The Feminism of Scissors — Hair and Liberation
These days, getting out the scissors doesn’t seem to be that radical an act, but the hair wars are somewhat ongoing. I haven’t been directly accused of being “not a real feminist” because I wear my hair long, but I’ve definitely had looks.
Short hair on women has been varying degrees of unacceptable to radical for many years in western culture (Obviously I’m addressing western dominant culture here, not cultures in which nobody cuts their hair or in which everyone always has).
So, how did hair become so important? It starts with…the bob.
The Origins of the Bob
Short hair is masculine and long hair is feminine in our society. The origins of this not-always-held-to tradition remain unclear, but it might well be, like other feminine indicators, because long hair is a little less convenient than short.
In the early 20th century, feminists fought against this, but it wasn’t enough just to cut one’s hair.
You had to have short hair and still look like a woman. Hence, the bob. In 1903, two female basketball players at Bryn Mawr walked out onto the court with bobs, and the style started to be adopted by more radical feminists.
In 1914, a dancer named Irene Castle was going into hospital for surgery. She…
