People With Colorful Hair Are Tired of These 8 Remarks
Photos: Courtesy.
Thanks to BS gender norms that define women by how they look, blondes, brunettes, and redheads are the butts of numerous degrading jokes and stereotypes. But when I emerged from a salon last year with long blue and green waves, I didn't realize I'd be subjected to my own set of sexist and outright rude comments. Guys catcalled me with "nice hair, beautiful" as I walked to the train, and it really only got worse from there. My parents probed me with questions about why I did it and when it would grow out, and guys worked it into creepy pickup lines.
I'm not alone. People say all sorts of things to people with fantasy hair (colors like blue and green that don't occur in nature) that they'd never say to people with more conventional hues. Who asks redheads why they decided to go red or blondes if their bleached hair will grow out soon?
These comments and questions aren't just annoying. They serve a more insidious function: policing people's looks. Asking people to justify their hair color sends the message that their hair and, ultimately, their bodies don't belong to them. Women already get this message constantly through sexist dress codes, size discrimination, and other forms of body shaming.
What makes it even worse is that a lot of these comments are objectifying. The idea that people with fantasy hair are wild and rebellious has led to a perception of women with these hair colors as constantly sexually available. By sexualizing women's hair, we teach them that their appearance defines them and their bodies are others' property to comment on.
Seriously, guys, people of all hair colors have boundaries. These eight remarks have really got to stop.
This story originally appeared on Teen Vogue.
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