What poufy-haired women want (and why)

Matthew Yglesias wants to know why women want straight hair. As a woman who wants straight hair, I will give my own reason, such as it is. I have hair that is naturally somewhere between wavy and straight, but almost curly on humid days. I don't like having it look entirely different every day, and the simplest way to maintain any sort of consistency is to keep it all straight. I've never gone the Japanese route, but I suppose I see the appeal. If I could let my hair air-dry and have fabulous curls, then I'd do that, so I don't really see the appeal of straight hair over curly hair, just of straight hair over all-over-the-place, semi-straight hair. Also, I want, on a certain level, to look like a Japanese pop star, and having stick-straight near-black hair is a start. Even if, as I now know, some of these pop stars are clumsily wielding hair equipment like the rest of us. The pink streak I had for a while helped this look, but a combination of impatience with Manic Panic and getting to the ripe old age of 22 have led me to give this streak up. While I claim Francophilic Zionism, I am also a Japanophile, and would eat, dress, and look Japanese before I'd so fully embrace the food, clothing, and style of France or Israel--agnes b. and Taim notwithstanding.

While I don't know if there is some unconscious racial reason for my wanting straighter hair, I sort of doubt it, since a) I have no interest in having blond hair, blue eyes, or a different nose, or even Lilly Pulitzer shift dresses; and b) many people of my ethnic background--my own father included--have stick-straight hair. Of course, as with all things anyone desires, there are probably a billion unconscious reasons behind my wish for less poufy hair, but, as with Manic Panic hairdye, I haven't got the patience to figure it out.