Tangled in Your Hair

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"Alam mo, mas gwapo ka pag maikli yang buhok mo (You know, you'd look better with shorter hair)," Rommel told me, insisting that he drive me at once to the nearest barbershop.

I was aghast. A barbershop???? Rommel and his friends dragged me from the club the previous night and we were hanging out at his place and having lunch while still gulping down some alcoholic drink he concocted.

"Honey!!! He wanted to (gasp) chop off my golden locks!!!!" I told Vackie the next day.

"Hahaha. You should have told him to keep his hands off your hair," V said, laughing. "And that you never go to a barber. It's so ... antiquated."

 
 

Once upon a time, hair was as much as an indication of wealth and social status as it was of taste and fashion. How you dressed your hair showed who you were and who you did.

During the Roman era, women curled, twisted, and looped their hair to create elaborately arranged layers. In the 18^th century courts of the European kings and queens, women and men donned elaborate wigs, mile-high coiffures and lavishly decorated curls. A complex hairstyle illustrated the wealth of the wearer as it showed he or she can afford to take the time to do his or her hair.

 
Nowadays, hair has become mainly an expression of personal identity. Women and men are experimenting with a plethora of styles that even stylists (and perhaps, even barbers too) are boggled.

All of a sudden, men in New York, Tokyo, and Paris don't want just a normal trim. Instead, they want 360 Waves, mohawks, dreadlocks, Afros and pompadours. And these are just the styles that have names. Often enough, these clever young lads crossbreed styles into hybrids to create their own personal look.



I always had a fascination with hair. In my lifetime, I have had short hair, semikalbo (nearly bald), long, curly, wavy, straight, with bangs, without bangs, and practically everything in between.

Hair allows me to play, to create a different character, a different version of me. You can be a foxy brunette one day, an edgy dark haired rock star the next, or a golden haired prince. It allows you to be anything you want to be.

But of course, everyone knows that in the gay world, the most commercial and sellable look is still the short haired clean cut one. Whether you're in Paris or Manila or LA, more than half of the population of gay guys sport this look.

So wearing your hair long can be tricky especially for someone like me. My features are not masculine. (Sigh). I am not dark skinned, hairy, heavy nor tall.

I look androgynous and the longer my hair grows, the more feminine my appearance becomes. Which in the gay world, translates to scaring potential dates away.

But … I am very stubborn. Although short hair does suit me, I refuse to change how I look just to please a guy. You'll get more men, my friends would say. But I don't need more men. I want someone who will be able to appreciate how unconventional I am.

My hair has grown longer over the past few months. I normally tie it in a ponytail so it doesn't get unruly. Yes, it is difficult to maintain. And on ordinary days, you look like shit.

But on some days, when the wind cooperates and you catch the sunlight in the right way, you just might get lucky.

 
 

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