Breaking Stereotypes

After some discussion, Hannah and her friends decided to try an experiment. Each one of them shaved their heads in some way...This is something that they had all wanted to do for a while, but were always been too afraid to try. They wanted to show me how people would react to something so unusual, so we immediately went out to eat at a local restaurant. We all had to wait in line for about 30 minutes, and the stares we got ranged from amused, to startled, to just plain weirded out. It was pretty uncomfortable and we were all relieved when we were finally seated.

Since then, the three girls have received mixed reactions from friends/family/and acquaintances. The most common response is the questioning of sexuality. This is funny, because one of the girls who cut her hair is completely straight. Even still, people assumed that they were all lesbians. Even when responded to in positive way, it is funny how a haircut can shape someone's view of your whole person. At a party, Hannah saw two of her friends talking and asked what they were discussing. One of them turned around and laughed, "We were just talking about how you're the cutest little dyke we've ever seen."

"I never told you I was gay." She responded. "Oh honey, you don't have to say anything" replied the friend. "The hair says it all."

Although this is a humorous situation, some of the reactions were not as friendly. Hannah's own family was not embracing of the change at all. At Thanksgiving, some family members completely ignored the haircut and never mentioned it, even though they were staring at it the whole time. Others were mean and made references to her looking like a shaved dog or tried to ask her if she had a boyfriend or wanted any help finding one.

Altogether, I think I learned a lot about people's comfort levels. When someone is not the way they are accustomed to, they often become uncomfortable and fearful. This can lead to harsh defensive words or tense silence and awkwardness. I think this illustrates how minorities are discriminated against on a smaller scale. If someone with a weird haircut faces this many problems, how much does a person of an entirely different skin color or ethnicity have to go through?