Amandla Stenberg knows firsthand how the right haircut can change more than just your outward appearance. In a new essay for InStyle, Stenberg discusses how the actor’s relationship with hair has changed over the years. It turns out Stenberg’s recent decision to chop off hair for an upcoming movie was a game changer.

In the essay Amandla describes the recent decision to shorten, little by little, the afro that had become “a symbol of my self-acceptance” and a profession of “loving my blackness.” “As soon as I got tired of that [look] being my identity, I cut my hair shorter,” Stenberg writes. “I was curious how that might affect people’s perception of my gender too, so I kept cutting it shorter and shorter. I wanted a hairstyle that felt less feminine.” So when the director of upcoming film Where Hands Touch told Stenberg to chop off hair to play a biracial teen in Nazi Germany, it was sink-or-swim. “I wanted to truly connect with my character, and that meant understanding firsthand what it was like to live without hair,” the actor wrote.

The cut, however, ended up bringing enriching Amandla’s personally. “Shaving my head was wild. I felt a sense of complete neutrality. It was so freeing. This summer I came out as gay, and I must say, having no hair made me feel even more comfortable with my gender and sexuality,” Stenberg explained. “My hair is still short, but I let it grow out a bit to give myself more options. Sometimes it’ll be a more masculine look with little-boy curls, or I’ll part it in the middle and slick it down to look more feminine. The best part: It’s totally up to me.”

Stenberg, who stars next in The Hate U Give, also writes about accepting natural hair. “As a kid I was endlessly frustrated by my hair,” Stenberg said. It didn’t help that the stylists on the set of The Hunger Games, one of Stenberg’s very first films, had no idea how to style natural hair. “They also openly expressed frustration about how it was too challenging. I wasn’t all that self-conscious, but I remember very clearly feeling that my hair wasn’t acceptable, that something was wrong with it,” the actor recalled.

Once again, it was a haircut that changed everything. “When I hit 16, though, I got my hair cut by someone who knew black hair and black curl patterns. That haircut changed the game for me. It brought out my curls in a beautiful way. I learned to appreciate my natural hair texture, and I realized that it was really special if I let it do its thing,” Stenberg wrote. Since then, Amandla has learned the power and significance of natural hair.

“Black hair carries the weight of our ancestors and our tradition. Almost all black women grow up sitting with their moms, whether it’s once a day or once a week, having their hair combed through and then getting it twisted or braided or whatever it may be,” Stenberg wrote. “There’s something so beautiful about that act. It carries all the love, tenderness, strength, and uniqueness about where we’re from. It’s something most black women share, even if every person’s curl pattern is different.”

Related Stories:
–Amandla Stenberg Opens Up About Not Using Female Pronouns
–Lena Waithe Feels ‘So Free’ After Cutting Her Hair, and I Get It
–The Curly-Hair Celebrity Stylists Redefining Hollywood Beauty

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