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Windy
09-07-2013, 05:12 PM
Not sure why I'm posting this, I guess it's half an attempt to vent and half a plea for advice :sad:

Most of the time it doesn't bother me that people think I'm weird or whatever, especially considering the kind of fluffy-looking hair I have now. I'm not a guy, I'm just in that weird not-yet-out stage of transitioning where I don't pass as a woman and don't try to present as one yet. Therefore, for all intentions and purposes, society still sees me as a man. Which is frustrating, because when it comes to haircuts I'm still feeling the "man box".

My hair is...VERY important to me. It's the one outward way I feel I've rebelled postively and, dare I say it, nicely, from both what my parents want, and what society demands I must have, as a person who still presents as male. Don't get me wrong, my hair DOES look dorky. Its frizzy and goes everywhere and eugh. In fact it looks so...big...sometimes that many days I hate it. But it also needs to go through this stage. I'd like cute, long, wavy, girly hair, but I won't get that if I cut my hair. And right now I'm in the inbetween stage where things are hard.

My parents suggest for my "interview" (lets just call it that so I dont get tired explaining it) next week that I need to a) cut my hair or b) tie it back firmly (VERY MUCH SUPPORT THE LATER). I get my parents want to protect me from being laughed at (they tell me to cut my hair at least once a day if I'm around them) though that's frustrating because if they understood how deeply important this was to me things'd be different. I've told my mum I'm trans, but she just says "this is the way the world works" if I try and tell her I don't want to cut my hair.

It's frustrating that society expects you to fit into two completely neat boxes: traditional male, or traditional female. Actually...even writing that out proves that isn't so. I don't want to play the "I have it worse than you!" game, but the simple fact is that men (and transwomen that don't pass/get read as their birth gender--me) have to fit into a much narrower space than women.

rata
09-07-2013, 05:50 PM
Hi Windy
just do what I did. My hair was long and had no shape it wasn't cut into into a female style and in boy mode looked silly. So found a new stylist and told her I want in cut in a feminine layered style and it now looks heaps better and suits me in either girl or male appearance. Plus it stopped the parents moaning cause I got it cut but made it look more fem. I guess what i'm trying to say is there is a difference between how they cut long male hair and long female hair and if you don't tell your stylist to cut it in a feminine style you wont probably find what you're looking for. Remember when growing your hair out you still need regular trims now and again to tidy up any split ends and keep it looking stylish. As for society just tell them to go take a running jump.

Nicole Erin
09-07-2013, 07:16 PM
If this is some job interview, don't go cutting your hair over some job you may not even get.

For hair maintenance, yeah my hair would frizz and be horrid too but then I keep a short femme style. A flat iron will help but takes some practice and once you do that, you can usually go a few days without having to wash cause moisture causes hair to take back on it's natural shape. You could get a chemical relaxer, sometimes that helps. Doesn't perform miracles but helps.

Kelly DeWinter
09-07-2013, 08:04 PM
Windy

OK time for a 'reality check' . You live at home with your parents and from your other posts are embarking on a lifestyle that requires money, $$$, mmolah, cashola. You earn that by working. your parents are not trying to protect you from being laughed at , they are trying to launch your butt out into the real world. The real world as cruel and harsh as it is does not really discriminate as much as you might perceive it . Yes, get used to the idea that people are generally expected to conform at work to expected norms in dress and grooming. I don't like it any more then you do, and support anyone who wants to be 'themselves''. BUT unless you are independently wealthy , have a trust fund or a sugar daddy, you will have to conform to get the better paying jobs.

My recommendation, cut the hair, get a job , establish yourself in a profession , then revisit the 'Rebellion attitude" and see if it's still the road you want to take.

You are too young to have such issues with your parents, it's not like they are giving you bad advice.

Paula_56
09-08-2013, 06:19 AM
Kelly

Kudo's for the the reality check!