It may seem like a small detail but short
hairstyles for women actually indicate changing social mores and expectations.
In decades involving increasing self-confidence for women, both in society and
in economics, one would notice that women's hairstyle choices tend to
expand-with many choices involving shorter cuts. In times where there is a
resurgence of conservative ideas regarding marriage, femininity and women's
roles in society, women's hairstyles tend to be long or medium length. This is
not an accident. Fashion, it should be remembered, is a cultural phenomenon.
Since culture is influenced by economics and social trends, it shouldn't be
surprising that decades' specific hairstyles are also open to influence from
the changing times.
The flapper era and the bob cut
In the 1900s, the biggest era that saw a
change in women's roles was the Flapper era which preceded the stock market
crash of 1929 which set off the Great Depression. In this era, women were
awakening to the huge social changes in store for them with their attainment of
the right to vote. Suddenly, more and more women flocked to colleges and
graduate programs. More and more women also went into business. This was an era
of newly discovered confidence. More and more women became confident of the
endless possibilities in store for them aside from the traditional roles of
homemaker and wife. The bob cut and other short hairstyles for women prevalent
in the Flapper era represented a grab at traditional male hairstyles. The bob
cut represented confidence, maturity, and adventurousness. Obviously, it wasn't
a hairstyle for every woman but novels that epitomized this era such as F.
Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby highlighted the newfound confidence women
had in possibilities.
Sadly, this renewed confidence didn't last
long because of the Great Depression.
The mod era of the 1960s
Thanks to the huge demographic tidal wave
represented by the Baby Boom generation, the 1960s was all about angst,
impatience, restlessness, frustration with conformity, and experimentation.
Besides producing long haired hippie hairstyles, the 1960s was also famous for
its mod haircuts. Models like Twiggy routinely wore short hairstyles for women.
While this contrasted dramatically with the more common long hairstyles worn by
many women in the 1960s, the resurgence of extremely short hairstyles for women
in the early to mid 1960s was not surprising given demographic and
technological trends. You see, the early 1960s was the beginning of the Birth
Control revolution. Thanks to these hormone-packed pills, women achieved a huge
degree of control over their lives. When it comes to life choices, there is no
decision more important than deciding whether to have kids, when to have them,
and how many kids to have. Thanks to the commercial rollout of the birth
control pill and other contraceptives back in the 1960s, women had more freedom
and power of their own bodies and their own choices. Again, just like in the
1920s, whenever there is a surge in female empowerment, one key hallmark of
celebrating such power is to appropriate short hair. Since men held social
power and men had short hair, there is nothing like celebrating women's
achievement of personal power when they use the same short hairstyles.
One key subset of this movement is the mod
era of the 1960s. By 'mod', we're not just talking about the haircuts made
popular by the early 1960s mod movement embodied by the early music of The Who,
ska bands, and others. Instead, we're talking about the modern sensibility and
ultracosmopolitan ethic of urbanized America at this time. 'Mod' in this
context means 'modern' and a rebellion against traditional looks and
conventions. And when it comes to flouting convention, nothing turns heads more
than appropriating short male haircuts with a different styling twist. It is no
surprise that short hairstyles for women in the 1960s emphasized very short
lengths but playing up the 'femininity' of women by emphasizing long lashes and
luscious lip stick. If you don't think this is too 'modern', it is because you
are looking at these hairstyles in hindsight. In fact, if you examine the 'mod'
look compared to what went on before, you can quickly appreciate how big of a
step the 'mod' look was. After all, in the early 1960s, over the top and
flamboyant 'bouffant' hairdos were all the rage. These are huge wedding cake
style hairstyles that took lots of hairspray and a measure of cantilever
engineering skills that would make F. Lloyd Wright proud.
The rise of punk short hairstyles for women
Finally, the ultimate break from convention
took place in the malaise of the 1970s. Back in the days of runaway inflation,
stagnant growth, massive unemployment, and growing boredom with mass-produced
corporate music, punk was born. The punk ethic may have differed from region to
region but one thing people who appreciated punk culture can agree on was that
punk embodied the 'do it yourself' ethic. No slick productions. No heavy
emphasis on looks. Instead, stripped down, minimalist, and raw won the day.
This was the case for both Short Hairstyles For Women as well as music and art.
Thanks to the explosion in consciousness that punk brought to the table, women
sporting Sinead O'Connor hairstyles now wouldn't cause a commotion or turn
heads. That's how far punk has taken women's hairstyles forward.
Cheers,
Fiona L.
Fiona L.
