djs' daily nugget: women and their post-break-up metamorphoses

once again, jojo and regan ask the probing questions to uncover the core of the human soul. this time, it's "why do women try to drastically change their appearance after a break-up, especially when they are the dump-ee?"

the origin of their question is that when regan met up with a female friend, she'd lopped off most of her long, gorgeous, blond locks and dyed the remaining short 'do black. when asked why, she said, "because of a break-up." ladies, we all know of a gal pal who has (or we can admit that we personally have) chopped/dyed/buzzed/mangled/transformed hair, gotten piercings and/or tattoos (sometimes in unconventional places), bought an entirely new wardrobe, often comprised of a radically different style than before (e.g., if we once were ralph lauren preppy, we're now british glam). so, regan's friend, don't look back. that's right, sister. 99.9% of all women out there don't need further explanation; we feel your pain.

to illuminate the situation, let me tell my story. as a junior in college, i was in a lovely relationship that i felt was really going somewhere. imagine my dismay when it ended up not. after i got over the initial teary-eyed nights, i took my thick, shiny brown hair that reached below my shoulder blades and did a personal chop job. by the time i was done, it was a reasonably clean/neat chin-length 'do. and, like regan's friend, i colored it a bit, although i went the less drastic route of only applying blond highlights.

why did i do this, especially when everybody else LOVED my hair as it was? truth is, it's not a self-destructive move at all. instead of being weepy and confined to the past, we ladies like to think of ourselves as shedding a former identity, redirecting our lives in a new and fulfilling direction, and reincarnating ourselves as confident and liberated women. we're molting men, if you will.

so ladies, blaze your own trail without any fear, and grow into yourself. you'll never regret the new heights that you reach.

and gentlemen, if you see a recent ex sporting a new look, realize that she's moving on.

she has erased you from her cell phone.