Over the past couple of months in quarantine, various videos have popped up titled something along the lines of “cutting my bangs for the first time” or “shaving my head because I’m bored. For many teens, the monotony of online school and limited outdoor activities has sparked an outburst of bold hair choices.
In the first early months of the coronavirus pandemic, many nonessential stores and shops were forced to temporarily close down due to stricter COVID-19 guidelines. This led to many Americans desperately resorting to YouTube in order to attempt the new and daunting task of cutting hair at home.
As of today, most states have opened up shops again, including salons. However, barbershops are one of the few professions that require close range contact, causing them to be an ideal place for the coronavirus to spread. Although masks can help with the spread, workers are touching the hair of various clients, barbers and clients are speaking to each other and social distancing is not fully practiced.
Even though many teenagers abstain from visiting and cut their hair at home instead, there are also millions of American teens who still flock to the salons as they open. Regardless, thousands of them are continuing to change up their hair due to the pandemic.
Clarksburg High School sophomore Madison Holloway has cut her hair both at home and at the salon and is one of the multitude of teens who has changed her look in quarantine, attempting “curtain” bangs.
“The first reason is the app, TikTok! There is a trend of girls getting curtain (or side) bangs that frame the face, and I thought they looked really cool,” Holloway said. “The second reason was that I had no fear of being judged by classmates or worrying what others would think. I could totally mess up my hair and only my family would see it!”
According to Holloway, changing her hairstyle helps break up the tedium of quarantine.
“I have to wake up every day without seeing friends and attend repetitive Zoom meetings, and I just felt like I needed a change,” Holloway said.
Nobody would have guessed how big of an impact quarantining would have on an entire generation’s hairstyling. Teenagers have truly found a way to bring about some welcome change in their lives.
Article by Inaya Siddiqi of Clarksburg High School
Photo by Anna Lee of Richard Montgomery High School