Long Hair, Don’t Care: Asha Mandela is a Real-Life Rapunzel

In which whipping one’s hair back and forth can cause serious injury to you and/or the people around you. See also: Things that make rubber-necking difficult. See also: The only part of your body that needs a separate banking account for its weekly allowance. See also: Double-dutch with life-threatening rope-stomping consequences. Etc., etc.

Asha Mandela, 50, has more feet in hair than she does years in her life. 55 feet, to be exact, which comes in at a cool 42 pounds and has to be lugged around in a baby sling. But Asha, who holds the record for the world’s longest locks, doesn’t have plans to get rid of her dreads any time soon. Sure, the weight of her hair has affected her spine and could one day possibly cause her to become paralyzed, but there are noticeable perks to having your own emergency rope ladder attached to your body, according to the real-life Rapunzel:

1. In the bedroom, “it adds a little spice on top,” says Mandela. (Color me curious.)

2. It’s made her more spiritual. “When I first started [growing my hair], it was more of a spiritual journey. It wasn’t anything to do with a fad or style in fashion,” says Mandela, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. “After 25 years of growth, my hair has really become part of me and I feel that if I ever cut my hair I’d really be taking away my life.”

3. She only has to/can wash her hair once a week, which is a dream into itself. (It can take up to two days for everything to dry.) Showering is so annoying.

4. Mandela credits her hair with helping her get through cancer, two strokes and two heart attacks. A lot of people don’t even survive one of those things, so you know what? I’ll buy it. I will continue to get my dead-ends trimmed on the regular because the sight of them makes me crazy, but I’ll buy it.

The lady loves her hair. And I think she’s werking-it-out with her tats and her jewels and her Caribbean Earth Momma-vibe.

She should maybe get a neck brace or something though, right?

Featured image via ibtimes.com