Julia Rizzo

Julia Rizzo

CurlyTeen Scene is a column especially for curly teens. Julia Rizzo is a teenager living in Central New York. When not writing, she enjoys acting, reading and snow skiing. She has loved writing as long as she can remember, and plans to pursue a career in English. She hopes her column will provide encouragement and inspire girls to love their curly hair.

This month, I’m going to write about two important curly men in my life: my brother Gabe and my dad.

Gabe is 16, and he loves playing soccer and skateboarding with his friends. He cuts his hair when it doesn’t fit under his skateboard helmet. My dad is a businessman, an avid mountain biker, and (let’s hope he’s not peeking over my shoulder as I write this”> starting to go a little bald.

My brother and my dad have two things in common: 1″> they have very curly hair and 2″> they don’t pay much attention to it. I sat down to talk to them about being, “curly guys.” I walked into the living room where my dad was watching TV.

Julia: “Hi Dad. Talk to me about curly hair.”

This would be an odd question coming from anyone else, but knowing that I write this column, he took it in stride.

Julia: “Did you have a ‘fro in the ‘70s?”

Dad: “Growing up, I always had very curly hair. Because it was so curly. I could always have a variety of styles. When I was in high school. I rocked this huge ‘fro and long sideburns, which I thought was cool. When I started work after college, I kept my hair shorter. (Thankfully, the end of the ’70s marked the end of my father’s ‘fro.”> “It’s easy to take care of. All I need to do is keep it cut and use a good shampoo.”

Next, I sat down with my brother Gabe, although only after extracting him from the room where he was practicing snowboard moves with his friends.

Julia: “So, I hear you’ve made a recent discovery.”

Gabe: “Conditioner. It’s pretty sweet. It’s like a different kind of shampoo! It all started one day when I went to Super-Cuts. As soon as the hairdresser touched my hair she said ‘What conditioner are you using?’ I said ‘Head and Shoulders’ and I think she almost had a stroke.”

Julia: “Do you think you can use conditioner and still be ‘manly’?”

Gabe: “Yeah. Now that I use it my hair’s not as frizzy. It makes me feel sexy. (He said this with a little smirk.”> I still use Head and Shoulders though.”

Julia: “Speaking of ‘sexy’, do girls like your hair?”

Gabe: “I don’t know any girls. (Another half smile.”> People tell me I should grow a ‘fro.’ There was a joke on my soccer team that if I cut my hair I’d loose my skills.”

So there you go, ladies. Two guys, from two different generations. They rock their curls in their own masculine way, and certainly save money on products and haircuts.

Stay Curly,

Julia


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