Invisible pink mohawks
12/18/08 21:14
I gave a
presentation today for some K-12 teachers. In the
course of that conversation, I talked about how I was
the kid who WANTED to have the 12-inch spiked pink
mohawk but didn’t, because 1) there was no space for
individuality in my home town, and 2) I had no idea
how to claim who I was---namely, the kid with the big
pink mohawk. I didn’t know until I went to college
that there were other personas/looks available to me
besides “late-80s Midwestern girl,” and if I chose to
look a little unusual, PEOPLE WOULD STILL TALK TO ME.
Radical!
Even though I’m old(er) on the outside, I still want the pink mohawk, because that’s how I still feel inside. That’s why all my characters are sort of “stick it up your ass” types---in one way or another they’re who I wanted to be in high school, because they don’t keep all their subversive thoughts inside. I think folks currently high school feel a little more free now--at least the kids in this town do. But they also don’t live in the middle of Central Nowhere, where it’s 50 miles to the nearest Target. Not much freedom in Central Nowhere.
Later on in my presentation, after we’d gone on from the hair conversation, a teacher looked at me and said, “well, you have an invisible pink mohawk. You know it’s there. That’s what matters.”
And she’s right, I do. Intellectually and emotionally, my pink mohawk keeps growing. But actual pink hair may be in the works for 2009. It’s about time, don’t you think?
Even though I’m old(er) on the outside, I still want the pink mohawk, because that’s how I still feel inside. That’s why all my characters are sort of “stick it up your ass” types---in one way or another they’re who I wanted to be in high school, because they don’t keep all their subversive thoughts inside. I think folks currently high school feel a little more free now--at least the kids in this town do. But they also don’t live in the middle of Central Nowhere, where it’s 50 miles to the nearest Target. Not much freedom in Central Nowhere.
Later on in my presentation, after we’d gone on from the hair conversation, a teacher looked at me and said, “well, you have an invisible pink mohawk. You know it’s there. That’s what matters.”
And she’s right, I do. Intellectually and emotionally, my pink mohawk keeps growing. But actual pink hair may be in the works for 2009. It’s about time, don’t you think?