I am changing my hair to brown tomorrow.
Doing this will be like castrating myself with a sharpened stick. I do not think I have the vocabulary to describe how shitty it makes me feel. And that is why I chose brown.
I never thought the kid who’s first phrase was “You’re not the boss of me” would ever be bending over for “tha man”.
I feel like a sell-out; a fake; a fraud; a liar. I speak so much of breaking the norms in our society that I feel are wrong, but yet here I am changing my hair color so some person with stereotypes won’t judge me as immature or unprofessional because of the color I choose to have my hair.
I hate stereotypes. I hate myself for feeding the stereotypes by changing my hair color. I hate that they will never know.
I am sure I will read posts saying, “well isn’t a job more important than your hair color?”, “we need to choose our battles”, “loosing this battle does not mean that you will loose the war”, along with many other ancient Chinese proverbs.
My hair color is me. It represents all I want to fight for. I don’t have a choice in this battle if I want any employment (Hot Topic never called me back after the interview if you recall from the beginning of the year). And yes, every battle lost is another step backwards in the war effort.


October 9th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Just to play devil’s advocate, what about the idea that women should be able to feel good about their bodies, their hair color, the size of their boobs, etc. — without “bowing” to the male-dominated media that defines female beauty as artificially-created by chemicals supporting an industry that is detrimental to the environment?
October 9th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
That sucks.
Best wishes.
October 9th, 2006 at 11:38 pm
Yep, I am still working on that one. Sadly it was the one thing that I have not been able to shake from the trauma filed teenage years.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:13 am
Kaston … you may have to change your hair colour to “fit in” and get the job you seek … but nothing says you can’t change your hair colour after you have settled in.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Many companies/organizations have rules against stuff like that.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Speaking of large organizations and hiring… larger companies now often use web-savvy interns to search for information about job applicants in the form of blogs, MySpace, FaceBook, etc. That’s not to say there’s anything online that would discourage anyone from hiring YOU — but it’s good to be aware that your online “presence” could be part of the package a potential employer looks at as well.
October 11th, 2006 at 10:38 am
RE: Mommiet: They can only conduct such things if they have requested the rights to do a sweep background-check on you - yes, even if the information is public domain. Otherwise you are well within reason for a discrimination suite.
October 13th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
Well technically it is illegal for anyone to discrimante against others because of what they look like, ie their hair color. So for them to not accept you because of your hair color is completely wrong and illegal. However, why not just let your hair grow out naturally? Then you would not have to change it to a color you dont like and then you will not technically being “bowin to the man” because it is just natural…so if as you say “my hair color is me” then why change it? because a few jobs didnt like it? If those jobs dont want you to express who you are then they are not a good enviroment to work in. Finding a great job takes a very long time, so why not wait until you find the perfect job where they except you as who you are and not as what you look like?
October 13th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Hmmm. I think the only “protected categories” in terms of federal protection from discrimination pertain to gender, age, religion, national origin, and race. Hooters can hire only bib-bosomed, attractive girls with impunity.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
That is, as long as they give big-bosomed, attractive GUYS the same opportunities.
October 14th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Oh yeah — there’s one other protected category — disabled people.