What Are Pigtails?
By Bob Decker

A few years ago, a survey was done in a college classroom regarding the term pigtails. The students pretty much agreed that pigtails are two ponytails, one on each side of the head, and that they cannot be braided. If they were braided, they were called braids. The class instructor, being of a different generation, had a different definition. He believed that pigtails specifically meant two braids and that two unbraided ponytails should actually be called doggie tails. My personal analysis of this "experiment" is simply this: The instructor must have been elderly, or nearly so, and possibly losing his memory, so who knows what his generation really called "twin ponytails." And doggie tails? There is no way I could ever adapt to using such a term. The word dog, or anything like it, can never be used to describe a woman with the playfulness, boldness, and/or superior self-esteem to wear her hair in pigtails. The students clearly had a much better handle on what pigtails are all about.

So, where does this leave us? There appears to be generational differences and possibly regional or dialectal differences contributing to the debate (if you'd call it that). So, I'll put it this way: Pigtails are two gatherings of hair hanging on the left and right sides of the head. They may be braided or unbraided. But I'll add my preferences here as well, because the way I see it, there's one right kind of pigtail. Pigtails are far more attractive when unbraided. They should be located on the sides of the head, maybe a little behind and above the ears. Pigtails that are too high on the head, too low, or too far around in back, just don't possess the true spirit of pigtails. And pigtails without this true spirit are simply unable to work their undeniable magic on the wearer and those around her.

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