it happens in movies because it happens in real life too. when in crisis, often there is sense of loss of control or autonomy. for most, something that can provide an outlet for such a frustration is oneâs appearance. and, while men do too, women broadly tend to have the more intimate relationship with their hair. so: haircut (or hair dye, or both).
Can confirm the guy side of this. Have shaved my head in moments of crisis. Not something I consciously considered before doing it. Just felt⌠Idk, claustrophobic and needed to do something.
Also, when my mom was in the hospital last year, had I been able to get in with one, I wouldâve had a tattoo by the time she got out.
Iâve done it before too, lowest point in my life, just grabbed some scissors and cut down my long hair :(
A little upsetting to see people calling it a trope, when it is a real reaction to trauma :/
Tropes can absolutely be based in reality. A trope is simply a commonly used stylistic device or convention in media. Sometimes itâs commonly used because reality just works that way. There nothing inherently cheap about it.
Cutting the hair short as a trope tells us that the character is in an extremely stressful or even traumatic situation and is trying to regain a sense of control. Thatâs a complex situation but can be told in seconds by relating to actual reality.
Itâs not a trope in reality but it is one when used to convey a characters emotional state in a story.
Also guy here, did this as well.
But uh, mainly because I literally cannot get to a haircut place. Been functionally hobbled for 6 months, car got stolen, donât know anybody nearby with a car, no public transit, lyft or uber + a hair cut each month is actually pretty pricey when you are living on disability, waiting for public housing.
Been ordering delivery groceries for a while now, added a buzz trimmer to it this month.
At the rate my hair grows, itâll be back to roughly the length I usually keep it at by the time my PT regimen gets me back into ânormalâ shape (probably another 6 months).
So sure, I am in what most people would probably consider a crisis, but it makes practical sense too.
Either way, cutting your hair hair is literally a more healthy way to directly exert what little amount of control you have over yourself⌠but it is, at least in my experience, far more socially ostracizing than cutting yourself.
Not counting me cutting my own hair, I have know several people in my life who have done both or either of these.
When people cut themselves and this is noticable, people who care at all will be concerned and try to talk to them, suggest therapy. They receive more care and attention.
When someone takes all their hair off? Theyâll be treated as if they are completely insane, should be avoided and are suspect, and/or are dangerous and should be institutionalized.
Hitting the nail on the head in that last paragraph.
Also, Iâm sorry. Thatâs a shitty situation. Itâs wildly unl unlikely, but if you happen to be in east TN, I have a car and donât mind taxi-ing a Lemming in need
I have full sleeve tattoos that started as piecemeal trauma tattoos. I get it.
Iâm still highly considering a tattoo, but now in a much more stable place, so my needle phobia is helping keep my canvas blank lol
Also hair is uncontrollable and gets everywhere if you let it. If you are already stressed, then you can literally get annoyed by your hair existing on your head doing its thing.
Iâve been watching Battlestar Galactica (2004) and noticed a case of the opposite. It makes sense in context, but itâs an inversion of the trope. (And when things went back to normalish she cut it short again)
I thought that wasnât a choice but instead because she wasnât allowed sharp objects. A symbol of her being forced to do things she wouldnât normally do. But maybe Iâm misremembering. I do remember the dinner scene but itâs hard to cut your hair properly by yourself with scissors much less a steak knife.
edit: I was incorrect, she had chosen to grow her hair out before that situation occurred. Time for a rewatch!
Yeah, it was a result of the situation - like I said, makes sense in context. Just a counterexample that happened to be fresh in my mind
Edit: Actually the long hair happened before the crisis Really started, when her location changed (Iâm trying to avoid spoilers to some degree) so I do think it was initially a choice, but that does mean it only vaguely fits the trope until it was not a choice.
Was Mulan the first instance?
The story of Mulan seems to take place during the Wei dynasty, and was probably written during it as well. So that would place it between the late 300âs and early 500âs CE.
I immediately thought of Samson from the old Testament. Itâs estimated that story takes place around 1,000 BCE. Not sure if anyone knows of anything older.
Trauma cut, a distancing from the identity that experienced trauma
Chopensation.