What do you think of people with colourful hair? As in different colour hair - pinks, greens, blues, purples, - big bright colourful hair

[StonePaperScissors]

I always had my hair in a natural brown until last year and I started getting it bleached and highlighted to get some fun bright colours in my hair. I don't want to be known so I won't give my hair colours away but I did a new colour recently and I love it.

I get two reactions.

1. where people love it
2. they hate it but mabe they won't say it but their tone and attitude - I sense something.

For me I think there is too much madness in the world and I am not hurting anyone and I need more bright and cheerful in my life.

Some people probably think I am a clown or something. I don't know. I really love colourful hair.

The two people closest to me with these colours are a conservative Pentecostal Christian and a conservative Hindu. So I don’t associate it with ‘extreme’ political views.

I do associate unironic use of the word ‘woke’ with racist arseholes, however. It’s a massive red flag.

That doesn’t make sense. You think your bright hair shows that you’re different to “average older lady” supply teachers. But also you don’t think anything of it when you see someone with colourful hair.

Why would you think that you having colourful hair gives off a certain impression when you yourself don’t have any impression of people with colourful hair?

Zingally - why do you think you are ‘a bit different to the average older lady’? What is the ‘average older lady’ other than a stereotype? And what is wrong with them that you feel you don’t want to be identified with them?

Huh. Bit of a nasty attitude towards a random stranger on a Sunday morning. Would hate to be as miserable as you must be. Go touch some grass and get a grip.

Low socio economic status / trans / radical ideology

If you are over 30 I would think, unprofessional job, but zany, left wing, probably neuro diverse. Under 30 student, unemployed wants to be seen as fun, quirky etc. I've been in both camps and realise how it held me back.

Just showing this thread to my oh and laughing that I’m apparently a trans, leftie, woke, ND, grubby hippy (did I miss any ?) because I’ve got pink hair !
Ffs

I forgot extremist !

Curliegirlie - beautiful!

Do you match any of the assumptions people might have made about you. For some reason I’d assume you were vegetarian, no idea why! Maybe it’s more your kind face than your hair.

I respect everyone's right to do what they like with their hair. Their body, their choice etc. However, I'm not a fan, mainly because it often looks a bit amateurish and unkempt and is rarely flattering. On older people I think it looks a bit tragic and try-hard. On teenagers I think 'bless' and assume it's an (entirely age-appropriate) phase they're going through. I keep those thoughts very much to myself, obviously. I don't like tattoos much either, for full disclosure - but at least hair colour's temporary.

I accept that my views are probably entirely unfair but I cant help it!

When I see someone with bright pink/ blue hair I automatically think its someone who supports extreme left ideology and probably calls themselves they etc.

In addition to this, I struggle to take these people seriously. I automatically assume they dont have a traditional sort of job/ haven't got a professional education and either work in volunteering or are on benefits.

@curliegirlie mine is very similar - love it !🥰

In addition to this, they always look messy: roots showing or colour faded.

I don't have any feelings about it either way but it doesn't signal anything alternative or edgy in the way it used to. It's totally normal and there's nothing really to say about it.

Being shocked about it doesn't mean it's not pretty widely true. Nobody's saying that absolutely all people with brightly coloured hair fall into specific groups, but looking like a member of a particular tribe (through hair colour, clothes, general demeanour etc) is usually a deliberate thing, so why be surprised if people notice it?

If I see a woman wearing e.g. smart business wear with a bright pink bob, I wouldn't assume she's a student, an activist or a person with an alternative lifestyle. However, the vast majority of people I see with blue, green or pink hair do look like they probably belong to one of those groups. Not that there is anything wrong with that (well... depending what they're an activist for).

It's a choice that people make, and I hope it makes them happy.

I don't think it makes people look more 'fun' or interesting, or necessarily espoused to an ideology. It's just hair.

I rarely think it looks good - the colours are never strong enough or shiny enough, and it's usually a DIY job. Zandra Rhodes always looked fantastic with her ink hair - no idea whether it is a wig or not.

I also think coloured hair looks good on a short spiky-ish pixie cut on someone with good bones. All too often it looks like coloured version of salt and pepper on a formless bob or whatever.

All my personal opinion which I don't think people should take into account when choosing to do anything they like to their own hair.

But the coloured hair itself - I just assume the person likes it and it makes them feel good.

I don’t like coloured hair or tattoos, I don’t understand why people do it. I prefer a very natural look personally. I always think it’s a bit ‘look at me’ and I’m not like that. I also think pink/purple hair is common (yes, I’m a bit of a snob).

Wow, this is an eye-opener!

I've done bright hair over the years, at the moment it's just my natural mousy brown colour with blonde highlights, but I've done all over purple, another time I did all over bright pink, I've had purple streaks, red streaks, purple dip-dye...

I love bright hair, I'm in a professional role and not public facing so work are fine with us doing what we like with our hair.
If I see someone with bright hair, it makes me smile, and I usually wonder what brand of dye they're using.

I'm now tempted to get some bright streaks in, just to spite all the judgmental people.

I think this goes to show (as always) that people are going to have all sorts of opinions so you may as well do what you want. And should you care people with these sorts of opinions think? Doubt I’d be trying to hang out with them, as their attitudes would become apparent soon enough.

