Story time with Freud

Medusa's Head
We have not often attempted to interpret individual mythological themes, but an interpretation suggests itself easily in the case of the horrifying decapitated head of Medusa.
    To decapitate = to castrate.  The terror of Medusa is thus a terror of castration that is linked to the sight of something.  Numerous analyses have made us familiar with the occasion for this: it occurs when a boy, who has hitherto been unwilling to believe the threat of castration, catches sight of the female genitals, probably those of an adult, surrounded by hair, and essentially those of his mother.
    The hair upon Medusa's head is frequently represented in works of art in the  form of snakes, and these once again are derived from the castration complex.  It is a remarkable fact that, however frightening they may be in themselves, they nevertheless serve actually as a mitigation of the horror, for they replace the penis, the absence of which is the cause of the horror.  This is a confirmation of the technical rule according to which a multiplication of penis symbols signifies castration.

Freud's essay "Medusa's Head" (1922), quoted here, is included in a group of essays entitled Sexuality and the Psychology of Love. 

This might also explain certain laws banning women of color from showing their hair in public, because clearly some menfolk hate curly hair because it reminds them of their castration complex. I'm kind of rolling my eyes and keeping my tongue firmly in cheek here, but at the same time I suspect that there is something to this. Please also go read Shocking History: Why Women of Color in the 1800s Were Banned From Wearing Their Hair in Public

 It's a complicated issue, but might in some way help to explain why our culture seems to prefer straight hair to curly.