On the topic of hair...

I came across this amusing vignette on the Sociological Images blog the other day, from a woman who had moved to Saudi Arabia from Finland:

[M]y american friend… was in a shopping mall with her [one-and-a-half-year] old son. His hair is a little longer which is unusual in Saudi but many parents in the U.S. find cute. 

A Saudi woman with a baby stroller stopped to talk to her asking, is this your daughter?  My friend said no it’s a boy.  So this Saudi lady dramatically threw her hands in the air looking toward the sky and began praying:  ”Oh Allah guide this woman to the straight path!” “Guide her to cut the sons hair!”  ”He looks like a girl, guide this poor woman!”

She told my friend she MUST cut his hair because he looked like a girl.

My friend was appalled at the woman’s behavior. Nevertheless she tried to be polite and said pointing to the woman’s baby dressed up in an all-pink outfit “What a beautiful girl you have mashallah.” 

The woman replied:  ”It’s a boy.”

My friend asked why is he dressed up in PINK? 

She replied: “Oh, I don’t believe in colors being gender specific.”

Ah, culture.