How A Pair Of Scissors Changed My Life

By reading the title I am pretty sure that you might be thinking that this article is just like one of those “girly” articles which talk about women empowerment and how probably going from long hair to short changed my life. Well you aren’t really wrong there. Going from long hair to short did change my life, but that is not only how these pair of scissors changed my life. With these pair of scissors, I did not just decide to change my hair but also cut off a lot of things in my life.

We live in a society where women are expected to have long “Rapunzel” length hair and men are supposed to keep it short. Talking about Rapunzel, you must know that though being compared to a princess we are not really allowed to be one. Except for when we have to be Cinderella where you must return home before 12 only to keep yourself safe. But shout out to those good at heart souls and decent personalities who have made it possible for not just us women but even men to be safe out there are safe. Whoever you are, a man or a woman, I thank you and it was high time that you were acknowledged.

The first thing that I did with these pair of scissors was cut off the stereotype; I broke the boundaries to not let women be out there alone roaming around in the streets in broad day light or even at night with clothes that I was comfortable in. And not just once, but I was asked a hundred times, ‘Are your parents okay with it?’. My answer to them was yes; Yes, my parents were okay with it but being the parents that they were, they have always been concerned about my safety. And when they would restrict me, I do understand where is it coming from but what are you exactly trying to say here? That the world is safe out there for me if I wear the right clothes? Or if a guy is walking on the street wearing a dress, will he not be made fun of? Or if I am walking on the street naked anyone has the rights to rape me or do whatever they want to? We keep talking about equality, where is the equality here? So, I broke the stereotype. I stopped judging. I stopped giving myself and others the explanation to if it was okay for me to do what I was doing. I was clearly more concerned about if I am comfortable with what I was doing or not. I constantly started asking the question, am I okay with it? Will I be able to live with it? But well, I stand here with 3 tattoos on my body, short hair, and a very petite body type where one might as well think that she is a tiny little rebellious thing but in my mind, I am the best version of me.

The second thing which I cut off, was the fact that I need to impress someone on the account of not being myself. Just like the first reason where I did not need to explain myself to anyone, why should I be impressing someone by doubting my own capabilities and without being myself? What is the need? And will it be justified to even call it a want? Or maybe, let us just settle to call it something like a “social/peer pressure” jumble that we get into? Think about it. Why is it that people have always looked out for to impress the society for to accept them? But by the time the society accepts them, they are not even themselves. They probably have a mask on or they have completely changed from someone who they used to be to someone new who may or may not be throwing a lot of hate to oneself? So, when I decided to cut this off my life, I made sure that I replace it with loving myself more each day. I decided to be selfless when needed, but be selfish when it comes to my own happiness where unless and until I was a toxic to someone, I would not wear a mask. I will not go around pretending to like something or be someone whom I cannot connect with or relate to.

The third, and the last thing that I cut off from my life were the people who were toxic for me. When someone told me that I have flaws, I would just make a strange face. Little did they know, I love my flaws. Short height? No problem. Extra lean? No problem. My nature is not the way how it ideally should be because the society accepts it like that? No problem. I did not want someone to constantly remind me about how perfect I should be in this world where it itself is made of the most beautiful flaws which we acknowledge. And there is no one, absolutely no one who can tell me that my flaws aren’t beautiful. The only time I decided to work on my flaws was when I thought they were toxic to someone whom I was close to and I was hurting them. But if your flaws are something that define you, do not change them. Stand by them. If you can’t love yourself, no one else is going to do it for you no matter what they say.

 Coming to you, have you used your pair of scissors the right way? Or have you always been stuck to that same vicious circle that the society has built for you? If you do plan on getting out of it, get your pair of scissors and start cutting out which is not needed. Let go of what people say, stick to what makes you happy. You will always know yourself the best.

- Priya Mistry

8th October 2017