According to the Anxiety and Depression and Association of America, body dysmorphia occurs in about 2.5% in males, and in 2.2 % of females. It is no secret that while both men and women struggle with body image, women have a higher rate and predisposition for developing body dysphoric issues. By the time young women get to college, many have already or are still experiencing some degree of body image issues or dysmorphia.
Adolescents and teens are naturally sensitive as they are developing into their own sense of self. The truth is, it’s human nature to overthink what we absorb and compare ourselves to others. If it continues, however, it may very likely develop into depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other beauty obsessions. Girls may decide wear more makeup, change their style of clothing, or exercise excessively to achieve an ideal. These are only a few of the harmful beginnings of body dysmorphia.
The Ideal Hair Length? Image Taken from: pexels.com
By Bailey Brockett
When I was in 6th grade, I cut my hair short for the first time in years. I had been discussing the idea of donating it with my mom, and it was finally long enough. After weeks of asking her to cut it, she took me to a hole-in-the-wall salon that offered the cheapest haircuts. I was so excited and nervous that I was shaking. The stylist began to trim my hair into a very blunt A-line bob. I didn’t ask for that part, but I figured I wouldn’t say anything. I told myself to be excited, especially since Mom looked excited, and Dad said it was cute. The next morning, I tried to get ready for school with a positive attitude, but I could not tame my hair. One side was curly, and one side was straight. One side flipped out and the other side flipped in. I didn’t have anything but a butterfly barrette to keep it flat against my head, but that failed about 15 minutes into the day. The next few months consisted of tear-filled mornings as I could not style my hair the way I wanted to. Perhaps the worst of it all was that there was not one other girl in school with short hair. There was not a single part of me that cared my hair had gone to someone who needed it far more than I did. I wanted it back.
My hair in high school
My hair eventually grew out, and I kept it as long as possible for the remainder of high school. Even the idea of haircuts made me nervous. I fried my hair to a crisp with a straightener every morning just to emphasize the length. I could live with the split ends as long as my hair was flat against my head and the boys thought I looked pretty.
My hair currently
The next time I cut my hair was this last summer. It was unintentional, and a bit of a funny story. My best friend and I decided to cut each other’s hair, and she snipped a bit more off than I was expecting. In a “why-the-hell-not” moment, I had my mom snip off the remainder, and I was left with a pixie cut. Now I’m battling with the idea of keeping it short, or growing it out, but I’ve realized that every time I consider growing it out it’s to make up for the femininity I’ve convinced myself I lack.
This brings me to the question: Does your hair length define femininity? Society and media have bought into the idea of gender roles and have taught us that, yes, the longer and shinier your hair, the more of a woman you are considered to be. There are so many articles that teach women how to “look feminine” in short hair, and we rarely see female celebrities sporting short hair cuts. When we do see them shaving their hair off or cutting it short, the first headlines to come out consist of the words “mental” and/or “breakdown.” Take Britney Spears, or Miley Cyrus for example. When people and the media refer to 2007 Britney, or Miley’s Bangerz phase, they’re typically referring to periods of time when their choices weren’t considered admirable. Both of these women had short hair during these periods.
We’re even conditioned to see longer hair as desirable from young ages. Just think: What do all Disney princesses have in common? They have long, shiny, easy-to-blow-in-the-wind, hair. Even our Barbie dolls, and American-Girl dolls have long hair that we can brush and braid. Through this type of exposure we, as females, are indirectly, and sometimes directly, told not to cut our hair.
Many women, including myself for a while, make the decision not to cut their hair because of stereotypical gender and sexuality roles. They don’t want to be mistaken for a boy, or (insert dramatic gasp here) a lesbian. There are a number of things wrong with this thought process, the first being the association between negativity and lesbians or boys. Kat Lazo states in her article, “3 Bullsh*t Reasons Why Women Are Taught To Not Cut Our Hair Short (And Why You Can Do It Anyway)” that, “Being a lesbian is only thought of as negative in our society because it challenges hegemonic masculinity. The idea that a woman can be happy with another woman is threatening to male dominance and power. So why take it as an insult?” She also states very eloquently, “Gender is a social construct. And it’s complicated. Besides, it’s my choice to express my gender in whichever way I choose.”
