Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession edited by Elizabeth Benedict

By Kate Phillips

 

The essays in Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession edited by Elizabeth Benedict address not only straight and curly, long and short, gray or colored hair, but the cultural and political mores that pressure women to make sometimes uncomfortable choices.

These essays from different points of view are eye-opening. The writers’ descriptions, emotions, and voices are real and universal and passionate.

 

I loved Maria Hinojosa’s essay “My Wild Hair” on page131 which is as much about her hair as a love story.

“…I let it be as wild, long, and curly as it is.

And yes, I do this for love. Because I love myself more like this and because this way I show my husband my love, not in words or deeds, but in hair.” (page 138)

 

“Why Mothers and Daughters Tangle Over Hair” by Deborah Tannen on page 105 is a funny tribute to all the “helpful” comments from moms whether their daughters’ hair is on display or hidden under a head scarf.

 

Serious topics are covered as well:

 

Baldness due to cancer is addressed on page 9 in “Hair, Interrupted” by Suleika Jaouad. “Chemotherapy is a take-no-prisoners stylist.” (page 13)

 

On page 19, “My Black Hair” by Marita Golden reveals the pain and struggle Black women deal with when making hairstyle choices as “hair is knotted and gnarled by issues of race, politics, history, and pride.”

 

A religious tradition of shaving a bride’s head the morning after the wedding is the focus of Deborah Feldman’s essay “The Cutoff” on page 147. “And yet, my shaved head did not buy me full acceptance either, although it purchased a kind of tolerance that, for a while, seemed like it would be enough.” (page 152)

 

“While it’s easy to make light of our obsession with our hair, very few of the writers in these pages do that. We get that hair is serious. It’s our glory, our nemesis, our history, our sexuality, our religion, our vanity, our joy, and our morality.” (Introduction, page xvii)

Women’s hair means much more than it appears.

 

The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia Scarry

By Kate Phillips

           If you celebrate Christmas, what comes to mind when you read that word? Christmas trees? Fresh wreaths? Cookies for Santa? Candy canes? Not just the seasonal objects, but delicious aromas as well.

          As a writer, I learned the aroma lesson early. On Christmas day when I was six, my one-year-younger sister received a book gift entitled The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia Scarry and illustrated by J. P. Miller. Included in the story of Little Bear waiting for Christmas are six pages with scratch and sniff fragrance labels.

The text and illustrations depict a cozy, old-fashioned home where the Bear family prepares for the holiday on Christmas Eve. Little Bear starts the story with: “Something wonderful is going to happen…My nose tells me so.” Each reader’s nose does, too.

I borrowed that book without permission quite often. I just loved the combination of words and aromas. Father Bear and Little Bear went in search of a Christmas tree and I could smell the pine branches. Mother Bear baked a pie and I could smell the apples. I also loved that there was an orange in Little Bear’s stocking as we always had one in the toes of ours. However, the hot chocolate shared with the carolers was my favorite scent.

Aromas bring readers deeper into anything they are reading. That’s why it’s important to be specific—not just flowers, but roses; not just dinner, but roasted turkey with cornbread stuffing; not just dessert, but chocolate cake. Readers will add the thick swirls of frosting covering two layers on their own.

Aromas made this book truly memorable. They can make your writing memorable as well by simply adding “invisible scratch and sniff labels” whenever possible—a terrific writing tool.