Diamante Ortiz - Purple Hair

 

 

Wow. Okay, I'm not Beyoncé, but hello, everyone. [audience laughter] Wicked nervous. Okay. [chuckles] [audience cheers and applause] 

 

Ever Since I was 12, I always asked my mom this question, “Mom, can I please have purple hair?” I would always get the same response, “Wait until you're older.” So, I saw this as a definite maybe. So, one day, I just had enough of the same old reply, so I came up with another question, “How old?” And she says, “Well, you have to give some time and thought into it. And until you're 16, then maybe we could talk about this.” So, then I'm like, “Okay.” 

 

So, fast forward to my 16th birthday last year where I did nothing at all, except ask my mom this question, “Mom, can I please have purple hair?” And she said, “Well, you've given it some thought and you probably wrote it 40 times in your journal. So, yes, you can have purple hair as your birthday presentation.” And in that moment, it was like the combination, like 4th of July fireworks and I wanted to do that dance like in Napoleon Dynamite where it's just like-- [audience laughter] It was amazing. We worked out the logistics. 

 

So, I would get my purple hair the first weekend before school started. So, I would come in with a whole new head of hair and a whole new me, and it'd be really awesome. I get to the place and my hair appointment is at 12:00, but I come in at 11:30, just pre-hair excitement, I just made that thing. I see my hairstylist. I only talk to him over the phone and I didn't see him in person. So, I see him and he has blue hair. So, I'm thinking, okay, I'm in good hands. [audience laughter] 

 

During the process, you have to bleach your hair first and then put the purple dye in. So, they put all this aluminum foil in for two hours. So, I end up looking like a satellite dish. I could get like HBO and maybe Pandora. [audience laughter] And then, they wash out the hair and then they towel dry it. So, after they towel dry it, I go from the washing station back to the salon chair and I take off the towel. And in that moment, I am blonde. And in that moment, I actually don't see myself. I see my sister. 

 

I have two sisters. One on my mom's side and one on my dad's side. My sister on my mom's side has blonde hair. Her and I, we both look really like similar. We have similar facial features and everything. The only difference, is that she has blonde hair and now I did too. And it was weird. Because when I looked in the mirror, I saw her and I didn't want to be her. Not saying I don't love my sister, I love my sister to death. She is like the most amazing person ever, right up there with my mom and dad. 

 

I was just freaking out, because it was an out of body experience, because it wasn't me. As I was aspiring to be someone else, I was copying someone else and it was weird. My hairstylist saw how freaked out I was, so he was like, “Okay, we're going to put the purple dye on. Just breathe in and out. Do you need a paper bag?” I was like, “No, I'm fine. Let's just get this purple on.” So, then they finally put the purple dye in. And from 2 o'clock to 6’o' clock, I finally have my purple hair and I'm finally completely complacent and happy with it. 

 

My mom takes 40 pictures as she's doing right now. [audience laughter] It's a combination of prom and graduation. She's probably like, “Oh, [Spanish language] [audience laughter] Love you, mom. It's finally me. I finally saw myself the way I want to be seen. I could show people how I want to be seen, rather than a perception of how they want to see me, just like a weird girl. But now, I'm a weird girl with purple hair, so it's-- [audience laughter] 

 

So, then the next day I go to my sister's house in the Bronx. I didn't tell her that I was getting purple hair. So, I knock on the door first ever. And then, she opens the door and she's like, “Hello--” She's speechless for about 10 minutes. And then, she has three kids. So, I have two nephews and one niece, five-year-old, four-year-old and a one-year-old. The four-year-old has the first reaction, and he says, and I quote, I kid you not, “Is anyone going to love you like that?” [audience laughter] 

 

But then, my five-year-old nephew says, “Don't worry, Mante,” that's my nickname, “I love you like that.” [audience aww] And then, my one-year-old niece just goes, “Ha-ha-ha.” [audience laughter] Like, I'm probably a My Little Pony in her head or something. [audience laughter] And then, my sister finally comes around and has her reaction. She's like, “Oh, wow, you have purple hair. Mom must really trust you. At that age, I could only get blonde hair. So, you're two years ahead of where I was.” It was really weird. 

 

Thinking about it to this day, I didn't really think much about it. She’s like, “Okay, its purple hair. It's going to turn black anyway.” I think I answered my own thought where it's high school and it's my time to actually have purple hair, because I know when I get older, I'm going to go off to college, and be more professional and start wearing gray clothes like corporate America. [audience laughter] 

 

My mom actually trusted me enough to express myself and actually be who I want to be, not how others would perceive me as what they wanted me to be as. It was something that I never fully realized until I look in the mirror every day. My sister taught me that. And of course, I became the petting zoo on Monday at school, and there was a line of people just touching it. It's like, “Oh, my gosh, you got purple hair? I thought it was a myth. You can't really trust these 7th graders,” just spreading rumors all around. It was amazing, because in that moment I felt like it was actually me. It reminds me of this S. E. Hinton quote, “You still have a lot of time to figure out who you want to be.” I'm actually glad that I'm still figuring it out with the purple hair. Thank you.