Why I’m Really Not Digging Penny’s New Haircut on The Big Bang Theory

Did anyone else watch the season-eight premiere of The Big Bang Theory last night? I’ll let the genius TV gals over on Obsessed break down the episode, but here on Lipstick, we need to discuss Penny’s major haircut.

When Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting cut her long blond hair into an adorable pixie cut back in June, I loved it. So as a longtime Big Bang Theory fan, I really didn’t mind when I found out the cut would be incorporated into Penny’s story line this season.

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The writers chose to explain Penny’s hair transformation on the show as part of her change in career path—from struggling actress to pharmaceutical sales rep. But after watching the first episode, here’s thing: The same chic cut I love on Kaley, I absolutely hate on Penny.

Penny’s Season-7 Hair (top); Penny’s Season-8 Hair (bottom)

Maybe it’s because I associate Penny with fun, and the cut just looks so buttoned-up on her character. Or maybe it’s because I hate what it represents: the notion that women have to cut their hair to be taken seriously. But mainly I think it comes down to styling. In the photo of Kaley on Instragram above, her hair still has movement and sense of playfulness, whereas the way Penny wore it gave me some major Kate Gosselin bad-hair-day flashbacks.

I’ve been trying to think of another actress who this has happened with, but this one might be a first for me. Anyone have another actress in a similar situation who comes to mind?