I started growing my hair partially to break stereotypes of what a guy should look like. That slowly evolved to questioning what the long hair meant to people and what other stereotypes their impressions of me contained. One strong stereotype that emerged was that people immediately assumed that i listen to heavy metal and was a headbanger and that i did drugs or smokes or was a drunk, none of which were or still are true. As people start to see what type of a person I actually am their perceptions change and i feel a little less oppressed i guess. The thing is, as old perceptions are broken, new ones are formed. The new image of me spoke of a very strong feminine side of me coming out, but still i was not just seen as a normal guy, not that i wanted to be seen as that so to say, but still, i was not and will not be seen as just a normal guy with long hair. - Jai
The strong stereotypes and connotations associated with men with long hair will make it hard for a guy to escape them in most sections of the society. It takes me back to the movie/musical 'Hair' that we had studied in a previous course, We, The People, where we questioned how one man's hair becomes everyone's business and how something that is read in so many different ways is in the end just a part of someone's body.
I started growing my hair partially to break stereotypes of what a guy should look like. That slowly evolved to questioning what the long hair meant to people and what other stereotypes their impressions of me contained. One strong stereotype that emerged was that people immediately assumed that i listen to heavy metal and was a headbanger and that i did drugs or smokes or was a drunk, none of which were or still are true. As people start to see what type of a person I actually am their perceptions change and i feel a little less oppressed i guess. The thing is, as old perceptions are broken, new ones are formed. The new image of me spoke of a very strong feminine side of me coming out, but still i was not just seen as a normal guy, not that i wanted to be seen as that so to say, but still, i was not and will not be seen as just a normal guy with long hair.
ReplyDelete- Jai
The strong stereotypes and connotations associated with men with long hair will make it hard for a guy to escape them in most sections of the society. It takes me back to the movie/musical 'Hair' that we had studied in a previous course, We, The People, where we questioned how one man's hair becomes everyone's business and how something that is read in so many different ways is in the end just a part of someone's body.
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