Monday, January 28, 2013

Red hair: hot on Rihanna, a cry for attention on your high school girlfriend.

On Lookbook, “the largest online community dedicated to showcasing member-uploaded "street style" photography” girls in three inch high flatforms dominate the “hot” page. Photographs of heavily tattooed women, their eyelids thickly splashed with glitter, are perpetually reblogged on Tumblr. Heck, there are entire Tumblr pages devoted to ladies with lilac locks.

Perhaps in show biz Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj have long ago declared themselves queens of ko-ko, but even Katy Perry dons purple tresses, Lana Del Rey – fake grills and spiked nails. As celebrities continue to opt for standing out rather than regurgitating been-there done-that traditional concepts of “pretty,” even magazines geared towards the average teenage girl have begun to feature beauty tutorials for wild nail art and cutting edge fashion forward editorials.

If the sources in which young people look to seek style inspiration and define prettiness are experimenting with new concepts of beauty, why then, are girls with dip dyed locks and bow ties around their necks still subjected to gawks and eye rolls as they stroll the hallways of their high schools? If we, as a society, have linked recording artists and actresses as contributors to a spike in eating disorders among young girls or a glorification of rape culture, or simply put, the shitty parts of the world in which we live, why hasn’t there been a successful trickle down effect of this redefinition of what it means to be beautiful?

Are daring beauty trends only desirable from afar? Is it the fame and fortune that allows Miley to bleach and take a razor to her hair? Is Rihanna’s red do’ only sexy because while hey, it’s Rihanna, but still a big no-no for your high school girlfriend? Will we ever reach a point where we don’t have to tell our girlfriends to cover up her tattoos when you first bring her home to meet your parents?

Perhaps, by convincing ourselves that the answer is time would prove comforting. Time for Hollywood's trends to blow eastward to small town suburbia  Time for older generations to realize that our generation's pink hair is no more radical than their generation's long haired men and Afros. However, ignoring fear's role in deterring young women's experimentation with their outward appearances would be both ignorant and an injustice. As if the color of your make-up is somehow a grandiose political statement, fear of being labeled too progressive. Fear of young men's disapproval.
One of the most beneficial aspects of experimenting with personal self expression – man repelling. There is no better way to weed out immature duds than challenging traditional concepts of femininity, or what it means to be "ladylike." Experimentation , in the proper context, is a healthy and rewarding aspect to adolescence. It's yet another avenue for one to discover new skills and joys.

Bottom line: Whatever your style, whatever the decade – confidence never goes out of style.

Also, to the two glorious women who reminded me of why I blog and drug me out of my slump, I thank you.

1 comment:

  1. Continue to make more posts, girl!! I fucking love you & yo blog!

    ReplyDelete