In the summer of 1998, the worst year of my life, I had my hair cut off. Gone. Done. I have always had long hair (more for the versatility than anything else), and suddenly it was less than an inch long. My head felt very light, which was kind of trippy and cool until I got used to it, and the ease with which I could take care of it was unbelievable.
Only problem? I look pretty fugly with short hair. Still, I look back on that hair era somewhat fondly, particularly when I’m sweating out the horrible heat and humidity that has permeated the Northeast this summer.
And that’s why I’m ridiculously jealous when celebrities go for the pixie and effectively pull it off. It’s not that I feel inferior to women like Michelle Williams and Keira Knightley for being able to look gorgeous with super-short hair. I mean, they are obviously more beautiful than I could ever hope to be, and that’s why they’re movie stars and I try to get a bunch of teenagers to appreciate Transcendentalist poetry.
Nope, my green-eyed monster is all about the ease of a thirty second shampoo and maybe five minutes to blow dry and style it.
Anyway, Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame is the latest star to show the world how incredibly beautiful she truly is by successfully working the pixie cut. I think it looks absolutely amazing on her. I mean, I’m heterosexual so it’s not a sexual thing (like looking at Brad Pitt in his prime would be), but I can’t help appreciating the bone structure, the almost ethereal art-like quality that Watson is exuding.
If I was into girls, I would totally be digging Emma Watson on a whole ‘nother level.
Which is why I’m wondering why there is still this idea that long hair is necessary for a woman to be considered feminine. I personally think that Watson looks more feminine with her hair short. And yet the stereotype rolls on.
LemonDrop’s Julieanne Smolinski recently weighed in on Watson’s new look.
[Watson’s hair] looks great, obviously, but I love that she just said “Aveda ke-DASH IT ALL!” and chopped it all off, and I loved it when Carey Mulligan and Selma Blair and Michelle Williams did it, too. Hell, I did it once in college, and I loved it on me. I thought it looked awesome, it was low-maintenance, and it felt great. But I’ll probably never, ever do it again.
Uh, ’cause guys would stop hitting on me.
Sad truth? Smolinski is absolutely right. Prior to my short haircut, I’d get looks (and often more) at a bar. A lot of guys wanted to dance with me at clubs (and I totally cannot dance … perhaps the tie-knots-in-cherry-stem-with-tongue rumors had gotten around). I’d always kind of taken it for granted that I was sort-of-kind-of-pretty in my late teens and early twenties, and the short hair put a real damper on that.
And I got hit on by a couple of girls. Which is fine, I’m totally cool with that and took it as a compliment. It did, however, reinforce in my immature and image-obsessed 21-year-old brain that boys did not think I was pretty with short hair.
Anyway, to be fair, Smolinski does address the fact that some men do find short hair sexy.
Of course, there are lots of dudes who find short hair sexy. There are dudes who write Craigslist Missed Connections about not being able to take their eyes of of “the bewitching pixie reading Chmimanda Ngozi Adiche on the subway.” But by and large, David Spade said a lot on a well-remembered “Hollywood Minute” joke about Cameron Diaz chopping off all of her hair, “Men of America, you can now stop spankin’ it.”
You know, I hate living a stereotype, particularly one that forces women to adapt themselves to fit the mold of a generic man’s view of feminine perfection (and one perpetuated by pretty much every fairy tale in existence). And yet … I do it.
For that reason, I’m singing Emma Watson’s praises (and everyone who made the cut before her, from Mia Farrow to Halle Berry) for having the cojones (so to speak) to just go for it. I think Watson looks breathtakingly gorgeous and feminine … and if she wants to mix it up, there are always extensions (although Naomi Campbell might well advise against going in that direction).
She most definitely looks gorgeous with short hair, but I still think she looked better with longer hair. And it’s not a stereotype, I genuinely think Michelle Williams or Natalie Portman soo much better with short hair, but in Emma’s case, it’s too short for my liking.
I love having long hair; unfortunately, my thin, spare hair type doesn’t take well to it. I had long hair in high school and while I loved being able to pull it back, it itched, got greasy and looked terrible. I’ve got an A-line right now that’s just below chin length and although I miss my long hair, it’s much easier without it. I don’t think I would ever want to try the pixie cut though. My hair is kind of a security blanket and while cutting 7 inches off a year ago was the first step towards getting rid of the blanket, I don’t think I’ll ever cut it that short. My boyfriend prefers longer hair anyway.
I like the short look,she totally can wear it. Not all girls can,but she rocks it!
I could never, ever have short hair. It is ridiculous how much I love my hair long – even when it’s driving me absolutely nuts. I’m not adverse to change – I have dyed it every colour under the sun, but I have never had it shorter than just past shoulder length. I don’t think it’s because I think I’ll become un-fanciable with it cropped (although that’s probably a factor), but mainly just because I can do so much more with it long.
Emma Watson looks very pretty up there, but that’s pretty much the only style she can have now until the unfortunate growing out stage.
I absolutely love Emma Watson’s hair. I think she looks fantastic.
When I was 17, I chopped of my long and thick hair to get a pixie cut like Agyness Deyn. I am now 19 and I have not let it get past ear length and I love it. I do not miss spending over an hour a day on my hair when I can spend 5-10 minutes on it now. I’ll have the occasional douchebag who is an ass about my hair/ask if I’m a lesbian, but on the whole I am not short of male attention and my boyfriend loves it. If a guy was ever insistent upon me having long hair, I would tell him that he could wake up at the crack of dawn every morning to take care of it for me. Wash it, blow dry it, straighten/curl it, and then keep up maintenance through out the day.
Amen! I just got my hair cut in a pixie style… My family thinks it is unfeminine, even though it suits me a little more, but I like it. In the day and a half since it was shortened, I have gotten more complements from people– guys and girls alike– then I did back when my hair was longer. I’m still looking into styling tips to make it slightly “more feminine” so that my family won’t mind my cut as much, though… A “compromise” if you will. :) If you or anyone you know has helpful suggestions, let me know! :D
I look like death with long hair– it just never looked right on me. I’ve had short hair my whole adult life, and never noticed my self-evident lack of hotness. Silly me.
I’ve had both long hair and pixie cuts, currently I have hair a bit past shoulder length but I’m thinking of chopping it off again, long hair IS a burden.
With the exception of a four-year stretch, my wife has always worn a “pixie” cut a bit longer than Emma’s (think Pat Benatar in the “You Better Run” video).
I’ve always liked preferred the look myself – I suppose you need the small, delicate ears and facial features to really pull it off. She likes the low-maintenance factor (and secretly, the fact that it makes her boobs look bigger). :)
I think that Emma Watson is the most beautiful woman in the world, not to mention the fact that she’s clever. And can you believe it…and actress going to college! Even after she’s got an excellent career! She’s my role model; I want to be JUST like her :)
I thought Emma was so much prettier with long hair. I can’t agree with her looking good with the pixie cut. She is beautiful but the pixie cut distracts from her beauty. There’s something to be said for being unique, but being unique just for the sake of being unique is kind of dumb. I definitely think long hair is more feminine and she was so gorgeous with longer hair. I don’t know why she’d cut it other than to distract her fellow students at Brown from saying “Hey! There’s Hermione!”
Her bangs with this cut are WAY too short, I think anything above eyebrow length makes people look like a six year old who had to have their bangs cut short cause they got gum in their hair. It’ll be great when she ditches this cut and goes back to her natural beauty.
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