SHORT IS NOT HOT ENOUGH

The glamour world believes that short hair belongs to the vamp; girls with short hair face ridicule and rejection

It’s not enough to be fair, tall and slim to fit into the glamour world. “Long, beautiful hair” is also a pre-requisite. Those who cut their hair short, face rejection and ridicule. Model Luna Cafieiro from Brazil who came to India last year, was shocked when she was rejected because of her short crop. “People here believe that long hair is universally attractive to men. They made it clear that unless I grow out my hair, I’ll get no work,” says Cafieiro, who thought of returning home at one point. Luna got some work in South India, but she could not convince agents in North India that even short hair is beautiful. Sam Abbasi, director, of a modelling agency, says that the idea of a girl with boy cut hair wearing a salwar suit or sari is alien to people. “Fashion portals refuse to take girls with short hair. Ramp, too, is no different. Designers want girls with long hair,” says Abbasi. Television and Bollywood, too, nurture the same prejudice. Actor Mandira Bedi is often asked to cover up her short cut with a wig. “The protagonist can’t have short hair, unless she is playing a cop or a journalist. Short hair is for vamps. The good girl always has long hair,” says Mandira highlighting the prejudice. Actor Teena Singh, who made her debut in Akira, gets to hear unsavory remarks due to her short hair. “From ‘She is trying hard to be cool’ to ‘She broke up with her guy’, people say ugly things,” says Singh. The roles that she gets are that of drug addicts, the bully or the bitchy girl. “Bollywood is regressive. When filmmakers are portraying current times, I don’t understand the need for conformity,” she says.

One casting director told me, ‘You are not fair, plus you have short hair. Either wear foundation or a wig’ TEENA SINGH, ACTOR It’s very difficult to break stereotypes. When I was doing a reality show, the production house insisted that I wear a wig MANDIRA BEDI, ACTOR