"I had short hair for a while, but I ended up loving it"
About this Quote
For a Black actress whose image was once tightly associated with a particular era of TV beauty (and the industry’s often narrow ideas of what reads as “marketable”), “short hair” isn’t only a style choice. It’s a litmus test for how much permission she’s willing to grant herself. The subtext is about agency: trying something that might provoke commentary, then discovering the commentary doesn’t get the final vote.
The phrasing matters. “For a while” signals a trial run, the way people soften nonconformity to make it socially legible. “Ended up loving it” is the pivot from cautious experimentation to embodied confidence. She’s not claiming enlightenment; she’s describing a recalibration. That ordinariness is the point. In a culture that turns women’s appearance into a public referendum, Ali frames change as private feedback: she lived in the look long enough to know how it felt, not just how it photographed.
It’s also a subtle swipe at the idea that femininity has one length. The “ended up” suggests she surprised herself, which makes the moment relatable without begging for validation.
Quote Details
| Topic | Reinvention |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Ali, Tatyana. (n.d.). I had short hair for a while, but I ended up loving it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-had-short-hair-for-a-while-but-i-ended-up-135312/
Chicago Style
Ali, Tatyana. "I had short hair for a while, but I ended up loving it." FixQuotes. Accessed February 1, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-had-short-hair-for-a-while-but-i-ended-up-135312/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I had short hair for a while, but I ended up loving it." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-had-short-hair-for-a-while-but-i-ended-up-135312/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.





