Justin Bieber's Hair Has Nothing On My Kid
Long before Justin Bieber hit the scene I knew that boys took their hair very seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if my eldest son believed that his blonde mane gave him superpowers. That would explain his hatred of getting it cut and his constant uttering: “my hair is me.”
It’s not that his hair is just long, the back does hit the nape of his neck, it’s the constant look of bedheadishness that makes it so special. His hair is neither straight nor curly, but that in between that would make women weep with frustration but looks good on men. He sports a “surfer ‘do” reminiscent of Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High but not quite that long.
The funny thing about his hair is that it makes him stick out, even though he insists that he doesn’t want to be different, that he just wants to blend in with the crowd. He uses his crazy hair to say to the world: Look at me, I’m different. Which of course, he is. He is a quirky kid trying to fit in with mainstream Grade 4 boys whose hair all behaves and lies flat.
It’s funny how long hair on boys is a cultural divider. We have people tell us how super cool his hair is and we have had lots of people ask us why we don’t force him to cut it. We take the position of picking our battles and haircuts are something that can turn into an all-out-war. Our only rule is that he has to be able to see, so when his bangs get too long he is dragged to get a trim by the cool dude at the local hair stylist where the two of them debate the ins and outs of the current music scene.
This is not a photo of him (part of his shyness is no photos allowed) but it is very close to what his hair looks like, just imagine the back all sticking up every which way.
While the use of the hair dryer is not an important part of our daily rituals, if all 16 year olds are like the mighty JB, then there seems like we will be fighting over the hair products in a few years.
What do you think about long hair on boys?
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