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Kirsten Dunst is on the January cover of Lucky mag, talking hunks and hairdo’s. In the interview, she fesses up to once cutting her hair short at the bidding of her then-boyfriend, saying:
“The last time I cut it short, my boyfriend at the time was like, ‘You look so much better with short hair.’ So I cut it off. I know, I know, so stupid! My girlfriend thinks he just didn’t want any guys to look at me.”
I tried to do some sleuthwork, but all guesses as to who the pixie-loving dude was are open. This is the sort of thing I initially get all lemon-faced over – Making yourself over for a guy! Archaic! Ok, not that archaic, since that was the whole premise behind “She’s All That”.
But once I’m over being upset, of course I understand why a woman would take this sort of encouragement all the way to the salon. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good for the person you’re knocking boots with, especially since boot-knocking involves getting naked, waking up to morning light and morning breath, and all sorts of times when your roots feel doubly exposed. Any woman who claims to never even think about changing their look for a guy is either lying or from a place where fashion is Lee jeans and sweatshirts from the hardware store. And even those women want to keep their frosted ‘do’s nice and icy.
But like Kirsten’s friend said, sometimes a guy’s sudden interests in cosmetology have less to do with you looking your best and more to do with their control. I once chopped my hair super short and met a friend for lunch the next day. She told me she’d always wanted to try the look, but her boyfriend would “never let” her cut her long hair. I’m not sure how literally she meant that, but I wanted to say, “Maybe he’ll let you cut off something else” and then dramatically drag a fake knife across my throat.
I’m happy when a guy I’m into is both observant and comfortable enough to compliment my look, as long as it’s coming from him and not a need to either parade or compete with the other dogs on the block (i.e. “you should dress/wear your hair/do your makeup ‘more like her'”). I don’t need a peanut gallery in order to look my best, even if he’s my dear peanut. Out of all the parts I can control, trim, pluck, lift, tuck, cut and color, it’s the things I can’t touch up at the salon or buy online that I want to be my best. Thanks, anyway, Dude with a Thing for Girls who wear Oversized Bows!