If some of these people got to know someone with blue or pink hair and then rather liked them, I’m curious as to whether they’d continue to think ‘that attention seeking dickhead’ or not.

This is awful.
I'm 59 and when I retire next year I'm having a pink bob. I had pink hair at 18.i work in beauty but at SLT, it would be frowned on in big corporates but not founder led brands.
It's just hair not a political statement.
I had blue, orange, black and pink hair. I still achieved two Oxford degrees and a big career.
I'm not gay or an activist. People are blinking daft.

Bit of a rose, peach or violet tint - no thoughts. It was very popular about 10 years ago over pale blonde or white hair. Can look amazing if done well.

Dark red - you want to have a “colour” but you have dark hair. Still popular amongst old ladies in my community but was popular amongst young people in late 90s. My mum has this look - she’s in her 70s but almost no grey.

Older women with green/blue/pink - Timmy Mallet adjacent is the best way of putting it that I’ve ever heard. Will likely be quite extrovert or “fun”. Likely to be left leaning and work in a non-corporate people focussed job. Will possibly be a lot more judgemental and less accepting than they think they are which would make me hold back.

Younger women with green/blue/pink - the conventional uniform amongst politically extreme identity obsessives. Often far left gender ghouls who self identify into sexual minorities and mental health conditions, use phrases like “pan-queer non-binary” and think they are saying something relevant, often carrying stuffed animals and using walking aids (also colourful). Intolerant. I’d be cautious. If you have paid even the slightest attention to the shattering of both the political right and the political left over the last 10-15 years then you can’t have failed to see the rise in this tribe as far left identiterians. If you aren’t particularly politically engaged then fair enough, you could easily pass them in the street as a bunch of fun loving kids. If you don’t think the way you cut/colour/style your hair, the way you dress and the make-up etc you either wear or don’t wear sends out social cues about your “tribe” then you have completely failed to understand that we are social animals. “I just wear what I like” without any acknowledgement that it’s exactly the same as what other people in your tribe also like i.e. it’s the fashion in your set, shows a staggering lack of self awareness - especially when it’s accompanied by assuming someone else is a mindless little sheep with a “greige” house. “I wear what I like - it’s just coincidentally the same as all the people I want to be liked by - you follow trends” is not the banging insult that people think it is. Having coloured hair is no more or less conventional than every other “uniform” out there. I was a huge goth in my youth - entirely conventional and an age appropriate exploration and pushing of boundaries. It was the most conforming period of my life - I think that sort of in-group conventionality really appeals to teens. There is a lot of safety in there. Obviously when I was in it I thought I was desperately unconventional and radical - just like everyone else.

I’ve had brightly coloured hair on and off for the past 30 years. I also have tattoos and piercings. They’re the least interesting thing about me and I just like the way they look. I do like rock and metal music which traditionally aligns with that sort of aesthetic. People probably do make judgements about me but everyone judges each other on appearances- I do it too- it’s an in built human response but I always try to treat everyone with respect and courtesy, until they do something to lose that. No one should be rude or offensive to each other but will never stop people inwardly judging.

The problem is it only looks good for a short while, then the colour fades and it looks awful. DD1 used to dye her own and it would be okay for a week or so then it used to look awful. It needs a lot of maintenance and is quite expensive to keep up.

Thankfully she doesn't have the time or money any more

Hahahaha! Nope - straight, centre left, wary of a lot of trans ideology (which I see as deeply regressive and just supporting outdated gender stereotypes - why should sex have any impact on likes and preferences?!), definitely love a bit of steak. Potentially slightly ADHD (but nothing I’ve ever sought diagnosis for). Tbh my hair rarely looks particularly extreme as I’ve shit at the upkeep and mostly have terrible roots on display 🤣

There are quite a few posters expressing genuine surprise that brightly coloured hair is associated by others with certain ideologies and political views. If you are shocked then I assume you are fortunate enough to have only come across people who dye their hair in neon colours because they like neon colours.

As I said in my previous post, I used to love seeing brightly coloured hair; it's negative experiences which have made me feel negative towards it.

My reaction to seeing someone with coloured hair would depend on the colour:

Streaks of light pink - fashion choice
Sharp haircut dyed deep red - fashion choice
Long or spiky hair dyed black - fashion choice based on musical tribe
Colourful mohican - fashion choice based on musical tribe
Colourful (not neon) hair in a natural style (like the one posted earlier by someone with gorgeous, long curly hair) - fashion choice.

But neon hair - I assume TRA who subscribes to the ominicause.

That's based on experience of the types of people who try to silence women at Let Women Speak events (ones I have attended in person and others where I have watched the live stream); videos I've watched of trans rights demos and marches; videos that crop up in my FB and Twitter feed of people crying angry tears because they have been misgendered or prevented from using facilities of the opposite sex.

It's a shame that that is now my instinctive reaction but it's because of the behaviour of so many of the people who have adopted the look.

Quite.

Everyone I have ever known with pink/green/purple/blue hair have complained about being poor and "tax the rich" whilst being bone idle themselves and wasting what little they money they have on hair dye, tattoos etc thus further impoverishing themselves and making employers steer even further clear of them.