The idea of getting therapy and actually working out your issues that you are battling are long gone. Nowadays, there is a much easier and cheaper method of taking care of your mental breakdowns and relieving some emotions. Cutting off the front of your hair is now the new craze and is the form of ultimate expression, to fix yourself and feel better - with a pair of scissors. Women giving themselves bangs has become a trend for all age groups, in a form of dealing with their emotions and stress, in a physically harmless way. In “The Risk of Getting Bangs” by Kaitlyn Tiffany, bangs can represent the ongoing, internal battle of mental health issues that many women are facing. Tiffany argues that mental health issues are a combination of impulsive decisions and mental breakdowns, resulting in emotional-distress bangs. This is significant because mental health issues can lead to more severe decisions than an impulsive haircut, if not taken seriously and actually dealt with in a professional manner.
In “The Risk of Getting Bangs”, Tiffany concentrates on the connection between breakups and impulsive decisions, and mental breakdowns. Tiffany tries to understand these crises and conclusions by checking out fashion blogs, different celebrities, and a variety of posts from multiple women, about their bangs story. Alyssa Limperis is a comedian that Tiffany spoke with, about her own personal story on bangs. Limperis states that she had posted a tweet about bangs versus therapy and goes on to tell Tiffany that when it comes down to making life-changing decisions, she sees two options which include making a healthy and good decision or getting a haircut that will make her cry for the next six months (Tiffany, p.1). This can show that women tend to make impulsive decisions during tough times in their lives. Lauryn Lingenfelter, a YouTuber, also went on to say to Tiffany that every time she had gotten a haircut, it felt like some sort of mental breakdown, but she did not understand why (Tiffany, p.3). Hair is very symbolic and empowering to women; it is a sense of identity, and without it, it can be disturbing and scary to many, especially the person who did it themselves, who is possibly suffering some more serious, internal battles.
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Hair is very important to a woman, building a woman’s strength and femininity, and shaping the idea of what she thinks about herself looks. The majority of women feel a sense of femininity and empowerment when they have just gotten their hair done at the hair salon, making them feel extra beautiful. The whole issue of cutting bangs yourself, can possibly reduce the sense of femininity and rather increase or decrease the idea of empowerment, as one might feel better and stronger after making such a drastic decision to cut bangs. Nora Drake, a communications director, wrote her masters thesis on Britney Spear, about her incident in 2007 when she shaved her head in front of more than 70 photographers and goes on to say “hair is such a symbol of femininity, and when you get rid of it entirely it shocks and scares people” (Tiffany, p.2). The bangs movement is relatable to women and it joins them together, creating a connection of femininity and basically saying that it is ok to cut your own bangs in a rough situation. Women feel like they are taking action cutting their own hair but they do not see the issues this creates within them, as the bangs symbolize deeper, mental issues.
Women are filled with emotions that can cause stressful moments in life that lead them to impulsive decisions that they may regret afterward. Bangs cut by women themselves is seen as a joke and something funny that happens after a breakup or mental breakdown, but there is an impression of darkness and instability. Bangs can be a more internal, mental issue that women are not ready to face, and Rachael Gibson, better known as The Hair Historian, recognizes that bangs incline to a sign of emotional distress (Tiffany, p.4). Women can be depressed and extremely stressed but do not recognize the warning signs, and when the pressure is on, they get a pair of scissors and cut their hair, instead of getting professional help. This movement sounds like a cry for help but is taken as nothing seriously because everyone finds it relatable and hilarious. Mental health is an important topic that should not be overlooked and should be treated if there is something wrong.
Kaitlyn Tiffany’s interpretation of the connection between mental health issues and getting bangs shows how women are facing an internal battle with themselves, which leads them to such radical and spontaneous decisions. Women chop off their hair to relieve that in the moment stress and sensation of never-ending pain, instead of actually going to therapy. Breakups can lead to mental breakdowns and then to breakdown/breakup bangs, in a way to distract from the actual emotions inside. The bangs give the women a sense of power over themselves and they believe the bangs were a form of action taken to help themselves feel better. Cutting your own bangs is a way to keep your mental health in the shadows and to put a mask on for others to believe you are ok. These mental breakdowns bangs should be taken more seriously as many people hide their emotions and never get the right help that they actually need for their mental health.
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