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By KIM BAER
DO YOU TRULY believe you're
Have you clipped a photo of Katharine McPhee for your stylist? Used your camera phone to snap an image of a stranger's cute cut?
You might think these hair decisions are all about fashion. You'd be wrong. Your hair says more about you than you might think.
Let's face it. Hair is the first thing you notice about a woman, said Bruce Inglis, owner of Salono Salono in downtown Fredericksburg.
"It's the ultimate statement of beauty," he said.
Hair that's healthy and shiny can make someone look and feel younger. A stagnant style, on the other hand, shows age. He heard a scary statistic recently: 80 percent of women haven't changed their hairstyle since high school. Women should tweak their hairstyles every six months. That will help keep their styles current.
"If you feel like your hair looks good, it's a good psychological boost," Inglis said.
Unfortunately, most are disappointed in their own hair. A 2003 Pantene survey found that 84 percent of women wish they could improve their hair's appearance.
But hairstyles are about more than fashion, according to experts. Most obviously, we use hair to show our gender, said Miriam Liss, a psychology professor at the University of Mary Washington.
"Parents of young babies will even put bows or barrettes in their practically bald little girl's head to mark them as a girl," Liss wrote in an e-mail.
Men typically have short hair, women long hair. It is acceptable for women to sport a short style because that is imitating the more powerful male ideal, Liss wrote.
Men aren't immune to hair concerns. Christina Samora-Nixon said more and more men are coloring their hair, for instance. The time and attention many men with thinning hair will spend on their comb-over is also telling. Healthy, full hair signals youth. And youth is important in our culture.
It's still considered "subversive" for men to grow their hair long because they are "acting like the social group that has less power," Liss wrote.
There's even been a book written about women's fascination with hair, called "Rapunzel's Daughters: What Women's Hair tells us about Women's Lives."
In the book, sociologist Rose Weitz writes that, like Rapunzel, women's hair is "central to our identities and our prospects."
When we decide cut our hair short, dye it or let it grow gray, we "decide what image we want to present to the world," she wrote. "And the world responds in kind, deciding who we are and how to treat us based in part on what our hair looks like."
Samora-Nixon, a hair designer at Bangz Salon in Fredericksburg, agreed. Many women will come in, she said, seeking a short cut to fit in at a conservative office.
Some look for a "sexy" cut, something that looks messy but not too "bed head," she said. Others ask to get out of their "mom cut" rut. The mom cut is typically long and all-one-length hair pulled back into a ponytail.
Celebrities know the power of hidden hair messages. For instance, Britney Spears recently traded her over-processed blond color for more a more serious-looking dark shade.
Reese Witherspoon became famous with her Legally Blonde franchise, which challenged the stereotype of the dumb blonde. Of course, she won the Oscar for playing brunette June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line."
Politicians also have felt the power of hair. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been criticized for her stiff "helmet head" hair. That has fit with her image as an all-business woman. But lately, she's been seen with a softer, more feminine hairstyle, perhaps an attempt to connect with potential 2008 voters.
In her book, Weitz advises women to be careful about letting our children or spouses dictate hairstyles, or obsess over hair. Joke about hair flaws and move on. Make hair fun and nothing more.
But perhaps the best hair advice comes from Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose hairdos have been analyzed for years.
In 2001, Clinton told the Yale College graduating class:
"Your hair will send significant messages to those around you: what hopes and dreams you have for the world, but more, what hopes and dreams you have for your hair. Pay attention to your hair, because everyone else will."
To reach KIM BAER:
Email: kbaer@freelancestar.com
