The Mane

Time for a cultural lesson:

In the Arabian gulf long hair is considered a mark of beauty for a woman. The longer the better - and the straighter the better. You can imagine straight hair isn't always common in the Middle East as genetics have made our hair coarse and heat resistant. Now some are seemingly blessed with the sought after softness that Arab women literally burn their hair off to attain. At that point it seems like some kind of godly blessing that you have soft straight hair.

Hair plays a major role in the cultural dance as well - and yes the women literally:

THANK YOU WILLOW WE'VE BEEN DOING IT BEFORE YOUR SONG CAME OUT! JUST SAYING!

As of recent developments it seems women also favor lighter hair. My mother keeps on insisting I had "red" hair when I was baby. In actuality I had very dark brown hair - and in some parts of my hair those strands of brownie brunette hopes and dreams she fantasized about are still there. I imagine part of this perspective came about when more westerners came to the Middle East and they seemed more exotic to the Arabs.

 My mother has soft hair - but it's by no means fine hair (and in my personal opinion her and I have the same hair type). According to her my older brother and younger brother inherited "the good hair" from her. As their hair was super soft, straight, and shiny when they were younger. I apparently inherited "the bad curly coarse hair" from my dad. On a side note my parents like to associate the good things with themselves and the bad things with one another.

I've grown my hair to be quite long through Middle-School and High School. At one point it was past my knees - and standing at 5'1 and half I would say that's a lot of hair. It wasn't much fun to groom or find in your underwear OR clean off your rug. So I gradually started to cut it shorter - first half off which still kept it long and it grew very quickly. Then I decided it was time to let it all go and go for a bob. You can imagine my mother wasn't exactly happy about that decision. Something along the lines of "Your husband should decide if you should cut your hair or not." and I was 18 - like that was going to sink in or make me change my mind. 

DAMN STRAIGHT 

IT FUELED THE FIRE

First you insult my hair then you tell me I can't cut it? WTF!

love you mommy!

When I went to college I went super short

 Then of course came the many hairstyles I got. Straight, curly etc etc... till one day a friend of mine said "I don't know why you bother to straighten your hair, people here go crazy trying to get your waves and curls."

As an homage to my friend I will post a photo she took of me at Cornish years ago while I was working on my Foundations/Core show:

Thank you Kirsten Anderson for allowing me to appreciate my textured hair. If there's one thing I've never changed about my hair it would be the color - I know my hair isn't jet black but it reminds me of the color of ink and the calligraphy I grew up with. It is part of my heritage and genetic make up.

I will embrace it for exactly what it is!

A little bit of everything.