Rivo tukka, oma napa ja Jouluapua muille / Fugly hair, Egocentrism and Helping Others
There it is, my new fugly hair. I have dreamt about having this hair color for a while (I mentioned it already in the post, where I had my hair dyed as aqua pastel blue – check also the blog of my hairdresser!) This shocking yellow has been even more perfect than I visioned. I mean, it is so artificial in its nature and sort of the most unwanted result in all hair colors (for people who bleach their hair), which I why I wanted it. I have this tendency to do things that will result in a reaction in others and I like to do an everyday life study of breaking the normatives, and how people react in these situations. In the Art Department this hair caused only mild rections and positive comments, but already in one of the shopping malls in Rovaniemi that I visited, two women around forty looked at my hair in shock and the other one turned to her friend and spat out: ”Fuck how ugly!” / ”Hyi, vittu!”.
That comment that was intentionally for me to hear, made me smile but the overall thing that the comment represents is not humorous at all: people have a tendency to build their life on normatives (how to act proper, how to dress in the right way, how to be the a girl / a boy / white / middle class / etc.) and the result is that everything outside that norm is ABNORMAL. And what is abnormal is something that needs to diminished, and one way to achieve this is peer pressure – it gives a freedom and a license to all the members of the society that perceive themselves as the norm / the majority to comment on somebody elses behavior in whatever way without any problems of conscience or even other’s intervention.
Let’s build a story by saying that I would come from a culture where all people were born with neon-colored hair and that would be the norm – the only thing I have been accustomed in everyday life. Let us say that I have seen photos or tv-programs with different colored hair in them but they are something foreign to me. Would I have the need to comment on somebody’s hair when encountering them in my everyday life for the first / second / third time? I hope not. It is not like somebody’s strange hair color would affect me in any way or cause me any mental or physical pain. So, why people feel free to comment on anybody else’s actions or attributes in any way? Is it fear towards the abnormal that has been taught to us, since we were babies – all that differs is a threat to a well controlled society? This example of my life only gives a microscopic glimpse to things that minorities have to endure, like ethnic minorities, sexual minorities etc (the link is to an article in Helsingin Sanomat).
As promised in the previous post, here is more photos of our trip to Naantali to attend my lil’ sister’s son’s babtism. And on the way to the church, I just had to take some snapshots of the houses that are an eyeful – if you have never been to Naantali, take at least a daytrip there, walking around the area and having your own picnic, is the perfect solution (even in late fall /early winter although it is cold and windy). Especially this house that I chose in my photo collage is a dream come true.
During last weekend, I convinced my esposo to try on this beaujolais nouveau that I had read about. He seemed a bit sceptical, beacuse normally our wine consumption consists of Spanish wines from the Rioja area (reserva) but I held my head. We opened the wine on Saturday before I started cooking and the scent of the wine was superb and so fruity. But oh my, the first sip was catastrophic – I can still see the expression on Gon’s face (now it is funny to think we have both looked like that) and he only remarked: ”Oh, this is a REALLY young wine”. Well, after taking a few mouthfuls the taste became more acceptable but still, it was stark to my taste buds. I am now withholding myself from choosing the wines until 2014. Ha!
How is it here in Rovaniemi? Well it is still a winter wonderland and the sun light has become even more scarce – so the sun is only visible very near the horizon and this photo I took at 12.35, when the sun was clearly already setting. This darkness is intriguing to me – still some what exotic, I think. The short period of daylight that comes from the horizon level causes the shadows of objects to be super-long and blue in their hue – such a visually interesting thing!
And behold, the post man came, when I was leaving home: with an all-terrain vehicle! I guess it is handy, realiable and necessary for these conditions.
And these last photos are of my two godson’s that are my older sister’s kids. We went to Ikea to buy some items she needed and there I had these very anti-consumeristic thoughts that have been brewing inside of me for a while already. What do we get when we buy things? The buying as a phenomena (chek these great TED videos from interesting people!) is a creation of clever marketing that forms our perceptions of normative behavior. Back, when living in Turku as a twenty-something, I used to do the same – when bored I went around shops just for the sake of it, and most of the times bought something. And I think it gave me a feeling of content that was a short lasting high – and the shitty, cheap stuff piled in my house (if you visit any flee markets now, you see them overflowing with these H&M and other similar brand’s products: cheap, poor quality stuff that everybody wants to get rid of and simultaneously buy more).
Well, this thought has been actively in my mind and I have noticed that the buying holds less interest to me nowadays. The producer of a clothing or whatever has become to mean more to me and I absolutely hate when people say things like: ”I can’t make a change by not buying this, I am only a one person, it makes no difference if I buy this.”. We cannot change anyone else except ourselves and the easiest thing to do, is to make excuses.
That’s why, this Christmas, I am only buying useful stuff to people. I am not going to buy any shit, just because of buying, instead I have asked my sisters what they really need, and I am going to get them that or make some art pieces / handicrafts myself. And that goes for my adorable godsons as well.
And please, check this Facebook Group (it is Finnish) that some great person has created, very unselfishly! I chose a family from up North, if you can, choose someone as well that you think you could help. And please keep in mind that Christmas is not the only time a year, one can do things for others!
