Three-year-old girl left crying after hairdressers refuse to cut her hair short

‘Why can’t we let little kids be themselves?’

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A little girl was left feeling distraught when her request to have her hair cut short was rejected by not one, but two hairdressers.

When Nelly Thomas’ young daughter revealed that she wanted to drastically change her hairstyle, Thomas could see no reason why she couldn’t have her hair cut as she wished.

However, it took longer than expected for Thomas to see her daughter’s wishes through due to a couple of obstinate hairdressers.

“When my (now) five year old was about three and a half she decided she wanted to wear her hair short,” she told The Independent.

“She didn’t like the up-keep and also, feared the inevitable nit-comb ritual she saw her older sister go through.”

Thomas first took her daughter to a hairdresser in their local shopping centre in Melbourne to have her hair cut, as requested.

However, the hairdresser at the salon refused to perform the haircut, saying that the young girl would “regret” cutting off her “beautiful hair.”

Nelly Thomas' three-year-old daughter asked her mother if she could have her hair cut short (Nelly Thomas)

The hairdresser’s “rude” demeanor left Thomas’ daughter crying and feeling very upset, so Thomas decided to try again at another salon in the same shopping centre.

Much to her and her daughter’s dismay, the second hairdresser also stated that she was unwilling to cut the little girl’s hair, telling her mother: “You can’t do that to her.”

After much deliberation, the second hairdresser eventually said that she would cut the little girl’s hair as long as she was granted permission by her boss.

However, by this point the three-year-old was so distressed by the encounters at both hair salons that Thomas ended up having to cut her daughter’s hair herself.

“We eventually found a local salon that deliberately doesn’t do ‘gendered cuts’ and they have been brilliant,” she said.

“Both my long-haired daughter and my short-haired one now go there.”

The obstacles that Thomas and her daughter met inspired the Melbourne-based comedian to write a book called Some Girls.

Thomas and her daughter eventually found a hairdresser that would willingly cut the little girl's hair short as requested (Nelly Thomas)

Some Girls is all about teaching girls that they should celebrate every aspect of their unique selves.

Thomas has plans to release Some Boys in the near future as well.

“I have been shocked at how flustered and agitated some adults (and less kids) get at the thought of a little girl who likes to run, jump, play, wear pants and have short hair,” she said.

“I just don’t understand why we can’t let little kids be themselves."