Being a curly-haired woman can sometimes feel like you picked the short straw of life. Rain often equals disaster, our wallets feel the weight of our curled strands and our straight-haired sisters seem to get all the attention. Being curly is a minority of sorts — at least in the way the hair type and texture is treated — even though we control more than half of the world’s population.
Recently, however, curly hair has taken more of a front seat — at least as fall approaches. Every fall, without fail, the runaways fill up with curly models showcasing their “woodsy” locks, and the media consistently comments on the look — more so than your average winter, spring or fall straight hair, bright highlights or feathers would be commented on.
For the most part, I take no offense to the trend. I figure it is just some fashionista artistic thing that I won’t ever fully understand, plus it makes for some great curly news. However, if you have been paying any attention to the articles being published on here over the past month, you’d notice that there seems to be a slightly different trend to this fall’s curly hair take-over.
The New York Times’ Curly Hair Hero
U.S. Representative Schultz and her husband arrive for a State Dinner honoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House in Washington.We all know that curl bashing is nothing new. What is uncommon, however, is for a publication such as the New York Times to hand out some curly love.
The New York Times recently published a story titled, “Making Waves, With No Apologies” featuring runway models, Taylor Swift, Rebekah Brooks and, my personal favorite, Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Schultz has wavy hair, and she’s not afraid to show it. She has defied popular culture and worn her natural waves for as long as this curly can remember — and not without some fierce rebuttal.
Prominent Female Curlies
- Samira Ahmed, former channel 4 newscaster who quit after being told her locks were too “scruffy” for TV.
- Merida from Pixar’s “Brave,” the first animated curly heroine.
- Taylor Swift, the curly to straight chameleon everyone likes better with curls!
Fox News anchor Monica Crowley ignored Schultz’s political opinion in a recent interview and focused on her hair instead calling her, “She of the angry perm.”
Unfortunately, Crowley isn’t alone in her curly hair ignorance. Stephen Colbert, in all his glory, joked about the congressman’s hair, calling her the “home perm after model.”
To this, Schultz simply replied, “I thought it was hysterical. My hair has always been a subject of conversation. I have a lot of it!”
The New York Times columnist praises Schultz as a curly hair hero for staying on topic, ignoring negative comments about her hair, and always looking professional, put together and just plain awesome — curls and all.
As for myself, I have to agree — despite the multitudes of blog posts and comments stating things such as, “Her style is 1960’s, greasy, dirty, hippie. Some fashion statement,” and “You’ve got to be kidding me! She’s a dog, plain and simple.”
Want More?
Can’t wrap your head around the idea of curly hair becoming more mainstream? Check out what Patti Stranger of “Millionaire Matchmaker” has to say about curly haired women.
Final Thoughts
Debbie Wasserman Schultz stands her ground, proving that curly hair and professions in which straight locks are seemingly required, can definitely go together — and with power and oomph, too!
