Don't Touch the Hair

Why am I called Curly Curmudgeon? Well, quite simply, I can be curmudgeonly and I have curly hair. The reason why I am talking about my curly hair in the context of peeves and rants is that many people seem to have a fascination with curls. Of course, I can admit that it is flattering to hear how people admire curly hair and wish they had hair like mine and spend a lot of money getting perms that ends up not looking all that good, but the problem is that I get tired of people I don’t know (or don’t know well) feeling as though they can just come up to me and start touching and playing with my hair. It is not okay to start “boinging” my curls or patting my head or running your fingers through my hair without asking for permission (and unless you know me fairly well, it’s an odd thing to ask permission for anyway). Similarly, it’s not all that polite to ask if my hair is real or natural; if it were a permanent or a wig, I might be embarrassed of that fact or not want to share it with others. But, yes, I'm naturally curly.

So, sure, feel free to talk about the curls, to ask about them, to tell me I look like the corkscrew-headed doll you had as a child, and so on, but please don’t just assume you can touch my hair.

--Curly Curmudgeon