Friday 22 October 2010

LETTING ONE'S HAIR DOWN

Meaning

Behave in a free or uninhibited manner.

Origin

Letting one's hair down was a commonplace part of women's daily activities in the 17th century. The hair was normally pinned up and was let down for brushing or washing. The term used for this at the time was dishevelling. Anyone who is unkempt and generally untidy might now be described as dishevelled but then it applied specifically to hair which was unpinned.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/228000.html


I, on the otherhand, have my own theory on the matter. It's quite similar to the above explanation but just takes it a step further. Recently I happened upon a book of fairytales, but not just any book of fairytales, oh no Sir, it was a book of the ORIGINAL fairytales. In this book I found the subject of today's blog, Rapunzel - the truth behind the braids! So, we are all familiar with this poor Princess' faith. Thanks to her mother's strange pregnancy cravings Rapunzel's father had to hand her over to the local witch at birth. If this wasn't bad enough the diabolical dame forced 'Punzi' to live in a tower high above the town and the cheapskate conjurer wouldn't even fork out for a lousy rope ladder. Punzi had to throw her luscious locks out the window and down the turret so that her captor could shimmy up her braids and hop in to 'Me Lady's' chambers (even en medieval times Hop on/Hop off tourism was a hit). Well one day, Prince Charming was a-wandering in the valley and witnesses the witch's ascent up the tower and as is the way in fairytale land, he instantly falls in love with the follicley gifted Princess. So the following eve the dashing young fellow went to the tower and shouted:

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair."

Well, imagine the shock poor Punzi recieved when this hunky young specimen jumped in the window of her towering turret (quite the fallic symbol for a so-called childrens tale) but she obviously came to terms with the shock quite quickly as the Prince's late night tower trysts became more and more frecuent. O.k. so here is where all similarities between modern day Rapunzel and the real Rapunzel end. The Walt Disney-fied, morally correct Princess lets her relationship with her Royal lothario slip when she stupidly asks the witch :

" Why is it so much easier for the Prince to climb up my hair?"

However, in the original story Rapunzel unwittingly asks the wizened old hag:

"Why are my clothes getting so tight around the middle?"

Yes folks, Princess Rapunzel was a 'baby mama'. As a result of "letting her hair down" Rapunzel had:

A) the presence of a very very unattractive person she couldn't wait to get rid of in her bedroom. (the witch)
OR
B) the presence of a handsome stranger she didn't want to get rid of in her bedroom. (the Prince)

Alas, this handsome stranger brought sad tidings to the Princess. She was booted out of home and left bare foot and pregnant in the enchanted forest. So what is the moral of this story?
In the wise words of Pop Princess Beyonce

"If you like it then you should put a ring on it"

Woah woah woah oooh ooh oh ohoh