If You Have "Mom Hair" and You Know it, Clap Your Hands...

This morning on the Today Show, Meredith Viera had on two guests, contributors from MomLogic.com no less, to talk about the pressing topic of "mom hair."  I tuned in because I could hardly wait to hear exactly what "mom hair" entailed and whether or not I have it.

Turns out, most of us "moms" do.  I mean, in an article which appeared on Momlogic.com entitled What Does Your "Mom Hair" Say About You, the writer, Wendy Walsh, talks about the "famous new-mom haircut."  The style I believe she refers to, is what I call the "sensible haircut" historically worn by dozens of famous TV moms.  Cuts a la Carol Brady and Bonnie Franklin's Ann Romano are part of what Walsh is talking about.  Like a pair of trusted sturdy shoes, the "mom hair" does not attract attention, rather it sits on the head, almost invisible.

Exactly the look modern moms are going for.  Not.

These days, Walsh contends, many new moms resort to the "perma-ponytail", and the "baseball cap with the "McDonald's Employee" ponytail sticking out the back" since "we all know that signals a long night with a screaming teether."
 

Walsh isn't wrong necessarily.  After all, my long hair is often held captive in a neat ponytail (I don't do the baseball cap look) or a bun.  And while it definitely doesn't tell the world "Hey World!  I spent hours on my hair today!", I'm not sure it screams "mom hair" either.

Me with my 2-week-old babe, May 2006.  Notice the "mom hair."

See, the whole thing I find totally odd about this (admittedly unimportant) topic, isn't the fact that ponytails and baseball caps say something about the care Mrs. X took to put herself together, it's that the focus on the piece is on moms.  Like moms aren't feeling self-conscious enough about their "new bodies" and newly acquired eye-luggage, now we have to worry that we're not spending enough time on our hair?

Give. Me. A. Break.

According to Walsh (who has a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology), "hair is our most obvious signal to the world of our internal state of mind. Hair can be linked to our moods and even our sexuality."  And while this might be true, is this fact exclusive to moms?  What about career gals who like to hit snooze a few times?  And those pole dancers who don't like getting their hair stuck in their lip-gloss every night?

To be fair, the article ran on Momlogic.com, a website obviously geared toward us sleep-deprived, unkempt, sexless women.  But the angle on the Today Show?  Didn't do it for me.  Made me feel lumped into that fat and ugly category that moms with young kids often find themselves.  Today Show could've talked about hair in relation to our moods, and still  had Walsh as their guests.  Because the dr. is  right - I can't think of one single time while I suffered from depression and anxiety that I got excited to get my hair done.

My final thoughts on this - MOMS!  Don't matter if your hair is up or down or sideways.  So long as you're not feeding your kids food from a box, you're a MILF in my opinion.

:)

Comments

[Girlspintout]

Thank you so much for writing this. You and I were watching this in real time conversing on Twitter (through my personal account @hollysmommie) and both felt like they missed the boat.
I think new moms today have a lot going on. Not only do we deal with the everyday things EVERYONE is going though (like losing 2/3 of our family's income and having a baby in the same month! ouch!) we are also told every time we hit up the store that Kourtney Kardashian got her pre-baby body back! and oooh Kendra! Rockin' a bikini already! Seriously? That isn't real life. I bounced back to an even better body post baby - but none of it matters because no one else cares but me. I'm not on the cover of Us Weekly and The Today Show would scoff at my flip flops - but that's what I see every. freakin. day. and I didn't do my hair today. :)

[Erin]

Ugh, seriously? This is sickeningly superficial.

[Audrey - Mom Generations]

I saw the same segment, too. Mom hair for me was like a freaking 4 inch root for 4 years. No joke. It was always up... and you know what, I was just glad I was functioning! Always love your posts, mama!!
xoxo
Audrey