Drunk angel of my life, soulmate for eternity, talk about what the hair means
amber. sweet love of my heart and light of my heavens. soulmate in this vast world we must endure day by day, brilliant and beautiful soul whom it feels more correct to be near to than far from.
the hair is a metaphor. dan’s hair, that is. phil’s is symbolic. that’s my tags, i think.
dan’s hair is a metaphor for heterosexuality. he talked about hating his curls for so long, you know? and for as long as he’s embraced the curls, he’s been leaning more and more into the androgynous clothing, the queerness, the comfort with who he is as a person. the internalized homophobia and the heteronormativity and the toxic masculinity of his hair-straightening days are a thing of the past, now. he felt like he was wrong for not being straight the same way he felt like his hair was wrong for not being straight and the confident, proud, beautiful human dan has grown into is a person that’s outgrown straightness in every way imaginable.
and phil. phil’s hair is symbolic. so much of who he is was (and in ways still is) controlled by how he thinks he has to be, the same way dan was. but phil’s hair changing? that’s symbolic. it’s really, really essential and a huge part of queer culture to change your hair, when you’re feeling ready for a big life change. and phil was ready for a big life change , grown into a different person than he used to be and more than that- he was ready to share that change with the world. phil changing his hair was symbolic of that readiness. people make new years resolutions, you know? but it’s queer to make resolutions and new years for yourself whenever you feel it. whenever you’re ready. whenever you realize you’ve become a new person and you’re ready to live that openly in the world. phil’s hair change means he’s confident, he’s ready to change, it means he loves himself enough to change no matter what the world thinks of him. and god that has me emotional. thank you for coming to my ted talk
