She has this super-cute short cut that looks adorable on her, but said she gets bored with her hair and likes to change up her style from time to time.
That got us talking about this friend of hers who, growing up, had an unfortunate Jewfro that was not only massive, but bright red/orange. We both lamented how awful it must have been for her.
"Afros are coming back, you know," she said.
"Jesus, please don't say that. At least not as far as white women are concerned."
"I'm serious, I think they're coming back."
"Well, I think I've seen them in fashion editorials, but no normal person looks good in an afro. Well, black women can rock them, but most white women definitely cannot."
"Remember when they used to be so popular?"
"Tell me about it. Back in the early 80s, at some point my mother and her friends started getting perms that were defintely afro-inspired. And then I followed suit. I think it was about 1983."
"Really? That's awesome. Was it a true 'around your head' afro, or more of a Rosanne Rosannadanna type 'do?"
"Probably a combination of the two, but leaning more towards the 'around the head' deal. After the hairdresser was done, I looked in the mirror and started to cry."
We laughed.
"It's crazy the way standards for attractiveness change," I said. "But even under shifting standards, I look back at pictures of women from that time and think that there was some kind of collective cultural beauty-blindness going on. Like no one could see how ugly it all was."
"It's just all fodder for Throwback Thursday at this point."
"Right? And it really hammers something else home."
"What's that?" she asked.
I gave her a big smile.
"Men will fuck anything."
We both cracked up, but nodded in agreement.**
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*We were there for a legal conference.
**Guys, don't be offended. We were joking around. I kid because I love.
When I look back, I realize how awful my perm was.
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