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layla_platt's review against another edition
3.0
3.5!
This book was really interesting and definitely made me think of my relationship with my hair and wonder what my relationship will be with it tomorrow, in 10 days, or in 10 years. I think this is a great for any women to read at any age.
This book was really interesting and definitely made me think of my relationship with my hair and wonder what my relationship will be with it tomorrow, in 10 days, or in 10 years. I think this is a great for any women to read at any age.
cedrics_mom's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable and relatable, Me, My Hair and I is a book that all women will find something to laugh out loud over, say "I thought I was the only one" over and wonder over. Hair is so many things to us: political, sexual, individual, conforming. Apparently how we do our hair and the hair choices we make say a lot of things about us and for many women those choices indicate freedom (and sadly at times its lack). While all ages and several races are included, the absence of gay hair leaves us to long-held social stereotypes. It would have been great to hear the hairstory of a gay woman but I guess that'll have to wait. Overall it's a good read and perfect for dipping in and out of as time allows.
andrea_rebekah42's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of essays. Most of the women I know--myself included--spend a lot of time and money on our hair. Sometimes that's because of vanity, but these essays show that sometimes hair is about culture, illness, attachment, or self-worth. Usually it's some kind of combination. This book proves the stories of our hair are far more fascinating than we might have realized.
eraderneely's review against another edition
I enjoyed this book, much as I thought I would, but one creeping thing started to bother me about 1/3 of the way through and it just ruined the whole experience - nearly every one of the contributors lives in New York. It just gives a very exclusive feel to a book I thought was supposed to be inclusive - all the various experiences women have with their hair.
rachelini's review against another edition
2.0
I had a hard time with the fact that a book on women's relationship with their hair would have so few essays from black women.
panda_incognito's review against another edition
3.0
Hair has never been a special interest of mine, but this essay compilation caught my eye at the library with its beautiful cover and quirky concept. From glances inside, I could see that the prose was excellent all throughout, so I decided to give it a try. Many women had interesting stories to share about the way hair affected and framed their life circumstances and journeys, and I enjoyed the anecdotes and philosophical musings, but even though each essay was unique and personal in the moment of reading it, now that I am finished with the book, most of them blur together because they dealt with such similar themes and circumstances.
There was a mix of diverse writers, so I learned new things about other's religious traditions and cultural backgrounds, but the age and economic similarities between the authors got tiring. Because they are mostly from the same generation, they had similar cultural influences and hair experiences, and now they have many of the same thoughts about hair, family, maturity, and identity. I would have appreciated the inclusion of some younger writers still figuring out their hair and themselves. Also, these were the voices of people well-off enough to spend a lot of money on styling and products. There's no shame in financial security, but it got awfully tiresome to read recitals of which fancy salons these women frequented and what hairstyles they got there over the course of years.
The most interesting essays dealt with universal human feelings in the context of the woman's individual experience, while those which fixated only on the writer's hair and circumstances got tiresome quickly and meshed in memory with the other boring ones. I can't tell you how many essays I read about women with frizzy brown hair who had to learn how to tame it and accept themselves. Were there three? Eleven? It felt like more than half the book. Even though the frizzy brown hair essays included interesting anecdotes or thoughts, the focal point was what the hair was like, and I hardly remember those stories now. Also exhausting was the sheer number of women who had hair expectations imposed on them by culture, religion, or their mother and found themselves by detaching their sense of self from that culture, religion, or mother. All of the stories were unique in some way, but I think this book would have been more enjoyable in a shorter, more selective form without so much theme repetition.
There was a mix of diverse writers, so I learned new things about other's religious traditions and cultural backgrounds, but the age and economic similarities between the authors got tiring. Because they are mostly from the same generation, they had similar cultural influences and hair experiences, and now they have many of the same thoughts about hair, family, maturity, and identity. I would have appreciated the inclusion of some younger writers still figuring out their hair and themselves. Also, these were the voices of people well-off enough to spend a lot of money on styling and products. There's no shame in financial security, but it got awfully tiresome to read recitals of which fancy salons these women frequented and what hairstyles they got there over the course of years.
The most interesting essays dealt with universal human feelings in the context of the woman's individual experience, while those which fixated only on the writer's hair and circumstances got tiresome quickly and meshed in memory with the other boring ones. I can't tell you how many essays I read about women with frizzy brown hair who had to learn how to tame it and accept themselves. Were there three? Eleven? It felt like more than half the book. Even though the frizzy brown hair essays included interesting anecdotes or thoughts, the focal point was what the hair was like, and I hardly remember those stories now. Also exhausting was the sheer number of women who had hair expectations imposed on them by culture, religion, or their mother and found themselves by detaching their sense of self from that culture, religion, or mother. All of the stories were unique in some way, but I think this book would have been more enjoyable in a shorter, more selective form without so much theme repetition.
lordranger's review against another edition
5.0
I won this book for free in the Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
I was actually surprised by this book. I thought it was only going to be OK, but I was wrong. This isn't only about hair. It's about cultural values and what makes a woman a woman. I learned how religion can influence someone's beliefs about what is considered clean or unclean in regards to hair, and how hair can be used to control others. It definitely gave me a new perspective on women of other cultures, and a better understanding of how hair is so much more than hair. A fascinating read.
