Since cutting my long dreadlocks off almost a month ago, the reactions I’ve gotten from men on the street have changed. When I had the long dreads I was constantly getting unwanted sexual attention from men (“Yo, shorty! I love yo’ hair!” “Dreads, can I walk wit’ you?” “Damn, girl, I be lovin’ yo’ dreads!” “Hey, sexy!” etc.), but now with short dyed red hair I get rude attention and made fun of.
My hair was cut into a very close-cropped style, probably no more than an inch or two long. When my hair was worn like that I’ve been called “ugly,” “bald,” “nappy” and other rude comments. It’s grown a pinch to where I can put little twists in my hair, which I like.
So this morning I’m waiting at the bus stop minding my business, when an Arlington County truck full of men zipped by and the guy in the passenger seat yelled “Hey, Lucky Charms!” at me. Since it was so fast all I could do was give them the finger. I wish I could’ve gotten their license plate so I could narrow down who it was when I reported them to Arlington County, but I had to work with what I had. This was 7/13/10 at 9:35 AM. I called the County and was transferred to its “Motor Pool” line’s answering machine. I left a message and hope someone gets back to me.
I don’t get why men act like dumb asses about my hair. IT’S JUST HAIR! When it was long I was treated like a sexual object, and now that it’s short I get treated like a joke. I just want to be treated with respect and for the assholes to leave me alone.
– Anonymous
Location: Clarendon Blvd. & Uhle Street, Arlington, VA
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No one got back to me regarding my complaint. I wish I had a license plate so I could narrow it down to the men who harassed me.
It’s really interesting how the dynamics change when women with short hair are in the public space. I just cut my hair down again, and one thing I notice is that guys actually skirt out of my way when they see me: they actually make a point in doing it. It’s a night and day difference between what I experience when I’m wearing my snood, which I sometimes do to work, and don’t have as androgynous an appearance.
Men are going to be compelled to be “nastier” to women with short hair because of the need to reinforce their masculinity in the situation. I put that in quotes because regardless of the content of the harassment, it’s all a game to intimidate or control the woman on the other end…just a different flavor to it, I guess, if that makes any sense.
That’s really disgusting that these fools did this to you while they were on their jobs and really don’t have to feel any heat for it. It’s hard to get justice for cases of more physical sexual harassment, never mind trying to get justice for these types of taunts. Just makes you sad to be female.
I can relate, Jaleesa. I went short recently, and have had men, the same types who would bend over backwards to catcall me when I had long hair, avoid eye contact with me on the streets or avoid me, period. Fine by me, since it means less attention from their rotten behinds. It is sick how backwards these men’s views on what’s feminine are.
[…] hair = lewdness, short hair = rudeness I submitted the Lucky Charms story the other day, and I feel what happened to me today fell in line with what I mentioned with having […]