I love Jennifer Lawrence. I love her face, I love her lack of guile, I love her dramatic capabilities, I love all of it. I also think, being who she is and doing what she does for a living, that it took ovaries of adamantium to make such a major hair-change as she did of late.
I, too, have short hair. In fact, I have a pixie cut. As a fan (obvi) of a short 'do and total narcissist, I further commend her. Because as privately thrilling as it is to see my own style choices validated by a celebrity, I have a feeling that if I lived my life under a microscope, I wouldn't have been able to make the big chop. This is one of roughly 80 million reasons why Jennifer Lawrence is better than me.
More from The Stir: Jennifer Lawrence Is More Perfect Than Ever in the New 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' TV Trailer (VIDEO)
But Jennifer Lawrence does not have a pixie cut.
Having short hair does not automatically mean you do. Exhibit EVERY SINGLE MAN WITH SHORT HAIR ON THE PLANET. You don't see them all solemnly commending each other on their new, sharp pixie cuts. This is because there is no god short hair doesn't mean what is resting upon your dome is, ipso facto, a pixie. If you are Halle Berry in the photograph below? Then you have a pixie:
Any time a woman cuts off a significant amount of her hair, I feel the automatic need to cheer for her. This is because the Internet is a terrible place rife with dudes who will rip into any broad with hair shorter than her ears. Sitting behind a computer screen has created an alternate reality for them where famous women care what they think. Hi, I am here to put a stop to that.
But let's make sure we've got our language right. Let's go to the source. Mia Farrow. This is a pixie cut:
This 'do is characterized by a short-cropped cut. It's only nominally longer on the top of the head. It's got angled sections at the ears. It requires a lot of maintenance and it's much, much shorter than you realize going in. Trust. Here is another pixie cut:
Technically, Michelle Williams' pixie is growing out here -- notice the wispy bits at the sides? The longer swoop of bangs? Audrey Hepburn and the fabulous Miss Mia Farrow popularized the style. When Emma Watson cut off all of her hair? THAT was a pixie cut. When Anne Hathaway awkwardly let hers grow out to some sort of Princess Diana-esque 'do after Les Mis? THAT WAS NOT A PIXIE CUT:
It WAS, however, a very nice short haircut. You can tell in the pic above that JLaw is feeling it. She's all "da-yum, I want short hair! I will get short hair!" NOT "I shall get a pixie cut." Because that is not what she wound up with upon her head's topmost point. Hers has much more length and much more versatility.
Most women who go for short hair do not opt to go full-pix. That's because society has put a lot of emphasis on our tresses as the secret to our beauty. I hated my hair my entire life until I cut it all away. With a pixie cut you're forced to contend with the full force of your face and that takes a very serious kind of courage. Weirdly, it's also a lot more flattering than many short haircuts that can leave even the most beautiful-looking woman frazzled, strange, or otherwise poodle-like.
I think with the big notable haircuts happening these days (looking at you, Pam Anderson), we default toward the phrase "pixie cut" without really thinking about it. I know I've been guilty of it. But that stops now! Applaud Jennifer for making the change. She looks hot. Nothing she could try would change that. But stop calling her haircut a pixie, because that it ain't.
Have you ever had any hair-cutting disasters trying to go short?
Images via Kurt Kreiser/Corbis; Fairchild/Conde Nast/Corbis; Katy Win/Corbis; Dune Hellestad/Corbis; Betteman/Corbis