I was actually surprised by this book. I thought it was only going to be OK, but I was wrong. This isn't only about hair. It's about cultural values and what makes a woman a woman. I learned how religion can influence someone's beliefs about what is considered clean or unclean in regards to hair, and how hair can be used to control others. It definitely gave me a new perspective on women of other cultures, and a better understanding of how hair is so much more than hair. A fascinating read.
kathydubs's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. I think I had always been stuck in my own hair bubble, only noticing bits and pieces of how other women think about and do with their hair. This book was fantastic in how each of the different essays contributed some kind of cultural aspect to the general concept of hair. I learned a lot form this book, felt comforted that it's not only my mother who obsesses over what I do with my hair, and found myself thinking a lot about what story my hair tells and what I might do with it in the future.
littlemissparadox's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
Overall this was good. It was interesting. One author made me laugh out loud her essay was so funny, I would read more of her stuff. I even screenshotted a page from my library-borrowed ebook to send to my best friend and boyfriend, who also laughed. I learned some more about hair in other cultures. One author was a friend of Amy Tan and that was pretty neat. Two authors handled chemotherapy and I loved each of their stories for different reasons. One talked about her husband stroking her hair every night, and continued to do so when they were both bald (he for support, she for chemotherapy).
My rating doesn’t reflect any of this essays individually. The essays themselves ranged from 3-5 stars for sure. Twenty-seven essays is a lot. And frankly it got… repetitive. I got really sick of hearing about Joni Mitchell and wedges and “the bubble” and Jackie Kennedy and flat irons. I get that there’s only so many places to go with hair but it got almost a little ridiculous. One reviewer pointed out that this group of authors felt a little homogeneous and I have to agree. By midway it was all really starting to blend and I just wanted to finish the book. While there was some (but really not enough) racial and cultural diversity, it seemed most authors had similar backgrounds and hair journeys and opinions. They were also nearly all the same age, and I really don’t know why. Only one or two were noticeably young. It was also a little frustrating that some authors took it upon themselves to tell the reader What To Do and the Right Way to approach hair. The one about pubic hair came off downright condescending.
Finally I will say that this was interesting to read while working as a receptionist in a salon. My whole day revolves around hair and people needing services and scheduling their services. Around women who need to get their hair cut and dyed in this many weeks or else. While reading this book I watched a stylist friend of mine cut her own bangs again after thinking about it for weeks and almost immediately regretting it because it’s never gone well before but not truly regretting it since they’ll grow back to her regular curtain bangs soon anyways.
Meanwhile in my Snapchat memories my former balayaged red and almost-black hair was popping up. And I thought about how I missed it but didn’t miss the messiness of vivids. And my stylist friends talking me into doing it again since they know how to achieve the look with dye that won’t transfer like vivids do. And I work at a salon with free services for employees so I might as well. And me showing them my former black and blue and red and blonde and brown dye jobs. And my differing haircuts. And my chip from lower back hair to short hair for the first time in about 9 years. And realizing that with my thick wavy and fast growing hair I really have had the chance and privilege to experiment a lot (in a way many clients might be… afraid to). And I just think that’s neat.
This book was good enough just not what I had hoped for. It did help me to reflect on my day to day though.
Overall this was good. It was interesting. One author made me laugh out loud her essay was so funny, I would read more of her stuff. I even screenshotted a page from my library-borrowed ebook to send to my best friend and boyfriend, who also laughed. I learned some more about hair in other cultures. One author was a friend of Amy Tan and that was pretty neat. Two authors handled chemotherapy and I loved each of their stories for different reasons. One talked about her husband stroking her hair every night, and continued to do so when they were both bald (he for support, she for chemotherapy).
My rating doesn’t reflect any of this essays individually. The essays themselves ranged from 3-5 stars for sure. Twenty-seven essays is a lot. And frankly it got… repetitive. I got really sick of hearing about Joni Mitchell and wedges and “the bubble” and Jackie Kennedy and flat irons. I get that there’s only so many places to go with hair but it got almost a little ridiculous. One reviewer pointed out that this group of authors felt a little homogeneous and I have to agree. By midway it was all really starting to blend and I just wanted to finish the book. While there was some (but really not enough) racial and cultural diversity, it seemed most authors had similar backgrounds and hair journeys and opinions. They were also nearly all the same age, and I really don’t know why. Only one or two were noticeably young. It was also a little frustrating that some authors took it upon themselves to tell the reader What To Do and the Right Way to approach hair. The one about pubic hair came off downright condescending.
Finally I will say that this was interesting to read while working as a receptionist in a salon. My whole day revolves around hair and people needing services and scheduling their services. Around women who need to get their hair cut and dyed in this many weeks or else. While reading this book I watched a stylist friend of mine cut her own bangs again after thinking about it for weeks and almost immediately regretting it because it’s never gone well before but not truly regretting it since they’ll grow back to her regular curtain bangs soon anyways.
Meanwhile in my Snapchat memories my former balayaged red and almost-black hair was popping up. And I thought about how I missed it but didn’t miss the messiness of vivids. And my stylist friends talking me into doing it again since they know how to achieve the look with dye that won’t transfer like vivids do. And I work at a salon with free services for employees so I might as well. And me showing them my former black and blue and red and blonde and brown dye jobs. And my differing haircuts. And my chip from lower back hair to short hair for the first time in about 9 years. And realizing that with my thick wavy and fast growing hair I really have had the chance and privilege to experiment a lot (in a way many clients might be… afraid to). And I just think that’s neat.
This book was good enough just not what I had hoped for. It did help me to reflect on my day to day though.