We all thought we’d be done with the weird haircuts in politics after Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, but we were dead wrong. Enter the newest challenger for the title: Valentina Petrenko.
And no, that is not a bad photoshop job. As if Russian politicians needed more help to look like cheap Bond villains, Valentina really hit the mark with her Cold War haircut. It’s been drawing in attention from all around the world, because in all fairness, the haircut is just too good to not write about it.
65-year-old Valentina represents the Republic of Khakassia in the Russian senate (so maybe she’s a Star Wars villain then?) and has been known in Russia for her haircut since 2015. She had an interview then, asking her about her hair, where she said she was tired of answering those questions and it was just hair pins that lift her curly hair upwards. I’m sure that the fact that her hairdresser probably cuts off the tips with a hedge trimmer never occurred to her as weird.
But as much as Valentina may look like she’s about to claim ownership to the Senate, pull out a lightsaber and do a 720 flip, she’s actually a brave and good politician. She negotiated the release of some child hostages back in 1993, which granted her an “Order For Personal Courage”. Now think of your own country and whether any politicians currently in office there would apply for such a merit. Exactly. In fact in order to secure the safety for some of the last child hostages, she offered up herself as a replacement. The offer wasn’t accepted, but it takes real courage to sacrifice yourself like that.
She’s had a long and successful political career and is no woman to be trifled with. She’s a part of Vladimir Putin’s former party and is a strong advocate for Russian mothers and their rights. She believes mothers deserve a much better standing in society which needs to correspond to the role they perform.
Naturally, despite all her political successes, the main focus of attention will always be her weird haircut. Twitter has been spending the last few years literally contemplating what goes on in that head of hers. But let’s try not to forget that despite her weird fashion sense when it comes to haircuts, she’s a very capable politician that earned every ounce of respect she gets.
