Cutting our hair, especially when it’s long, is never a decision that is made lightly.
Whether it’s a personal choice or a recommendation from a hairdresser, it can be just as much an emotional adjustment as a vanity one.
A trend has emerged across TikTok showing women chopping their locks, with the caption explaining their decision as ‘hair holds memories’.
The meaning behind the trend is that they are letting go of a part of themselves that identifies with a certain hair length and stepping into a new version of themselves.
As they watch their tresses fall from their shoulders, some of these women become visibly emotional as they seem to find reclamation and power from the experience.
Elsewhere, women are sharing their before and after, with their fresh cuts showing them as happier and stronger.
@mackenziejsweeney Apparently hair holds memories, so i chopped it all off 🦋 #fyp #hairholdstrauma #haircut #capcut ♬ i love you so – chillytunees
But does our hair actually hold memories?
Scientifically, no.
While our hair is one of the first indicators that our bodies are experiencing stress or anxiety (e.g., by falling out or changing texture), there is no scientific evidence to suggest that our hair holds onto memory or trauma.
However, it’s more of a personal, mental, spiritual, and emotional linkage.
When we experience a period of hardship and come out the other end, we may want to shed parts of the version of ourselves who had to contend with the pain, hair included.
@faick_hair New Hair New Life, Part.1 #hairtransformation #shorthair #shorthaircut #trend #beautiful #girl #viral ♬ I Love You So – The Walters
Hair is a huge part of our lives, and while it may not scientifically hold onto memories, it is a powerful symbol of identity.
As per MindPath Health, Sandra Cooze, a trauma release coach, says in many cultures, hair is seen as something sacred, an extension of us.
“Hair holds both positive and negative energy. It is an extension of our mind holding our thoughts, emotions, stress, hopes, and fears.
“Cutting our hair is healthy not only for our hair, but for our overall well-being.”
@niamhadkins who was she
♬ i love you so – chillytunees
Think about it; it’s likely very easy to recall a hairstyle from different parts of our lives, be it our secondary school or college years or throughout a relationship, for example.
When these parts of our lives come to an end or we undergo big life changes, we may no longer identify with that part of ourselves.
@dixiedamelio and it will grow back 🫶🏻
♬ i love you so – chillytunees
Britney Spears 2007
After reading Britney Spears’s memoir, The Woman In Me, I couldn’t help but make the connection between this trend today and the infamous time when she shaved her head in 2007.
While the world accosted the singer and branded her as mentally unwell for the decision, Britney, in her memoir, reflected on the head shaving as her way of “pushing back’ after having been ‘eyeballed’ her entire life.
She felt in control and empowered by her choice, but this moment, sadly, was one of the key events that led to the conservatorship, where she was forced to grow her hair back.
“Under the conservatorship I was made to understand that those days were now over,” she writes.
The Gimme More singer says that even during her Las Vegas residency, she felt her identity was tied into her hair, despite not having little to no control over it,
As performers, we girls have our hair… That’s the real thing guys want to see. They love to see the long hair move. They want you to thrash it. If your hair’s moving, they can believe you’re having a good time.
In the most demoralizing moments of my Las Vegas residency, I wore tight wigs, and I’d dance in a way where I wouldn’t move a hair on my head. Everyone who was making money off me wanted me to move my hair, and I knew it — so I did everything but that.
Britney Spears, The Woman In Me
Hair symbolism in film
In scenes where characters are about to make a big change or retaliate against any kind of oppression or knockback, haircutting is often how the film will convey the character’s change or growth.
From a young age, we have seen strong women step into their power and true selves by chopping their locks.
In the Disney tale Rapunzel, her iconically long hair symbolises her imprisonment, and it being cut later would be the key to her freedom from the tower she spent her life in.
In a more literal sense, in the film Gone Girl, the main character, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike), who is literally trying to change her identity, chops her hair into a bob and changes its colour.
“Nick loved a girl I was pretending to be. The cool girl. Men always use that don’t they, as their defining compliment. Cool girl is hot’,” Amy thinks as she hacks her hair off.
Granted, she was doing it for more sinister reasons than most (I won’t ruin the plot), but the power of hair and identity for women is undeniable.
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