I suppose it’s odd to begin a blog about popular culture with a comment on today’s haircut. And a blog that is designed to be a “critical response” to popular culture makes this virgin post even a bit more perplexing to the average reader. But I just came back from getting a bad haircut. A really, really bad haircut.
All I could think about as I was driving home was that I had just read the introduction to our course reader where the theory of semiotics is first introduced. The authors break the theory down very simply, “A sign is something, anything, that carries a meaning” (7) and they offer examples to support their ideas such as a stop sign and…wait for it…a haircut: “When you get a hair cut, you are not simply removing hair: You are making a statement, sending a message about yourself.”
I’m always very nervous about getting my haircut. I was in high school in the 80s and in art school by the time Bon Jovi made Big Hair a popular sight. So hair, for my head, was and is always something of an excursion in height. Because I am aware of the statement that hair does make, just as Maasik and Soloman argue, I am very specific when I get my hair cut to make sure that not too much is cut off and that enough can be pulled forward into wispy tendrils of yummy femininity. I am not sure where I got this specific idea that “wispy tendrils” creates images of femininity but I know—thanks to semiotics—it is a carry-over from notions found in popular culture.
We cannot deny that when women mess with their hair, a lot is being said. Look at Britney. She shaved her head and the American economy spiked due to the massive influx of paparazzi pics available for purchase to anyone with a blog—forget print media…by the time those shots could be reproduced and distributed, the extensions were already glued in place. And consider Rapunzel, trapped in her tower by her glorious locks; cutting it short is what did her in—removing her image of femininity, of course. By then she was no longer a virgin and marriageable, thrust out into the forest alone and scared with a bad haircut.
I thought about my haircut as I drove home and how it has hindered my own feelings of femininity, how it is way more harsh-looking than I care it to be. And of course, though I am aware of the implications of this—femininity is a constructed concept after all and a short haircut does not make me less of a woman—I have still fallen victim to the ideologies our popular culture has created for me: my bad haircut makes me feel less attractive because I feel less feminine.
So my real confusion at the end of all of this is that while I recognize the usefulness of semiotics to interpret the signs around me, utilizing this theory of methodology for analysis does not actually offer me any conclusions. Or security. My hair still looks bad. Even though I know that in a month, it will just need to be cut again and I will most likely go through this all over again until I find a stylist I like. But I do understand at least why I feel the way I do and how much popular culture has constructed my ideas of femininity.
I expect that tomorrow morning, I will be thinking less about semiotics and more about how in my flustered state as I left the salon, I not only said nothing about my bad haircut, I accidentally tipped that woman $10.
“I expect that tomorrow morning, I will be thinking less about semiotics and more about how in my flustered state as I left the salon, I not only said nothing about my bad haircut, I accidentally tipped that woman $10.”
Been there. Done that. Point to ponder: Why do we do that? Why do we think that we must tip for something we don’t like or aren’t happy with?
Last spring, Jenny, my usual hair care technician, unexpectedly up and quit. It almost gave me an aneurism. I can assure you that vanity is not the sole province of women.
I’ve done the same thing, had a haircut I didn’t like and still tippped and then was pissed at myself when I got home. I felt I should have said something then and there but have been going to the same stylist for years and didn’t want to hurt her feelings I guess. The next time I went in, she asked me how the cut had worked and all I could think of to say was “it didn’t quite work for me”.
Is this just a female thing I wonder? We feel obligated to be “nice” about things like this?
Lisa, Catsma, I would be curious to know if this is a gendered issue….accepting lousy service and still tipping. I used to do the same thing in a restaurant, tipping even though service was poor. It seems like a whole different ball game when body image is involved.
why would I tip for poor service when *she* made *me* look bad? And lemme tell you, it’s a whole week later and my hair still looks like crap.
Maybe it is mostly a female thing but, I have seen some guys get lousy service and not have the courage to say anything either. It might be more of a personality issue.
I tend to give most places a try at least twice. If the service is bad or indifferent and the place has just opened I can understand that more. However, if I go back again and it’s still bad, I simply cross it off my list of places to go and make sure I tell other people about it. Word of mouth can be a killer so I suppose you could call me passive-aggressive…LOL..on that kind of stuff.
All these depressing strories about trying to do something nice for yourself such as getiing a simple hair cut. I must say its hapened to all of us … and if your thinking this hasn’t happened to you, then boy are you lucky! You know what people say, “Change is good” and Michelle, although you may not like the haircut, I think it fits you well! But, that’s just my opinion and self-esteem comes from within. So, next time, try Karizma.
Jordann, you rock the planet. I adore you.
I believe that if you were able to get a haircut over the phone you would have had no problem telling the person what a disappointment this cut was.
Women are schooled from birth to “play nice” “Be nice to others” “Don’t make waves” “Don’t say mean things, you will hurt that girls feelings” etc…
You wonder why we can’t get up the nerve to say something about a bad haircut? Like any good teenager, you can blame your parents for this too.
Your haircut didn’t look bad in class today!! But yes hair is very important, well it is to me.
This blog is amazing; so much care into a haircut even though you know the hair is going to grow back. Who am I Kidding? As some may know my hair use to be extremely long, almost down to my butt, I use to care for it so dearly. Therefore when I would go to the beauty pallor I would be extremely cautious, usually bringing my mom with me. Afraid that if just anyone cut my hair then my hair would be destroyed. One time, the stylist cut way too much off my hair and my mother went crazy, guess it’s a female thing. I also remember not paying for getting my ends cut that day. Like Michelle my hair was a fashion statement, something I had that many people couldn’t. Many people in my school would try to let their hair grow to the length of mine but just could not because they would either get tired of it or it just wouldn’t grow as fast. When I would go to school with my hair blown out, I would get so many requests from girls to touch my hair, how cool is that? Funny thing is that I wouldn’t let just anyone touch my hair, only the cute ones! For some strange reason the way I dressed my long hair and the fact that I played baseball dictated who I was to the rest of the school, awkwardly enough images played the decider of who was popular and who wasn’t. Although I did not have the same problem in tipping, mainly because I don’t tip anymore, I do see where the tipping is an issue. I hate when I go to the barber shop to get a shape up and because it is very busy the barber rushes it and doesn’t make it look like I want. The thing is that I do the same as you Michelle. I use to pay him the seven dollars that he charged and then tip him three more dollars, not anymore. Now what I have always been confused about is: why in earth do we have to tip someone after we pay them for what we went there for? Needless to say my hair is now short and I have cut my hair three times since I have arrived on campus. Maybe is the change from the city life to this life were the judging of someone’s appearance is less. Image is still very important and oddly enough it dictates how others see you. I wholehearedly agree with this post, the image is something both males and females care for. Even though it may sound storage, the image isn’t only for the opposite sex, but to the same as well. Many people care for their image mainly to compete with others of who looks better, I see women do it all the time. The only thing I dislike about the post is that Michelle says she hates the haircut, because I seen her in class and she rocking it! This post makes me want to go get a “bad haircut”!