White Girl with Bangs

I got bangs last spring. I pretty much love them, except when I'm working out. But I have found those headbands with the little rubber dots on them keep my bangs out of my face. So I am a big fan of bangs.

At a potluck dinner party shortly after my new haircut, some friends mentioned the blog "Stuff White People Like." Which is just what it sounds like -- a numbered list of stuff that white people like. They were cracking everybody up describing all these things -- ivy league colleges, having black friends, scarves, sea salt, traveling, etc.

So I had to check it out for myself and they were right -- it was pretty amusing. I was giggling over "pea coats" and "hummus" and "appearing to enjoy classical music." Then I came across:

#104 Girls With Bangs.

Here is an excerpt:

Many people associate this type of haircut with children and people looking for the most efficient way to get hair out of their eyes. But for white people, this simple haircut makes a bold declaration by saying that the wearer is artistic, deep, and has probably dated a guy in a band you like. [...]

It is essential for you to know this haircut is more than a mere fashion statement– it is an important cultural marking. Throughout the world, many cultures feature ceremonies to announce that a girl has become a woman. For white people, the haircut-with-bangs is an important symbol that a female has completed her transformation from a nerdy girl to a cool woman. In fact, if you went to high school with a nerdy white girl who moved to a big city, there is a good chance she will show up to your high school reunion with this haircut.

How painfully apt. Although my class did not have a 10-year reunion, I definitely got this hair cut just in time to have attended it, should it have happened. So here I am, just another cliche -- a white girl with bangs.

At the time of discovery, I sent a (cool and ironic) e-mail to some friends, linking them to this website so that we could all chuckle at the implications of my haircut. Since then, I had sort of forgotten about it until this morning with a friend of mine sent me an e-mail, saying that he and his girlfriend were cracking up over this website and a link to #104, explaining "this article made us think of you."

The moral of the story is that bangs are cool. Even if white people think so.