Short hairstyles and feminism: Legacy Continues
Short hair as a trend first started out in the 1920s, in the years
following the First World War. In a world that had seen its boundaries
radically upset, the coming of short hair on women should have been
foreseen, but it wasn’t. When the first few women got their hair cut, it
still caused a major sensation. This was mostly because short hair was
seen as a woman’s assertion of independence. Older people were of course
used to seeing women wear long hair and staid Edwardian clothes, but the
advent of the Bob was a phenomenon no one could stop. Another phenomenon
that was making waves at around the same time was the rise of feminism,
which led most people to ask the obvious question. Does short hair equal
feminism? Do all feminists have short hair? Or is it the other way
round, does having short hair make you a feminist?
These are questions that are yet to find answers today, even though
there have been numerous theories and arguments on the topic. Most
people tend to believe that feminism rejects traditional ‘roles’
assigned for women in a bid for equality. In most societies including
the Western world, where Feminism started, long hair has been seen as
the traditional look of a woman. Men have almost always worn their hair
short in Western cultures. Having long hair means it needs to be taken
care of, and nurtured, just like the owner. It is no wonder then that
the length of a woman’s hair started to become an indicator of how
feminine she was. Cutting it off, therefore, was rebellion. Cutting it
off was an attempt at rejecting the feminine and becoming masculine.
A woman cutting off her hair during the turn-of-the-century was seen
as stepping into spheres that were usually occupied by men. Women now
went to work, women now wanted to vote, women now cut off their hair and
demanded certain rights. The Flapper generation of the 1920s, for
instance, took great pride in sporting short bob hairstyles, along with
taking up ‘manly’ activities like smoking and drinking in public. This
wave of thought naturally saw the cutting off of hair as a physical act,
as a denial of womanly attributes, and hence feminist.
There are accounts of conferences like the one in 1969 at Emmanuel
College in the USA. Cell 16, a radical feminist group, performed a
drama. The members’ long hair was slowly cut off in front of a large
audience, who reacted with shocked cries and gasps. There were women in
the audience who screamed out for the cutting to stop. Most of the
people interviewed after this incident reasoned that this was because it
felt very upsetting to watch hair that must have taken years to go being
suddenly cut off. Some theorized that such a drastic step could only be
taken by women who had something to prove, who were trying to equal men
by imitating them.
It is reasonable, perhaps, to ask whether cavewomen had longer hair
than cavemen, but short hair is no longer a frowned-upon thing in
today’s world. There are still certain stereotypes attached with short
hair. For instance, most people will agree that not all short-haired
women are feminist, but that all feminists will have short hair, which
is also a very mistaken idea. Other stereotypes that stick to short-hair
are that it makes one look ‘boyish’, or like a butch lesbian. However,
nowadays there is a genuine move on the part of feminists to dissociate
themselves from physical stereotyping.
This could also be due to the propagation of short hairstyles by
several celebrities, both in and outside Hollywood. Short hair is no
longer a bold statement; it’s a style that is both smart and attractive
at the same time. And it’s definitely no longer just feminist, it’s
something more. It’s feminine.
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