Moms with Rainbows

So I have this question... can a mom dye her hair an unnatural color and still be taken seriously?

Now, I can see your face as your reading this (scoffing) and saying well, why not? We live in 2018! As true as that may be, we live in a society where we are judged for everything. From what we wear, to how much we weigh, even to how we raise our kids. It's insane the amount judgement that's passed on a mom running late to pick up her kids from school. (It happened to me once when the kids started school again and they were released early because of the heatwave and the school didn't have AC.) That's a story for another time LOL... but my kids don't let me forget it and the other moms looked at me like OMG how dare she forget her kids. FYI: I didn't forget they just got released before the time the auto call said.

As mothers we get judged for everything. Have you ever watched American Housewife? That lady is my spirit animal. But through the series she explains what it's like to be a regular mom/housewife in Westport, Connecticut. So back to the question: Can a regular mom get away with bright colored pink, blue, red, purple, rainbow hair? Easy answer is yes. You can go to Sally's or your local salon and dye your hair whatever shade of pink, red, blue, or green that you wish, but will you pay more then just the fee for the color when it's done? Yes, we see moms on Instagram with these vivid colors and with massive followers living amazing lives. Or to the extent we are allowed to see. Why can't a regular mom do the same?

What I mean by this is will you be judged for your new color that you either love or hate? I bring this up because this is a subject I looked up before doing my own hair. And in a forum full of moms I found my answer was not black or white. A similar question was asked a lot of moms said yes go for it don't worry what others say. Others said do it if you want but be careful of how "wild" it is. But one comment stuck out to me. It said:

"It's your hair your body, do what you want, but don't be surprised when others don't take you seriously."

What a sting. I mean it's true. How many times have we seen people that didn't fit our norm? We either say it to the person next to us or think it in our heads.

With all my knowledge that the dear old internet gave me, I caved in and did my hair. I was going for a burgundy color with deep tones to it, but I ended up with what my girlfriend calls "Kool Aid" hair—the horror! It's not what I wanted, but I worked with it. I straightened it. I noticed my roots were brighter than the middle and the ends were as light as my roots. After a few days the color settled and I couldn't help but feel like my roots were calling all the attention when i spoke to someone. Like the same way we feel like when you have a huge pimple on our nose that the makeup doesn't seem to cover. Even my daughter, when she first came home was like OMG what happened to your hair? (She's six...)

So after a lot of debating I decided to go more natural. This red screams look at me! And I felt like it wasn't in a good way. Maybe it's just me, but I felt like every single person I came across was judging me off my hair. Like look at her, she's probably so irresponsible. I did have one lady say that my hair "looks so fun and how great it is to be young and care free." She was an older lady so I just smiled and said thank you. Upon Googling about the hair colors, I found out also that a lot of work places don't allow you to have "unnatural" hair colors. I worked for a few retail stores in my early 20s and that was a rule. It was I, the manual. Some companies won't hire you for your hair color alone. I even read that you can get fired for it.

So can a mom go rainbow? Yes she can! She can do whatever she feels comfortable with. Whatever color that maybe be pink, purple, Kool Aid red, green, teal, multi-color rainbow! As long as it's for you. As long as you don't care what the world says or how others see you. Can you be taken seriously? Yes you can! But you have to make sure it's clear with your workplace. You don't want to lose your job over your impulse to dye your hair. Your hair is what adds to your beauty, it doesn't make you who you are. With whatever your choice is your beautiful because your you.