Even now I still worry that my short hair is unrepresentative of my womanhood. I often find myself trying to exaggerate my femininity through other materials, like large earrings, makeup, and trendy fashion, which is all fine and dandy. However, something I’ve learned is that it’s incredibly liberating to break society’s construct for what defines my beauty as a woman. It has led me to reconsider many of the stereotypes I associated with femininity, and what it really boils down to is that it is your hair and can do whatever you please with it. You will be just as beautiful of a woman with or without it.
When my dad finally moved from the spare room in his sister’s house to a two-bedroom apartment a few blocks from downtown, he started cooking. It was my junior year of high school, and my parents had just split up. The Spotswood Street apartment was tiny. My sister and I shared one bedroom and my dad and brother shared a futon bed in the other one. We didn’t have hallways or closets or stairs. We barely had furniture. Everything we owned came from the reject pile that had been accumulating against a wall in the garage for years; junk intended for Goodwill or a someday college apartment. We had one loveseat and an uncomfortable chair my brother had been using to dump clothes on in his room at our mom’s. Our kitchen table was a plastic fold-out thing, and that and the chairs were the only matching pieces of furniture we owned.
At the beginning of this year I started my adventure being a blog writer for the Women’s Center at the University of Idaho. The very first article I ever wrote is Body Positivity, Meet Body Revolution. As a novice writer, I wanted to talk about something of great interest, body positivity.
I took two internships at the women’s center this semester: one being a blog writer and the other is being a part of Body rEvolution. In a sense, this blog is the beginning of my own written body revolution. It helped me reinforce body positivity through writing while I was also doing presentations around campus with Body rEvolution.
Body positivity week is one of the many ways of personally connecting with the college community. Body rEvolution presented a slideshow about the topics we worked on all semester along with activities to encourage body positivity at Kappa Alpha Theta and at Palouse Prairie Charter School. By going out and talking with others, the body revolution, which is to help empower those around us to talk about the topics that are uncomfortable and create a safe and welcoming environment. It also helps me become more comfortable talking about some sensitive topics, but also having ways of handling and coping with them.
Looking back, this journey with the blog and Body rEvolution has been one of the best ways to leave college. The blog challenged me to get out of my comfort zone, to be honest and to talk about topics that I may of never considered. With Body rEvolution, I found my voice on topics that used to be too hard to talk about; I also was able to share it with others through presentations.
As this article shares, talking about body positivity for both men and women is not an easy task. By taking those steps to get involved in body positivity campaigns on campuses or even in the local community is important. Loving one’s body, even for myself, is not an overnight success, but it does get easier in time.
Being involved in these two internships helped me find out what I love about myself and how to encourage others to feel beautiful and handsome as they are.
Never forget that you’re all beautiful and handsome and to never stop smiling!
Loving everything about ourselves, even the imperfections, can be a challenge. Society pushes an ideal standard on women making it well known what is considered beautiful and socially acceptable and what is not.
Especially in Hollywood, women need to meet strict standards of beauty. Caitlin Stasey, an Australian actress, shared her story of what it means to be a “pretty girl” in Hollywood and what she’s done to empower herself and other women.
Movements that encourage women to love their body and other imperfections are one way to break the standard of beauty.
I am always on the lookout for new and exciting books to read into the late hours of the night. When I say new and exciting, I mean novels that are not about the same (white) damsel-in-distress waiting for her prince, or another teen angst book complaining about life. These books seem to be so popular, compared to the underrepresented African American, Asian American, or Latin American protagonist, and let’s not even mention the lack of representation of lesbian, gay, or transgendered characters. Go to any bookstore and you can find a multitude of books on elves, vampires, and witches, but trying to find a book on transgendered teens is nearly impossible.
I am always on the lookout for new and exciting books to read into the late hours of the night. When I say new and exciting, I mean novels that are not about the same (white) damsel-in-distress waiting for her prince, or another teen angst book complaining about life. These books seem to be so popular, compared to the underrepresented African American, Asian American, or Latin American protagonist, and let’s not even mention the lack of 
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