It has always been a cool trend to dye your hair. Whether that’s simply getting caramel highlights or dyeing your full head bright pink. I decided to follow this trend six months ago and bleach strips of my hair and change the color every few months. One thing I did not expect was to be stereotyped.

Colorful hair has always been something I adored. When I see someone with colorful hair, I admire their color and wonder how they have the confidence to have such bright hair. I never thought of judging anyone because of their hair. To me, hair is hair; you should be able to wear it however you feel comfortable. 

I would say I’m also a person who likes change from time to time. I like changing the way my room looks, how I get ready in the morning, and the routes I take to class, because I think doing things repeatedly gets boring. I feel the same way about my hair.

First, I got bangs, then I dyed my hair black. I let the black fade and my bangs grow out, wanting to keep my natural hair for a while. During the summer, I dyed strands of hair pink because I wanted to stand out for the soccer playoffs in June. 

At first, dying my hair made me feel confident. I loved how I could express myself loudly with just a simple pop of color on my head. I felt unique and different and treasured the compliments I received every time I redyed my hair.

However, since this change, people have looked at me differently. I know that having a bright color on my head is going to get some people looking my way. But instead of the curious, interested looks, they are judgmental and disgusted. Some adults who once trusted me didn’t have that same trust for me anymore, thinking I was irresponsible. It has never affected the way I think or feel about myself, but I’ve always wondered why people do that.

Over time, I’ve eventually come to realize that brightly colored hair is associated with being unprofessional or immature. It’s very upsetting because I would consider myself a good, hard-working kid, but because I want to express myself with my hair, I’m no longer viewed that way.

Along with this, I’ve also had countless friends ask me if I’m emo or depressed. What I wonder is, how does my hair being pink, blonde, or red make me emo or depressed? Even if I dyed my hair a darker color, such as blue or purple, how does that affect who I am as a person?

If you don’t know what emo is, it is a short term for the word emotional. It is a genre of rock music, but is also associated with dark clothing, tight jeans, and band tees. It is also associated with sadness or depression and involves dark humour and creativity. 

Knowing the stereotypes of being emo, how does having colorful hair make me seem emo? Doesn’t that go against being emo because of the stereotype of darkness and sadness?

I realized I wasn’t the only person being stereotyped. There are multiple videos on my for you page on TikTok, of teenagers my age, or even young adults, having the same or similar experiences as me. It’s appalling how normalized this behavior is.
Society encourages self-expression and being different from others, but those same people who encourage it are always the first ones to criticize. From dying my hair, I learned how easy people are to judge, especially just by appearance.

Even though my hair color changes every few months, I am still the same person. I’ve learned how powerful self expression could really be about how important it is to stay true to yourself.