esrosedotblog

CUTTING EDGE

I have been letting my hair grow since last September. I had been an every-three-weeks "#2 metal-no-taper" head-shave guy.

This is not the first time. I let my hair grow in the late 60's and early 70's. Everyone did. Then, I got it cut short for work. The client environment got conservative again in the 80's. They didn't want countercultural anymore. Business considerations trumped social conscience.

I let it grow again around 1990; adopted a pony tail. That time, I cut it when I found a lot of hair falling out. I was told that 'less was more' when it came to pattern baldness. This is not true actually. Less is less, period; but I bought into the theory. I think I was also tired of walking around with a kids' braid in my hair. I never learned how to use the leather tie someone gave me. Besides, my baby hair doesn't make much of a tail. Structural failure.

Some people ask 'why are you letting your hair grow'?; as if there is a rational answer. People generally ask pretty stupid questions. What they mean is that they don't like it. I muddle through with a sort of 'just because' reply. Truth: I have to admit it's about getting attention. I got my first buzz in Ninth Grade (14/homo-puberty). I just did it and let the parents have their own reaction; a big first step out from under. I got a lot of comments from other kids--older boys who I had eyes for--Ron Dougherty. I felt avant garde. I was at the beginning of a 'wave' (heh heh).

Since then, I have timed my style changes judiciously; getting a jump on the culture and garnering some attention. No exception now. Noticed how close cuts and shaves have dominated for awhile? Aren't you tired of it? Aren't they? It is a lot of work to shave your head every day. I predict a swing to the hairy side again. Cycles. I am in the vanguard.

'Letting it grow' is not easy though. You don't just sit there and let it happen. It takes a while to get the hair right as it grows out. There is the first period of constant mirror looking. Then, once I had something, using the brush to cultivate whatever wave is possible with the scant new growth. I inherit my Dad's wavy but not wiry hair. Yeh. I suppose there is a Dad thing in there too, like everything else. Next is the 'adolescent' phase--the wave gets all gawky and wild like. It is 'necessary' to wet-curl it under with the comb. Finally, it's long enough (down to my lower nape now), that I do not have to tweak it. I wash it, slap on some gel, and comb it straight back and down; towards the center. It curls nicely as it dries and looks pretty good. The gel gives the baby hair some consistency.

I do go to the barber occasionally to get the 'do' looking good on the sides; 'shaped' she calls it. I have had the sides trimmed about three times. Now the sides are shorter than the back. I just realized that I have a MULLET; sides short, back long, top cut low (in this case nature has done the top job).

The mullet is not just a big fish. The term Mullet (hair context obviously) traces back to the 1967 prison film Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy, in which Kennedy's character refers to Southern men with long hair as "Mullet Heads".

In case you are confused, you can take a look at Mullets Galore which has a great compendium; hundreds of mullet types (click on Classifications). Another great mullet site is Mullet Madness; a bit more academic and serious; including news flashes from the around the mullet world. Then there is Mullet Junky which has a very conservative and classic view of how a mullet should be conducted.

So this is a new thing; but it is an old thing too. Mullets have been around all the time; not just in trailer parks and/or in the south; but in little, unique, demographic cul de sacs; a greater society linked by its common 'roots'. It has always been there, waiting for its moment. I am on the 'cutting' edge of mullet-dom.