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Having Maria Garcia back on as a guest was both a privilege and a pleasure. Maria was my very first guest on the Life Without Children Substack LIVE writer spotlight project.
Maria writes about culture and creativity, and very often her writing is fused with culture, no matter the topic she writes on. This makes for such open and vast ideas and thought-provoking reading.
It’s amazing the things I learn about my guests during these calls. I didn’t know that Maria taught Pilates to a group of older women. I love learning new, cool things about my writing friends.
And I shared that I had once had blue hair. Yes, there was a time in my life when I rocked bright blue hair and an eyebrow ring.
We lost Maria momentarily during the call as her phone overheated, but with quick thinking, Maria found the perfect solution: placing her phone in the freezer and joining the call again while it cooled down.
In this Substack LIVE we discuss Maria’s piece What Our Hair Says About Our Expectation to Procreate.
Maria’s story centres on one of her aunts who is childless. Upon reaching a certain age, this aunt feels compelled to get her long, luscious locks cut off. Not necessarily because she wants to, but because she is being obedient to expectation, pressure and shame. She is being obedient to her culture.
We look at the connection between hair, sexuality, and fertility. Given that some women who endure infertility develop a problematic relationship with their bodies, I pose the question of whether this crosses over into their hair.
And why does it feel that young women with short hair and older women with long hair are rebels to the cause?
We discuss our wishes for women to be able to wear their hair however they like. Wouldn’t it be cool to see women in their sunset years rocking brave and adventurous hairstyles? I’m talking mohicans or dyed bright colours. Maybe they could shave one side, or heck shave it off entirely.
Although that said, I can’t help but feel that in some cultures, simply allowing our hair to grey naturally is an act of rebellion.
We explore all of this and more, and given I’ve recently chopped off my long hair, this discussion feels personal.
Useful links
You can read more of Maria’s writing on her Substacks via The Everything Creatives and A-Culturated
If you want to watch more of Maria, you can watch her here as a guest on my first Substack LIVE where we discuss her article Motherhood, Choice, and the Endless Need for Justifications.
During this chat, I mentioned an article I wrote about my complex relationship with my hair, the reasons, and the impact of cutting off my long curls. I’ve removed the paywall so you can access it if you wish to read it. How Shaving Off My Long Curls Felt Both Freeing and Confronting.
I also mention this incredible piece of writing Why I Cut Off All My Hair by Elizabeth Gilbert.
I hope you enjoy watching this discussion as much as we enjoyed having it.
We have an exciting schedule of LIVE discussions coming up. Pop these in your calendar, and if you have any burning questions you would like me to pose to any of these writers, please drop them in the comments here.
Thursday, 31st July, at 18:00 (GMT+1) with Kristen Tsetsi
Discussing her article: We're Too Easy on Selfish Parents
Join this discussion via the LIVE link here.
Thursday, 14th August, at 18:00 (GMT+1) with Alice Cutler
Discussing her article Infertility and Pregnancy Loss Isn’t a Joke, But I Made It One
Join this discussion via the LIVE link here.
Thursday, 28th August, at 18:00 (GMT+1) with Colleen Addison
Discussing her article What Is It Like, Being Childless?
Join this discussion via the LIVE link here.
Please note that as of September these LIVE discussions will become monthly and will fall on the first Thursday of each month.
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