With the passing of my 21st birthday last fall, I more officially than ever have entered into ADULTHOOD. Except, that it doesn't really feel like I have. I graduated college, I live in a shared apartment far from my parent's home. Yet, I still feel as if I'm not truly an adult. I shop for my own groceries and pay bills, but actually feeling like an adult has alluded me thus far. I have been assured by many people a bit older than myself that I follow on social media that this is very normal. So, I'm not particularly concerned about this. Instead I'll talk to you about the thing that brought this to the front of my mind.
Pigtails. That's right, a seemingly innocuous hairstyle typically worn by young girls with long hair. I really like to wear pigtails. I think they make me look really cute. It keeps hair back away from my face and looks good with my curls. However, as previously mentioned, this hair style is typically worn by young girls. I've had people comment on this particular hair style when I wear it (when I was even younger) that it makes me look young and it's a bit weird. As a result I don't often wear my hair in pigtails, despite really wanting to be able to. Occasionally I'll wear my hair in low pigtail buns like Kaylee from firefly (awesome show). I have never gotten any negative or what I perceive to be negative comments on my hair when I wear it this way. But it's a compromise, I'd really rather just be able to wear my hair how I like without being told I look really young.
I really struggle with being called young and people are consistently surprised by my age for one reason or another. One reason they are surprised is because I am actually quite young for a college graduate, being only 21 and having graduated when I was 20. Generally I get asked if I'm still in university, then when I say I've already graduated people tend to ask 'Why?'. The answer to which is all wrapped up in a bad few years I'd really rather not talk about when first meeting someone. The other thing I get fairly consistently is people not taking me seriously because of the way that they perceive my age. Usually this just results in a bad cashier experience or them looking dumb when I respond to their question intelligently. I'm probably more sensitive to this one because when I was younger I visited a lot of doctors who always talked down to me and always thought that I couldn't understand basic principals of biology. I have a bit of an age complex at this point, that I should probably address, but as it doesn't come up too often I don't foresee that happening.
The conclusion to this ramble is that I'd really like to be taken seriously even if I wear pigtails. Adults should not have to look a certain way to be treated with respect. In fact there is a good amount of evidence that you should also treat children with the same respect that you treat adults with because they are often far more intelligent than adults give them credit for. If you get anything out of this post, I hope it's that, treating people of all ages with respect and not assuming intelligence level is easy and free. If they don't understand and need or want to then they'll likely let you know.
Happy Hump Day,
Leah
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