Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I think it’s safe to say that we all know what I’m talking about when I say F**k A*s Bob. It's essentially the bob of all bobs; the very best version of itself. From Victoria Beckham’s perfect 90’s bob to Shiv Roy’s chic cut on Succession, the bob has taken many shapes and forms throughout the years.
Now, this hairstyle isn’t just any old hairdo, no no, far from it. The bob has a rich history dating back to 1915, when ballroom dancer Irene Castle decided to cut her hair short for convenience, with no intention of revolutionizing what hair symbolized for women. The cut became known as the “castle bob.” This style caught on quickly, and before Miss Castle could blink, thousands of celebrities and American women were chopping their hair off too. Aside from its chic and powerful allure, the bob became a beacon of hope for women all over. It symbolized a new beginning, where women could be known for more than just beauty, but instead; ambition, strength, and power.
So how come we’re seeing its return now? Well, in a time of mass transition, from the pandemic to financial crisis to war after war, we’ve been left in a position of contemplation. Asking ourselves questions like: who do I want to be? What do I stand for? And what is most important to me? The key word in this contemplative period being: power. None of us want to feel small, vulnerable, or scared. We want to feel like we have a say, like we have a voice that matters.
In a tech-heavy world, it can become difficult to navigate one’s own identity through the constant chatter of skinny influencers and models who look like they’ve been molded by artificial intelligence. We can start to become hard on ourselves, feeling like we aren’t enough or perhaps like we aren’t ‘special’ enough. So, just like after a bad breakup, what do we do when we need to reinvent ourselves? We cut our hair off, of course! Only, unlike the bad breakup hairdos, this cut is just about as fierce as it gets.
The term ‘F**k a*s bob’ first appeared on a Twitter post about Kat from the cult favorite ‘Euphoria’ show. The caption was something along the lines of “I hate her because of her f**k a*s bob.” At the time, I don’t think the person responsible for this post realized just how fast it would catch on. The line ‘FAB’ has been circulated thousands of times across Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter since its debut. But what needs to be made clear is the fact that FAB is not intended to place negative connotations with the bob haircut; in fact, it's quite the opposite. FAB is what you call a bob that is so good, that it's almost horrible. The cut is so bold and so snatched, that we’re left feeling…well, a little scared. When someone has this bob, they essentially mean business and exude power.
Although many hairstylists warn one of the potential disasters that come with a bad bob cut; uneven length, poor layering, awkward mushroom shapes, and most of all, a lack of attention to the individual’s face shape and hair texture. The risk, like much else in life, does come with possible reward… the reward being a Fuck Ass Bob.