Essay by Emily Chae
Artwork by Tarah Lim
WE ARE NOT OUR HAIR
A societal observation through the lens of one particular Asian girl
Black
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[default mode]
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Au naturel; santé; les étudiantes
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Approvals from other Asian women and men above the age of 50
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Discovered in teen years that long black hair is exoticized by white male in Hollywood, or general white male population with yellow fever, to which my reaction is WHY?
Brown
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Intended look: Professional but not boring
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How other people see it: Early in your career
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Do not assume all brown hair colors are the same!! She took WEEKS deciding which shade of brown she wants to color her hair with
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How to compliment her choice of brown shade: The trick is to look at the hair under the sunlight; “It’s the red-ish brown right?” or “There’s a tint of gold in it!”
Blonde
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[rebellious; experimental; mode] – Good girl gone WILD
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A quick 4 months. . . before mother finds out!!!
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2 x bleach + 1 x tint = $400
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If you’re a KPOP group member, this will be a mandatory phase that fans demand
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If you’re not a KPOP group member, you will be known as “That Blonde Asian Chick”
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Internally: am I conceding to the white beauty standards? Or am I just having FUN???
Color Streaks
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Origin: 90’s the real Harajuku girls
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Current: what Hollywood thinks Asian girls should look like
Red/Blue
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[emo mode] activated
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She’s unique. She’s different. She’s expressing. She’ll be what she wants to be.
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“She must be an attention hoe and definitely won’t be taken seriously,” says my mom’s neighbor directly to her
Green
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Blue gone wrong
Grey
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Traditionally old; alternative blond
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ABG’s aggressively denies it’s grey and convinces you that it’s silver
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Hoarding Purple shampoos
Now back to Black
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Reformed; I’m returning from experimenting
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“This is au naturel look” or she just lazy
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About to hit the age of becoming a mother
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Will start giving disapproval look to azn teens trying to die their natural hair
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The cycle begins . . .