Bernice Bobs Her Hair

“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” is about a young woman, named Bernice, who visited her cousin in a different town, who was named Marjorie. Bernice quickly realized that she is not getting as much attention as she would if she was back home, where she was a part of the wealthiest family in the whole city. Getting some advice from Marjorie, she had transformed herself into a completely different person. Peer pressure and jealousy gets in the way of these two cousins as the plot thickens.

“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” is something people can read and think, “History does repeat itself.” It’s amazing how this story contains problems young women today go through, even though it was written in the 1920’s. Young women, especially in high school, crave for the attention from boys and wishes to be popular and would do almost anything to get it. They are often blind to the changes they undergo and the people they are choosing to surround themselves around. In the story, Marjorie gives advice to Bernice and is basically changing her into a completely different person. Marjorie may have really wanted to best for Bernice but, it quickly turns in jealousy. That’s what usually happens in the high school, young adult time period. Friends intend to help their other friends, but once the attention is taken off of them, they’ll do anything to get it back, even if it means to hurt their friends. In the story, Marjorie pressures Bernice into cutting her hair. Peer pressure is common in the teenage and young adult years. Even though, a person may know the situation is wrong, they still do it because their “friends” are encouraging them to do it anyway. Trying to get into popularity is just as hard as trying to maintain it. This story shows how jealous and competitive females can be, no matter how far back the time was.