“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about you bringing home any boys now that you look like one.”

Yes, these were some of the first words spoken to me, by my father, once I made one of the “biggest” choices in my life, which was to cut off most of my hair during my freshman year. I went from nearly waist long, super black hair to an auburn pixie cut without a strand that went past my cheek bones. I’ve never for a second regretted my hair cut, but what I can’t wrap my mind around is why it was such a “big” choice.

I understand, traditionally men have short hair and women are suppose to have long hair, and I get that cutting off a bunch of my hair, completely unexpectedly, is going to throw people for a loop, but it’s 2016, why is my hair what is defining me as a woman? Some guys are wearing makeup and some girls are playing on the football team. So why is hair, located anywhere on the body, such a big concept with gender roles?

Personally, I’ve never felt more feminine than I do with my short hair. But, that’s just my opinion, and other girls may feel more comfortable, feminine or however they want with long hair. No matter what, whether a woman wants to be bald with a bunch of armpit hair, or have hair down to the floor, it shouldn’t be media, men or anyone, besides themselves, that decides what they do with their hair.

The whole fad of men having short hair began when men needed to go to war. Having long hair under your helmet, during combat, became a disadvantage by making it an area that your enemy could grab onto. This meant, if you weren’t going to war, mainly women, you had no need to cut your hair and therefore, left it long. Now, it is 2016, most people aren’t running around in the middle of combat worrying about their hair being snagged on. Hair is cut more for fashion or simply, what is found comfortable. It shouldn’t be kept or done in order to please what is seen as “the norm.”

Unitedly, the population of the world can and needs to destroy the thought that each gender has a hair requirement. Don’t call a woman gross because she chooses not to shave, more than half the world’s population doesn’t shave, and if it isn’t demanded that men shave, why should women have to? Don’t call a guy with super long hair a woman he’s probably not going to combat and it probably keeps his head warm during the winter. Either way, and no matter what, don’t genderize hair. It’s just hair, almost everyone has it in one place or another, and the only person that has a right to decide what to do with it, is themselves.

At the end of the day, shaved, unbrushed, permed or nonexistent, if the person is happy with their hair, don’t kill their joy and confidence with one’s gender expectations. If someone is grossed out by the way another grooms themselves, then it’s their problem, and nobody said they had to look.