SHS Girls’ "Penis Envy" Syndrome: Haircut vs Character vs Beauty

I was a local Imam somewhere and a certain elderly woman complained to me how bad her daughter who happens to be the first born is treating her, and she wanted me to advise her regarding the status of the mother in Islam. When I met the daughter she revealed that since childhood the mother has been unkind to her and always preferred the second born who is a son, to her. “She always chooses him over me.” she said bitterly. “There's something in me that doesn't like her at all.” she added.

I went back and explained to the mother what the daughter said and how there really can't be peace if there's no fairness and justice.

She should therefore apologize to her and change the way she treats her as her daughter because among other things, the daughter complained about how the mother prefers the son's children and his wife to hers and the husband, and everything she gives the mother is in turn given to the son who she claimed doesn't respect her as his senior sister. It was this last statement regarding the respect the mother disclosed something which I thought was the root cause of the issue, and why she hates the mother since childhood which I believe is anchored in the current issue of character vs female haircut brouhaha in high schools.

The mother explained to me that as the traditions of the Dagbani people demand, it's the male that represents the family in most functions even if the daughter is older. But she always wants to usurp certain functions that is exclusively in the male domain per the tradition. The mother elucidated further that since childhood the daughter had always cried and disturbed her to buy her a penis. And she will always console her that if she's coming back from the market she will buy her brand new penis. But she never did and that hatred sunk in her deeply because she thought her younger brother's penis was bought by their mother!

Although many latter and modern psychologists have dismissed the theory of "Penis Envy" in young girls by Sigmund Freud on the basis of lack of scientific prove, his observation could not have been far from truth.

The Penis Envy theory is sort of coterminous with the Electra Complex theory both of which attempt to explain the behavior of young girls with their mothers.

The Penis Envy theory theorizes that young girls tend to envy the opposite sex for having the male sexual organ. By extension, they attempt to experiment with it. And the Electra Complex theory theorizes that young girls tend to envy their mothers for being the wives of their fathers. As a result, attempt has always been made by young girls to get the attention of the father and to snatch him. They tend to be resentful and hateful towards the mothers when they realize it's not possible to snatch their mothers' husbands.

Interestingly, this problem has been transferred to the schools young girls attend.

The ongoing debate across the country regarding haircut among female students at senior sigh schools (SHS) to inculcate discipline and by extension, character moulding, is a reflection of the above two theories by Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud in the light of the beauty of a woman.

In this debate, as to whether female students should keep hair or not, many Ghanaians have been asking, with rather a severe myopia in parenting, whether there is a connection between a lady keeping her hair and her character moulding or her academic excellence?

And how could these Ghanaians not see the connection is rather baffling. And strongly believe this has not stemmed from our usual politicking. In all honesty and seriousness, people genuinely can't see the jawline between a teenager’s hair and her character, and by extension her academic excellence. The emphasis is placed on the female students at the high schools.

But there's a dangerous connection; a connection which may not be an issue at private schools where fees of students are "private" and dictates how they should be handled as compared to the public schools where the opposite is the case. A reason why keeping hair in the private sector by female students may not be much of an issue because even if there is, it is usually dealt with full force and control, but remains a lethal issue in public high schools.

The question is, if the female hair is not an issue, why are wigs prices keep soaring? Before I began this write-up my quick search on wig prices in Ghana on Jiji.com had the highest price of wigs perked at almost GH¢600. And I was told there are wigs costing more than GH¢2000.00. And if there's anything that is ever thriving in the cosmetic industry it is hairstyling. The reason simply is that, hairstyle of a woman is one key component in determining how beautiful she looks.

Most beauticians have agreed that the number one part of the woman that makes her beautiful, charming, and attractive is the hair, before the eyes, jawline, neck, breasts, hips or butts, are considered.

It was in the same light Oscar Wilde said the face of a man is his autobiography, and the face of the woman is her work of fiction. And the hair has always been a necessary component.

In fact, Daniel Mcdermon in explaining the Seven Ways of Seeing Beauty in Women by Cooper Hewitt which starts with "the Extravagant", hairstyle is the number one component of woman’s beauty.

Now, the senior high schools are training grounds for adult kids or the teenagers. It is where they are mostly taught how to become real women as they journey the ladder of academia.

In fact, the reason why the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah embraced boarding school system, as part of the Accelerated Educational Development Policy, which was part of the evangelical efforts of the Basel or Presbyterian missionaries who developed what was called Salims to separate locals who converted to Christianity, was to ensure students were disciplined, learned other's cultures and manners, and mingle with students from other parts of the country.

As a result, the secondary school remains the bastion of character moulding where students are trained to be responsible men and women before they begin tertiary education where students are not bothered anymore regarding character. Students who were disciplined enough at the secondary school level tend to find a hiccup free tertiary education, and the vice versa.

As stated earlier, keeping hair as female student and can get to flaunt it as a teenager with tendencies of Electra Complex and Penis Envy, can be very dangerous.

Remember, at the high school, teachers act as parents where the male teachers play the father figure role; and the female teachers play the mother figure role. And the male student counterparts become the easiest target in displaying the chacteristics of Penis Envy.

Unlike the home where young girls simply become resentful because they couldn't get to snatch their mothers' husbands, they easily get that opportunity at school either in their teachers or from their male counterparts.

Now, if these young girls are empowered with beauty having to keep hair and probably come with a hairstyle they wish because the hair must not be left unkempt, there's going to be many of them who will seduce teachers. In fact, even with the haircut, some of them have been flirting with teachers and seducing them. I have personally taught in many high schools voluntarily and have mingled with SHS students as a teacher, and I know what I am talking about. Many of them are after teachers as if to say, “don’t be afraid I am a woman; just taste my forbidden apple”. And that is because of the Penis Envy an Electra complex tendencies at that age. But a teenager who decides to wear or keep a shiny hair seizes to be a minor in the eyes of every man. Age will suddenly become just a number.

The point is, keeping hair as a girl doesn't only make a teenager looks underage, it makes them beautiful that some teachers can't resist if Electra Complex leads some of them to now seduce and flirt with teachers.

Such female students would also see their female teachers as equals and colleagues and become disrespectful towards them due to the same Electra complex which turns them against their mothers at home. Keeping their hair cut humbles them and reminds them the students they are.

It's the theory of Penis Envy that makes many young girls to admire the opposite sex who give them attention. A teenager without hair will not look as beautiful as the one who keeps hair. And the good looks will further attract their male counterparts who are always ready to quench curiosity of girls.

Ghana will be opening a porn industry in the public senior high schools if girls should be allowed to keep hair. Unless they cover it up.

Mind you, the sex organ of men really don't care how old a private part that pretends to be older is.

Keeping hair among female teenagers may give them sense of fake hope of reaching maturity; and when they flirt or seduce male teachers because of the tendencies of Penis Envy or Electra Complex, majority of teachers will not resist.

The lack of hair of female students at high school hides their true beauty and instead, advertises their innocence any God-fearing person won't disturb them. But when they choose to wear hair, it qualifies them as women and many teachers with unstable libido may make advances.

Denying them ability to seduce or flirt with teachers and male counterparts, is one massive way of moulding their character saving them from distractions from interested men. They will also get to know in later years that how they look doesn't define them but what they are capable of intellectually and the content of their character.