I dye my hair—a lot.
Naturally, my hair is the darkest shade brown can get before being black, and I love it. However, my hair is currently a few washes into bright pink. It was stripped of its natural pigment almost a year ago, and I have been a hair-changing chameleon ever since.
“Why?” people ask.
The popular idea is that a box of hair dye is a red flag. When someone leaves class one day as a natural blonde and comes back with a full head of blue, questions arise.
“Is she okay?” “She must be going through something.”
I do think there is some truth to that idea. When people go through rough patches in their lives, they look for excitement and something that will bring positive change. Beautiful, vibrant hair color can absolutely bring about a positive change (I say “can” because, in my experience of hair-dying, I have had negative changes, as well.)
With this being said I do not think colorful locks equate to mental instability.
Not long ago, a thread on Twitter went viral after a user ranted about the truth of women with colorful hair.
“Obviously she’s more attractive than your typical unnaturally hair colored SJW chick,” Alexander J.A Cortes boldly and hilariously states in one of his tweets. Is he calling me out?
Of course, this example is a stretch. I know it is not a popular opinion that unnaturally-colored hair means homicidal derangement. I do, however, think it is popular opinion that a hair change means crisis, and I want to debunk that rumor.
People go through crises, and they make all sorts of impulsive decisions. This could include dying their hair. It could also include rearranging their room and changing their Instagram handle. When someone changes their Instagram handle, do you immediately worry about their mental health? Hopefully, your answer is no.
The truth is, I dye my hair because I enjoy being bold. Sometimes, a fresh color makes me feel like a fairy. Yes, I said it. I am 19 years old, and sometimes, I like to feel like a fairy.
Selfie with my unruly pink mane.
Keeping a colorful hairdo adds whimsical vibes to my otherwise-dull-and-serious student life. I have almost completed my freshman year of college; in other words, I have received every speech in the book about becoming a professional and entering the workforce. I have been lectured on how to keep my social media clean and how to behave in public on nights out because employers cannot know sometimes I get loud and use swear words. There are a lot of facets of my current life that seem restricting. Rainbow hair lets me hold on to the bit of fun I do not feel like I am getting anywhere else.
Maybe folks are dying their hair because their life is going to hell-in-a-handbasket, or maybe it is just because they want to stop taking themselves so seriously.
Regardless, let them do it.