short hair and sci-fi

Why does the stereotypical sci-fi female lead favor short hair?

Gender-equal Society & Androgyny 

Sci-fi has featured female leads for centuries. The ambiguity of the genre allows women to explore gender and sexuality in an uninhabited way.

As a trope, short hair is traditionally considered "less feminine." If a character is presented with short hair, they are categorized as a Tomboy or an Action Girl. According to TV Tropes, " ... this choice of having short hair usually indicates a girl has a more masculine personality, is tough and aggressive or is lacking in vanity."

Oftentimes the character with short hair is juxtaposed against a girl with long hair to exemplify traditional femininity adjacent to androgyny. This juxtaposition challenges preconceived notions deeply rooted in the patriarchy's attempt to define what a woman is.

An example of this juxtaposition is Imperator Furiosa protecting the Five Wives in Mad Max: Road to Fury. The Five Wives are Immortan Joe's concubines. Imperator Furiosa is a war captain. Right there, the profession and physical features of the female lead indicate a future based on gender equality. The women she is contrasted against serve as reminders of one of the atrocious consequences of the soon-to-be antiquated patriarchy.

vs.

Similarly, Sonnie from the Netflix series Love, Death, Robots embodies the same fearsome androgynous look that indicates her character's call to action. Her character is juxtaposed adjacent to a feminine presenting character, Jennifer, who seduces Sonnie and murders her host body.

The androgyny of Sonnie's facial features and short hair gives the audience a window into her personhood and what she values (killing beasties, surviving). Her character’s brutal history of sexual violence and moment of vulnerability with Jennifer nod to self-expression that goes beyond her reputation for standing alone as a female in a male-dominated world, and being unbeatable in battle.

Stereotypical sci-fi female leads with short hair tend to possess similar no-nonsense attitudes and are not concerned, whatsoever, with appealing to the patriarchy's idea of a woman.

Specifically analyzing The Matrix and Mad Max: Fury Road through a lens of gender, there are apparent themes of the white patriarchy featured, challenged by a blatant undermining of the social system by the female lead.

In The Matrix's first fight scene featuring Trinity, the policeman dismisses her as a "little girl," vastly underestimating her ability to efficiently annihilate his measly two units and escape the agents.

Furthermore, Trinity's androgyny plays perfectly adjacent to Neo's physical features, effortlessly indicating their two halves of a whole plotline.

The Matrix is a gender-bending, gender-equal society. The character’s aesthetic reflects that.

In conclusion, short hair on a stereotypical sci-fi female lead indicates action, systemic change, and self-expression.

Ascetic aesthetic

The ascetic aesthetic takes minimalism to the extreme. It is the stereotypical sci-fi movie setting. Think Tron Legacy universe's lack of any real furniture. Or Star War's prison cells.

To match the geometric setting, geometric hairstyles make sense. Slicked back pixie cuts and angular bobs fit the aesthetic fashion-wise.

Tell me the hair doesn't make this entire photo.

Stereotypical sci-fi female leads have short hair because it enhances aesthetics.

Fewer problems with zero-g, helmets, space suits 

Twitter user @hope1551 tweeted "to be fair, long hair in space seems like a major bummer."

I couldn't agree more. Imagine, thick locks of hair being braided and plated at the beginning of the day. By the end?? hair pulled out in all directions from the helmets and insane space hair from the occasional lack of gravity. We can't all be Princess Leia.

I am not an expert on space suits but I feel like something would need to be pulled over your head at some point. Every girl knows that annoying moment when your hair is freshly put up but you decided to change and have to put your dress or shirt or something over your head again ... the concentration it takes NOT to mess up your hair ...

Things are usually going very wrong in sci-fi universes. Sci-fi girls have bigger problems to concentrate on than hair, like idk saving the human race.

Also, washing long hair in space? Seems like a chore.

Short hair = logistic practicality

The end.

References:

1. Ballard, M. (2015, December 14). Race and gender in 'The matrix'. A Survey of the Wachowskis' Work. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://ballardwachowskiproject.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/race-and-gender-in-the-matrix/

2. Barco, M. del. (2015, May 15). The women pull no punches in fiery, feminist 'mad max'. NPR. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2015/05/15/406731120/the-women-pull-no-punches-in-fiery-feminist-mad-max

3. Boyish short hair. TV Tropes. (n.d.). Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BoyishShortHair

4. Calhoun, B. (n.d.). Atom age feminists: The women of '50s sci-Fi: Features: Roger Ebert. Features | Roger Ebert. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.rogerebert.com/features/women-of-50s-sci-fi

5. Guardian News and Media. (2015, May 27). Sexists are scared of mad max because it is a call to dismantle patriarchies | Jessica Valenti. The Guardian. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/27/sexists-are-scared-of-mad-max-because-it-is-a-call-to-dismantle-patriarchies

6. Michel, L. (2020, March 12). Top 10 female protagonists in science fiction movies. ScreenRant. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://screenrant.com/best-female-protagonists-science-fiction-movies/

7. New Olivia Wilde Tron: Legacy banner. ComingSoon.net. (2014, August 13). Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/69706-new-olivia-wilde-tron-legacy-banner

8. Sci-fi Bob Haircut. TV Tropes. (n.d.). Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SciFiBobHaircut