Around last summer, I (stupidly) made a bet with my mum that if I grew my hair back out from a pixie undercut, she would cover up this ancient tattoo with my dad's name on - the bloke she divorced from nearly ten years ago (and since then, she's married my stepdad, so that tat definitely had to go lol). So far, we've both kept up our ends of the deal (to the point that Mum has covered up another old tattoo of a rose), but in regards to my hair, so far it's grown out to a curly bob when left alone.
The other night, Mum offered to straighten my hair for the first time in probably around three years, and I went along with it because I was curious to see my hair's current length when straightened. While I was expecting a "bisexual bob" look (I'm still rocking an undercut), I didn't expect to look so much like a... Karen.
Aside from quickly realising a lot of straight hairstyles don't suit dramatic undercuts like I have (mine is shaved on both sides and behind my head), Mum also made a comment that "I look like a girl again!"
Unfortunately, that comment triggered some gender dysphoria (mainly in the social sense), and it made me remember why I originally got the pixie undercut in the first place. Truth be told, I never felt happy having longer hair despite people complimenting it a lot, partially because it's so hard to manage long curly hair (am I gonna wake up with a frizzball or not?), and partially because it didn't actually mesh with my mental androgyny, something I only realised in my 20s. That's why I originally got the pixie two years ago (aside from needing to cut off damaged hair) - I wanted to physically express my androgynous personality more, and I genuinely did feel a lot of gender euphoria after I had it done.