I Am Woman, Hair Me Roar

On Monday, I had the good fortune to go on Fox News Live to talk about my research into stay-at-home moms returning to work. I got across all my key messages in a three-minute segment and managed to breathe at the same time. At home later that day watching the show on Tivo with DH, all I could think was: My hair looked like soggy cardboard. On national tv.

I love that I care so much about hair. Finding joy (and agony) in your hair is a quintessentially female characteristic, like believing you can will cars to not hit your children, like believing a pair of new shoes can change your identity.

[For anyone new to On Balance, let me explain that Friday is reserved for light subjects, like hair, summer vacations and shoes. Solving the problems of the world occurs Monday through Thursday.]

I -- usually -- have pretty "good" hair, chemically-assisted blonde, reasonably obedient and manageable. I am incompetent in terms of doing anything with it, so I've never mastered any hair tools beyond a blow dryer. I am terrible with other people's hair, too. I once destroyed my little sister's self-esteem with a botched at-home haircut, so I steer clear of my two daughters' hair now.

So tell us about your hair. What does it look like? Was it different when you were a child? Did it change when you were pregnant? Has it ever fallen out? Are you good at styling it? Why do women care more about hair than men? What does your hair tell the world about you?

By Leslie Morgan Steiner |  May 4, 2007; 7:00 AM ET  | Category:  Free-for-All
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