Book Review: RAPUNZEL'S DAUGHTERS

 
Title: Rapunzel's Daughters: What Women's Hair Tells Us About Women's Lives
Author: Rose Weitz
Genre: Women's Studies / Social Studies

This book was a random find at the local bookstore. Given my love of my hair and the journey of growing it to the floor (and maybe beyond), I thought that learning about the cultural context of hair might be interesting. I did have some worried that it might be filled with pro-short-hair propaganda as the rest of the hair world seems to be, but I decided to just accept that as someone else's opinion and read the book anyways.

I really enjoyed the talk this book gave on hair from other cultures in the past and present. It was a shame that more about that subject was not covered. While the author did talk about some hair related cultural differences between the American culture and African and Hispanic women, I wish there had bee more history on hair as a whole or more glimpses into these other hair cultures more so than what was touched on. I have discovered other books with that as a subject and I will have to get them soon.


Something that I did not like about this book was the lack of attention to older women with long hair (and by long I mean longer than waist length.) There are many of them out there; I know a lot of them! This book seemed to acknowledge that society wants us women to cut our hair shorter as we get older, but it did not seem to focus on the "counter culture" of hair. It did talk a little about African American women who choose to go natural with their hair (rather than use straighteners or weaves) and I found that very interesting. I understand, though, that being white I do not have the same stresses put on me about hair that African American women do, nor do I have a full grasp on how their hair works within their culture.

What was pleasant was that at the end of the book, the author did state we all have a choice about our hair. It was not someone who collected a big mass of stories and cultural information to try and push people one way or the other. Also, the way that hair was written about was very nice. There was no hatred of one hair style over the other or one length over another or other factors that could cause some women (and perhaps men) to get upset or angry over those little things.

".... as it was for Rapunzel, our hair remains an almost magical substance: both uniquely public, open to others' interpretations, and uniquely personal, growing out of our bodies and molded (if imperfectly) to our individual desires."

I find that quote quite lovely. If you are interesting in hair, women's studies, or social cultures in general, this book will be a fun read.

Merlissa the Mermaid's Rating: 

Mermaid Sighted at Oceanside!

As planned, I made it to the coast yesterday. At a nice little beach that my fiancée and I "found" one one of our first trips to the coast together, I got out my tail and look several pictures. With it being summer and the sun being out, there were of course a lot of people.

The most amount of attention came from a group of young men; probably in their early 20's. They had stripped down to their swimming trunks and gotten into the water near where I was. While they were exploring sea caves is when I got into my position for the dry shoot photos (on a rock, out of the water.) When they came back, I could hear them shouting "Mermaid! Mermaid!" I ignored their shouting at first and kept working, but they pointed out some sea caves that I could take pictures in. (I didn't since I could not control the currents and there were a lot of rocks.)

More attention fell on me from little children. While I did not see her, my fiancée and cameraman stated that she stood on the beach and just watched me, completely enchanted. I cannot imagine how enchanted she would be with me being stuck in the small waves, being rolled around like a barrel, with tiny copepods biting my skin.

Those copepods were the worst! I would have stayed in the water longer than I had if I had not had to deal with those little copepods. They crawled on my tail and arms. I thought they were adorable at first, but when they started to bite I knew otherwise! Hmph!

Even though I only saw good responces to people seeing my tail, I could not help but think of how much better I would have looked in a more realistic tail: something where when the fabric got wet my legs were better hidden. I know what I need to do to get one: get a job. Sadly, with my other bills and things from school, it may be a long time until I get those funds... and I still have to find that job. Even with a Master's degree, finding one is proving difficult...

 

At least I had fun this time. I need to do it more often... Minus the copepods.

The Not-So-Little Mermaid

It has been almost a year since I was last able to get into my mermaid tail and hit up the beach for some photos and now that I am going to be doing just that in a matter of days, I am, not so sure...

 I keep dropping weight, but I do not fear my tail not fitting... one of the pluses to it being made of cloth is that the type I used is stretchy and wont sag for a while longer, but that is where the pluses really end.Sure, making the last three tails I have had from cloth has made it cheaper. The additional painting, not so much, but I enjoyed doing it. I thought it gave the tails a little added flare and made it more personal and thus more creative.

