Is a woman's power in her hair?

by Brittany Geragotelis

The other day, I was looking at myself in the mirror (this is easy to do when one of your walls is floor to ceiling mirrors) and got the idea that it might be time to cut off all my hair again. I asked my boyfriend, Matt, what he thought about it and he said, "I think that would be a great idea, babe." I looked at him, a bit surprised by his response. "You do?" I asked. "Sure," he said. "I think it's a great idea...if you don't want to have a boyfriend anymore."

Of course he was kidding, but I started to think about the power of hair. I've had my hair all different lengths over the years: really short (think pixie flip), chin-length bob, shoulder-length with layers, long and blunt. Right now, it's long with layers. Now, I love the idea of my long hair...I like what other women do with their long hair and wish I could do the same. However, my hair tends to end up up in a bun, ponytail or claw clip about 90% of the time. And that makes me wonder why I even have it long if I'm just going to pull it up every day. In fact, I tend to style my hair a lot more often when it's short than when it's down to my butt.

I'm in the middle of watching the series, "Ally McBeal" on DVD (side note: is there anything better than watching a show 10 years after the first time you watched it? It's incredible. You already know from the first time you watched it that you like it, but you've forgotten all the specifics, so it's like watching it again for the first time!) and Portia DeRossi's character, Nell, is this ice-queen, uber smart, hard-assed lawyer. And every time she lets down her long, luscious locks, people around her become tongue-tied, brain-dead, incompetant idiots. It's like her secret weapon.

And if the past is any indication, guys tend to vote on the side of long hair. I remember, when I first started talking to Matt, I'd recently gone through a break-up and told him I was going to cut off all my hair and donate it to Locks of Love. He was very against this idea and tried to convince me not to do it. Of course, feeling the need to cut my past off at the roots, I cut it anyway and sent it off to benefit someone else. The next time Matt saw me, he shook his head at me and gave me a "what did you do?!?!" look.

Despite the fact that my hair was short (but totally cute), Matt was able to see past his preference for long hair and asked for my number anyway. And now, two and a half years later, we're still going strong. So, the question is, is all our power really in our hair or is it in what's underneath the coif? I'm still not sure what the answer is, so for now, the hair remains long. But you never know...I always have the power to change my mind.

5x5,

B.