I cannot tell if there is a correlation between the length of a woman’s hair and her success but according to this new study, there could be. In fact most of the successful Ugandan women I know are proud to have less or no hair on their scalps. I also can’t take away the amount of scandals and controversies that follow successful women who sport long unnatural hair.
Let us tone it down to the women in politics. These are arguably the most influential women in the country i.e. ministers, legislators and government officials. They all wear their hair short which is almost intriguing as it is intimidating. Women such as Dr. Specioza Wandera Kazibwe rose through the tough ranks of power with short natural hair. Not to forget Hon. Miria Matembe and Ms Winnie Byanyima among others.
Taking it to the business world, influencers and women whose bank statements make you whimper with envy all prefer to have either a bob, short or no hair and hair styles that show off the back of their necks. Is this their hidden secret to success?
According to many studies, long hair is associated with decreased ‘forcefulness’. These women are not as agitative and shrewd as there fellows with short hair. This farther explains why many of the most powerful girls’ schools in Uganda do not tolerate their students growing hair while at school. This they say deprives them of stress, time wastage on hair maintenance and ‘attention from men’!
Sharing from experience as well, most of the women I personally look up to did not follow this short hair trend in the past whilst they were still as influential. However shortly after getting ‘more contracts’ and more busy’, their hair began dwindling. Now they maintain only short hair styles.
The entertainment business hasn’t fallen short of this phenomenon. Singers such as Juliana Kanyomozi, Cindy and Lillian Mbabazi were most successful during that time when they decided to chop their enviable locks off. The most recent example is Lupita Nyongo’o whose short hair has made her People Magazine’s ‘most beautiful woman’.
Most women who opt for extremely long hair are in most cases in the entertainment business where the more the sex appeal you have, the more you will thrive. As I noted above the longer the hair, the more ctroversies and scandals (we are yet to read a study on this though).
That said, it is still very plausible to contest the above study. Not all successful women opt for short hair. Most of the PR and marketing executives of major firms maintain exotic hair styles and this has contributed a lot to their long trail of success over the years. Gayaza High School is still one of the most powerful girls’ school in Uganda despite their students maintaining long hair.
You can’t define me or my success by the length of my hair. I believe the ability to succeed is embedded in something else but not my hair.
You can still share your thoughts on this. Are women with short hair more successful? If so, does the length of their hair contribute to their success and to what extent.
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