hair — not hair per se, at any rate.
I was planning to write about what I thought was a given in life.
An obvious given in life.
But I’ve come to find out I apparently am the only one who thinks it is so obvious.
I also found out that to prove my point, in the manner of the scientific method, I need to form a hypothesis based on research and then try to prove — or disprove — my hypothesis.
This sounds like a lot of work when I can just draw a conclusion. I like art much better than science anyway.
But I’ll give it a whirl.
So, I formed a hypothesis. But then I found out I couldn’t prove my point at all. That hasn’t deterred me. However, I still believe my original point, even though I can’t really prove it. Just stubborn, I guess. Or maybe just more observant; at least, of my own motivations.
OK.
Let me explain now and you decide.
My theory or hypothesis is that people — well, women mainly, I’m a-thinkin’ — reveal their deepest, innermost feelings and thoughts by the way they wear their hair. Or rather, mostly by the changes they make to their hair.
For example, if a woman wears her hair long, she may simply feel that it looks good, it’s in style or that her boyfriend likes it best that way.
But if this same woman cuts her hair short, especially if it was fairly long to begin with, it’s a significant change. It has little to do with fashion, I believe, and more to do with the inner feelings she is experiencing and changes she is contemplating, with “changes” being the operative word.
And, with little comfort to either women or men, additional research I found reported that, on average, a woman will change her hair more than 100 times in her lifetime.
But my theory is that there is deeper meaning to these changes. Not only does the way a woman wears her hair mean something more than fashion, changing how she wears her hair, in my opinion, might mean she’s unhappy with parts of her life and she wants things other than her hair to change as well.
That goes double or maybe even triple for women who change their hair color for more than just to cover gray hair. A bright, platinum blonde, a burnt red coif, a dark and glistening brunette — all indicators of major turmoil going on — either that change is upon her already or change is uppermost in her mind and she’s about to make a move.
In other words, from Shakespeare’s “King Henry IV” or in the words of Sherlock Holmes, the game is afoot.
I also tried to find some research to back up my hypothesis, but didn’t find much. Most of my women friends just simply said they changed their hair because they were going gray, because of a fashion trend, to attend a special event — in addition to needing regular hair upkeep. Some also admitted it was because they were bored and wanted a change.
Ah ha! I told you so!
I told you there was more meaning to this haircut thing, but every single woman I talked with denied there was something more behind the change. Except, one woman did admit that after she got divorced, she changed her entire look, but I’m not sure this example really supports my theory exactly. I think this is something slightly different.
I kept looking. I went online. One psychologist said there was a definite psychological impact on those around a person who changes their look.
“Duh!” as Homer Simpson would say.
Another said that people first notice a person’s hairstyle. Short hair, tousled hair on a woman denotes confidence and being outgoing. Women with long, straight blonde hair are seen as sexiest and most affluent. Women with medium-length, casual styles are seen as the most intelligent and good-natured.
That’s as far as this research got concerning the psychological impact of changing one’s hair.
Next, I discovered a website about what it means to dream about hair.
According to this research, dreaming about changing a hairstyle means the dreamer wants to change his or her mind about something. Dreaming about cutting hair means that the dreamer is feeling like he or she is denying themselves something. Dreaming of wearing a tightly drawn hairstyle implies the dreamer is feeling disciplined and self-restrained, while long, flowing hair means a feeling of freedom and abandon. But take this flowing hair a step further to disheveled and that’s an indication of mental confusion.
Hmmm. I kinda like the disheveled look. It’s comfortable for me. Hmmm.
But as for me, right now, I’m a-thinkin’ spiked red.
I wonder what made me think about doing that?
