I am...My Hair

India Arie has a song called "I am Not My Hair." I love that song but my hair is every bit a part of me. I have had a power struggle with my hair since the day I was born. It was always too short and kinky and it never grew fast enough. I was introduced to a perm and while it chemically straightened my hair, it still didn't make me look like the girls in the hair magazines. You know the long flowy hair that brushes the shoulders. I grew up believing that long hair meant beauty, sexiness, and boys. Guys liked long hair and I needed to get some.

Then I got braids and they gave me that ethnic pride. I felt Afrocentric and beautiful. Braiding is an art and I was proud to sport it on my head.

Eventually I got sick of braids and decided to get hair extensions. They were cool for awhile but I tired of people asking me if that was my real hair and etc. Truthfully, I felt fake and it took too much upkeep.

Then I took the big plunge and cut my hair. I'd been toying with the idea for a while and finally one day I did it. And I felt liberated. Short hair made me feel sassy, sexy, spunky, and new. Everything looked better with short hair. I bumped back into my fiance with my short hair. My mom still hates my short hair, oh well can't win them all.

This may be a frivolous post to some, but my relationship to my hair means a lot to me. Its part of the whole package that is Conchita. I feel like with short hair I have finally found what I have been looking for all those years. All those perms, braids, and extensions led me to my perfect hair style match.