So I did it!
After Months and MONTHS of growing my hair-countless hours sitting in a chair getting braids done, never ending conversations with myself about how great the end result will be and endless hours spent viewing pictures of afros on tumblr– I finally chopped my hair. So for those of you that don’t know Big chopping hair involves cutting off the permed pieces of your hair and embracing the beautiful and unique natural new growth of hair that slowly sprouts out of your head every month. What’s been the most interesting out of this experience (the past 48 hours) is the reactions people have had. When I told people I wanted to chop my hair it was met with stern warnings that i wouldn’t like it-that I would immediately regret the decision to change the way I wear my hair. Even the woman cutting my hair had to be assured that i wanted to make the decision-saying “You’re a better woman than me” when she reached for the scissors. I was basically informed by my peers that the worst would happen-the sky would open up as soon as the scissors stopped cutting and life as I know it would end in an eternal state of agony, fire and coconut oil. My parents had mixed emotions-my mother said she liked it (But i swear i saw her eyeing me earlier and shaking her head). It’s as if my self worth has been downgraded a little bit, because i made a seemingly unconventional choice for how people perceive me. Of course its hair, but we’re taught to be prideful of our appearance and I can see my loved ones worry about how others will interact with me now. Because in this lifetime it seems that its more important to make choices on how others will accept your body and self-and not the other way around. But for the record-I actually really love it and It feels really freeing to no longer be a slave to chemicals. I’m actually really appreciative of the community on the internet because so many people are going through the same thing, and offer so much advice so that every woman can have a happy ending…….I still think I kind of look like a boy though…..
Unruly Bodies 
You are right! So many of our choices are based on how others perceive you and not how you perceive yourself. I feel as though we all do it. Everyone always asks each other how something looks.
I loved this post, I really enjoyed how you wrote it and talked about people reaction. Its always interesting to see the reaction of pople about the choices we make for our personal life.
I actually have done something similar to this several times. Deciding to cut my hair as short as possible, and I never forget the first time that I did it. I took a photo with me to the hair salon of a male soldier and I said “I want it exactly like this”. And of course I got many questions and different reactions before and after I chopped it all, and this would happen every time . Same reactions and questions and how I should not do it, and how long hair looks better and I SHOULD KEEP it!