Why Sometimes A Haircut Is Better Than Sex.. And Men Are So Good At It

Amos Lee sang “I am at ease in the arms of a woman…” and he’d be right, I am. Growing up in a family of all women, there is nothing unusual or even second thought-y about experiencing extreme levels of intimacy with a woman whether trying on wedding dresses, underwear, sharing a bed during sleepovers, plucking eyebrows, waxing.. you name it.

This last week I was a bridesmaid, which meant two things. Firstly, I had to get my hair sorted out for colour etc (can’t quite believe that there are grey hairs on this head, but it’s true) and then go back for the ‘do on Saturday.

Well, colour sorted on Thursday last week and I was shampooed, conditioned, treated, massaged and rinsed by Joel. To be honest, I don’t really care what his name was. There was something seductive, raw, beatiful and utterly sensory about being in the hands of a man. Then on Saturday, I lucked out again with another man doing the shampoo thing.

So.. excuse the analysis for a minute but… I’m so used to holding my own head up all the time, and there is something reassuring about the strength and the capacity of a man’s hand. I relax utterly because there is something secure in it.

There is something powerful in it because I am being served by a man – it’s an unusual proposition for me – being physically cared for, served by a man.

There is something honest in it because so much of what women do for beauty, they do for the sake of men (and themselves, but men have a lot to do with it) and so it is well-balanced to engage men in the art of making someone beautiful – because who better to know that craft.

There is something sexual in it because it suggests that in one non-sexual act both male and feminine are somehow entwined in a strange reversal of roles. It was a strange intimacy but it was intimate nonetheless.. as one man ‘prepared’ me for an encounter with a world of them. If he was pleased with his work.. well, it’s reassuring.