For most women, hair is a constant work in progress. We spend thousands of hours sculpting, molding and eradicating it. Different hair shapes and lengths have served to define and punish us. Short hair on your head, along with long hair on your legs or under your arms means you most likely hate men. You’re a feminist or a lesbian. If you shave your legs, you aren’t a feminist. When you are sick, your hair falls out. In India, a shaved head can represent purity. Women accused of adultery used to have theirs cut short to indicate their infidelity and impurity. Being natural means having a nappy kitchen, sideburns, a bush, Buckwheat in a headlock, man legs, a ‘stache or a goatee. We trade nature for razor bumps, lye and chemical burns, enflamed crotches and wax burns. Our body hair is our work of art and our bondage. Either we use it to fit in or to buck the system. We sculpt it, pluck it, shave it, braid it, cut it, grow it, extend it, color it, relax it, brush it, twist it, and lock it up. We remove it from some areas and add it to others. One thing we rarely ever do is just let it be.
