by Michelle Willson, Editor-in-Chief
Many of you might already know this… But in the last couple of weeks I’ve made some huge changes to my appearance. One of them being that I dyed my hair green for the first month of school and now I have dyed it purple. One thing I wasn’t expecting was how people treat you differently when you have an abnormal hair color.
At first I got comments like “wow, your hair is different.” But there were also people who would say “I’ve never liked colored hair, but you pull it off.” Honestly, the way I take those kind of comments are that you don’t respect people with colored hair because they have colored hair. I’m still the same person that I was with my brunette hair, I just wanted to change.
Another thing that is big when you change your hair color is that people will stare at you. Some of them I understand. It’s like, “do I know this person?” but some of it is just rudely staring.
I’ve also realized that all the rude stares and comments that I’ve gotten on my hair have been from the older generation. Young millennials and Gen. Z are excited. They talk about how they want to dye their hair, but the older generation seems to see it as juvenile.
Honestly, I just want to say, “I’m sorry Karen, but I know that your hair is no longer bleach blonde. I can see it in your roots, you dye your hair too so leave me alone!”
Personally, growing up I heard that when you start in the workforce your hair needs to be natural colors and you can’t have piercings, but my hair and my piercings don’t define me. Nothing in your mind about my work ethic should change just because I have purple hair and two nose piercings.
What’s wrong with expressing myself through my appearance? Why do you automatically have a negative impression when you see someone with a bright hair color?
If you are one of those people who hate on other people because they have colored hair or facial piercings, maybe you need to reflect on why you’re having those feelings. Because I can honestly tell you that it’s not their fault and I don’t care if it makes you uncomfortable. Just mind your own business and stay in your lane.
I have never understood why growing up we are told to express ourselves through our clothes and our art that we would be hung up on the fridge, but as we get older we’re told that we need to look, act and dress a certain way. You raised us like this… And you don’t like the outcome.