If I Swear My Hair Isn’t Asian
Then what am I?
Because I swear my hair is suspiciously Very UN-Asian-like.
Admittedly, I am--by no means--an expert on Asian hair (or on anyone's hair for that matter). Even my self-proclaimed 'expertise' in dealing with my own hair is rather dubious at times. However, I do possess a not-always-favorable-and-experienced opinion on this unruly mass momentarily restrained by several clips to a somewhat respectable entanglement.
Oh wait, did I say unruly in that run-on sentence? I meant curly.
Yeah, that's right. I'm this five-foot-nine Chinese girl with naturally curly hair.
Which right now isn't its natural black, but a dark reddish-brown. You see that picture (taken in March 2007) on the side bar? It’s me…but with straightened hair. So, don’t be fooled.
Yours truly really is that tall Asian girl afflicted with curly hair, for life.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are many days when I appreciate (and yes, even feel some kind of lucky to have) these curls…
This is NOT one of those days.
Before I was introduced to Charles Darwin way back in elementary science, I was this blissfully ignorant kid who thought my wisps of curling tendrils were due to my mom's permed hair (haha!). Seeing every other Asian girl (this includes my younger sister) with naturally straight and thick hair, I didn't know how else to accept mine. Even the years after evolutionary biology shot down my naïve theory, I still don't know how to explain it. Everyone in my immediate and extended family is Chinese (last I checked).
By middle school, I went through a phase of denial and repeatedly blew-dry my hair straight, inadvertently damning it to a hideously frizzy mass (the memory so scars me that to this day I refuse to touch a hair-dryer). I went on to become a big fan of the ponytail and wore the messy bun practically every day, a style my mom claimed made me look like a spinster and my dad teasingly dubbed as "Bird's Nest Head." It wasn't until high school that I started embracing the truth, but then I was introduced to the oh-so wonderful ceramic straightener by my college roommate.
However, I'm not a morning person and I’ll be honest…I’m naturally lazy and do not like spending more than 15 minutes on hair and make-up whenever possible. And!!!! I found that after straightening my hair and showering, my hair curled even more!
I kid you not.
Oi. When you can’t beat ‘em…better off loving those personal quirks.
Gotta say though, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed baffling many a hairstylist in my young life.
;)
9 Musing(s):
I have a similar problem. I'm 6 foot tall, and all my family and extended family are all about a head shorter than me! And I'd hate to imagine P.D.* as a possible cause!
* Paternal discrepency. =)
While it's never fun to baffle anyone, it was nice to see a wink at the end of your post.
It's always good to hear about someone loving the person they are, instead of trying to become a person that someone else will love.
love is the lesson, thanks for sharing
Just embrace it! I have a few white hair on my head and I say "cool"!
Well, at the very least you have me beat, full head of hair vs. a man trying to beat mother nature by taking the norelco into his own hands. LOL. Gotta love hair, or maybe not. TTYL.
I bet there are a lot of people out there who'd love your curls. I don't know much about the forum, but you might look into naturallycurly.com for some tips.
I wish we could have seen a picture of your hair. I was googling for naturally curly Asian hair just out of curiosity and came across your page. But I still have only found 1 lonely pictures (Thai man).
I met an Asian woman with curly hair once. Don't know if it was naturally curly, but I guess. Lovely person and so was her hair. Of course, I told her so and she replied with a very strange look on her face:
"REALLY?! No..."
I bet you too sometimes wish you could see yourself through someone else's eyes. Now that would be an interesting sight.
When I was a kid, my parents would always give us the rice bowl haircut. It only works with straight hair, so count your blessings. lol. ;)
It's clearly a genetic thing maybe wayback in your family history there was a mixed relationship and after several generations the specific gene for European hair is finally dominant. Set free to cause you turmoil and angst in your everday battle with straighteners and hair washing. There's nothing like being a throwback of the gene pool relish this moment ;)
Believe it or not, but I have the same problem as you. Like you, I am also very tall compared to other Asians(around six-foot-one), and my hair is crazy curly.
Oh well...what can you do?
Post a Comment