I like to wear my hair in a short 1930s-style cut. If I'm really ambitious I'll wave it a little, but usually I don't and it passes as a modern bob most of the time.
I know I'm supposed to get it trimmed every 6 weeks or so to keep it looking nice. With my life, that usually works out to about every 6 months. It was looking really ratty today when I finally got it cut, but it looks good now!
I go to my favorite stylist, Lauren, who's about my age. Of course she has great hair- it used to be long and layered. But today when I went in, she had cut her hair in the same style as mine. We got to talking about long vs. short hair - I have had long hair at various points in my life and don't really like it. She told me this story about her haircut that really made me think about how far we women have come in just one or two generations.
She said that when the stylist was cutting all her hair off, a little old lady sitting next to her asked her if she had got her husband's permission to get it cut. When Lauren replied that she hadn't (and it hadn't occurred to her) the lady said that she hoped he didn't leave her!
We kind of had a little laugh over that, but it struck me as to how serious that might have been for someone of the older lady's generation. To have to get your husband's permission to cut your hair and hope he doesn't leave you over it is one of those small victories women have won over the past.
For someone like me, who is firmly a woman in the modern sense, but likes to look back to the past for inspiration, that is one of the few times I am glad I don't live in the 1940s 0r 50s.
Of course, on my way home I went to three antique stores and an estate sale and bought some more mid-20th C. detritus. I guess I should be glad that I don't have to get my husband's approval for that, because I probably wouldn't!
It's not just the old timers who do it. A few months ago I was cleaning out my garden and offered the last of the peppers to a passing neighbor, who was happy to get them. She's about 35. When my husband came out of the house on an errand, she looked at me with this sort of fear on her face and asked if I'd get in trouble with my husband for giving her things from the garden. I told her no, it was MY garden and I could give things to whoever I wanted, but she kept looking over her shoulder as if she expected my husband to come over yelling any moment. Very odd.
ReplyDeleteWell, I suppose that's also a commentary on how some men never change? LOL
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