Why I cut my hair myself, WITH MY OWN HANDS.

I walked out the door, reached my room and did the weirdest thing I have done this year. I reached for my scissors and a comb, went to the bathroom sink, wet my hair sufficiently and cut my hair. It was not a crazy process like they would show in a movie. I measured the length of the hair very precisely and cut it slowly, and kept redoing it until I found some satisfaction in the process. At the end of it all, I managed fringes on my forehead and some uneven yet pretty side bangs. I could not get the bob done in this Do-It-Yourself haircut, but I will tell you I have never been this happier after a haircut in a long while.

Why I did it?

Have you ever felt less in control of your life? What have you done to regain that sense of control?

Every time I visit a salon, a mall, an e-commerce website I feel less in control of myself. There is an endless barrage of consumerism and marketing that forces people into impulsive buying. I have tried to lessen my interactions with such things to find better meaning for the time I have in a day.

But despite precautions, I was always left dependent on such things. For example, my hair. I had outgrown the pretty bob I had managed to get in a relatively new salon last year in September, where the stylist (in order to market his business) had given me the deal pretty cheap and done a better job than most other expensive salons. That was the first time I was happy with a hair cut, and I knew it was temporary because as soon as a business grows, they make the services more expensive and the customer service turns shitty.

Last month, I thought I will get a new haircut, after a 6 month sabbatical from salons, in Thailand where I was hopeful of finding value for money. Alas! they were really expensive, and left me frustrated as always.

After I came back to India, I visited a few parlours(as they are called here.) A pretty decorated receptionist explained the ascending hierarchy and rates of the stylists as follows-

Stylist<< Senior Stylist<

Just tell me if these demarcations make any sense to you. I asked her I need a bob by the stylist. And she explained that only basic trimming is done by stylist and complicated hairstyles like bob should be done by only Top stylist and above. Then why do you even ask me what stylist I want? Why can’t you simply slap a stylist onto me and give me my freaking haircut. To make matters worse, she went on to explain how I can opt for the lower grade stylist for my bob too, but she can not guarantee the perfection of the haircut. And she gave marketing textbook statements like, “A woman goes for a haircut only once in 3–6 months in India. So, she does not mind spending a few extra bucks for her haircut. After all, appearance adds to your personality in the modern world, and helps you in your workplace.” WTF! Maybe there are many women who will be intimidated by such statements. We have a fear that if we walk out of a shop after looking at the rates, we will be perceived poor and lowly, and just to maintain our face we tag along with whatever the salespeople tell us. End of the day we feel frustrated, our wallets are empty and we have the worst value provided for our money. We should be confident enough to walk out the door.

After I walked out the door, I finally felt in control of my life and body.

Why should we depend on others for everything that we want to be done?