I had to keep creating tails as the years went by. Not only from me losing 115 pounds (and still counting), but anyone who has a bathing suit knows how they tend to wear out. The fabric sags, loses its shine or details, and begins to tear. My first tail, dubbed the Black Tail, had little sequins all over it to make it shine. I think I left most of them scattered among pools on the East Coast in 2008. When that tail tore and got too big, I moved onto the second tail, dubbed the Blue Tail]. This one had added fins and a dorsal fin. I also made one for my fiancée so that we matched. The fabric was shimmery and looked like it had scales on it, but as it work out it came see-through and the illusion was shortly lost. The third tail that I have made I have nick-named the Spotted Tail, or sometimes the Marlin Tail, though it does not really look like a real marlin. The spotted tail is what my last photos were done in, and what this one will be done in on Thursday.

Somehow, I am not sure I will really feel like myself... like a real mermaid... in this tail. It has no obvious signs of wear and tear. In fact, it has held up really nice and the paint is still luminescent and beautiful. The foam in the dorsal fin is still holding up (which helps the fin to stand when it's in water), and though the tip of the tail do not stand out as they used to, they still hide the monofin inside the fluke all right.

But... It's so clearly a costume tail... I mean, who would it fool? Small children aside, I am not sure my tail is really that impressive anymore. This is not a new thought. I have had these down-on-my-tail thoughts for a long time; longer than I have actually been making them. I always wanted a lovely realistic tail. Something that when I was seen would make people not just raise a brow but marvel at it. I am not looking for fame or anything like Hannah or some other mermaids out there. I just wanted to have fun and look like the mermaid I know I am on the inside.

There are some tail makers who are around that if I had the funds right now, I would be purchasing tails and sending them my drawings (yes, you are one of them, Merman Jesse!) but just out of grad school with bills to pay and no job has left me... beached. Not to mention I wanted to be, well, more attractive when I got my nice tail. I am a not-so-little mermaid. Never have been. I made the first tail when I weighed 325 pounds. I didn't care then what people thought: I wanted a tail, I could make one, and I was going to do it and who cares what others thought! I still don't care of others approve, but.. I just want to be able to do it in a nicer tail. But I am stuck. Stuck with a Master's degree and no job. Stuck at 210 pounds. Stuck with no hope in sight of getting my tail dreams to come true.

While becoming Rapunzel (another post, another time) did help me get through the winter and give me some more inspiration in terms of dance and keeping me from falling into the depths of despair as I finished grad school and worked amongst the ill, demented, and dying for nine months, it is not replacement for a tail. Really, letting my hair down lets me walk among humans but still remember that I am different and that is okay.

I have such big dreams for tails, but the magic to make those dreams come true has seemed to have dried up like a tide pool in the summer sun.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Cat owners know that their cats can cause trouble. It seems to be cat's nature to be a problem maker. This does not mean, though, that all the problems that occur should be blamed on the cat.

We have five (yes, five) dogs in my house for the next two weeks. (Well, one will go home after 1 week.) Not only is it our two dachshunds (Sherlock and Molly), but my sister's other dachshund (Watson), my aunt's bichon-cockerspaniel mix (Sage), but also my step sister's St Bernard (Grover). So far everyone has been getting along, except the cat.

Selkie (the cat) is terrified of Grover. She has been hiding upstairs or in closets so she does not have to see him. We even have to carry her downstairs to make sure she gets to her food bowl. This cat would rather starve then be around that dog. With this in mind, she is still the first one blamed for problems.

This morning, there were dog treats all over the floor and the dogs were eating them up. I was told that -my- cat (she is only called this when she is in trouble) spilled the treats and the dogs were going nuts. Did anyone see the cat on the counter? No. Did anyone see the cat downstairs at all? No. Still, she must have done it. Who else would right?

This bugged me. Yes, Selkie has gotten on the counter before, but so have the dogs. Sherlock in particular is not above getting on furniture to reach things on tables or counters and the same can be said about Sage, probably even more so! I let this stew in me for a while before I could speak with my fiancée in private and express how angry I was that the cat always got the blame.

During this conversation, Grover stood up on his back paws, put his whole head in the sink and was licking the plates within. I yelled at him and he promptly got down and walked away. My mother's BF came in and asked what had happened. When I told him he said, "Well, maybe the cat didn't do that thing earlier."

 

How could blame go right to the cat when there are three known dogs in this house to grab stuff off tables and counters and one of them happens to be the size of a small horse?! It annoys me as much as the people who set off the explosion type fireworks that make all these dogs upset... speaking of...