2.1 Hair: A Social and Historical Perspective
We, women, often see hair as a reflection of our identity because it is both part of the personal and the public sphere. This profound personal relationship between hair and self-esteem is evident throughout history, philosophy and even religion. Hair has always been a cultural index to individual position and power (or, as we argue, a power taken away from women through head-shaving, for example). Therefore, one’s hairstyle has an impact on women’s power, since hair is central defining constituent of their position with society. In Roman Female Adornment, Bartman asserts that to determine women's attractiveness according to her hairstyle is not a natural, but a cultural fact:
Given that the
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hair of men has no biological difference-- women have hair that is neither intrinsically thicker nor curlier than men's - the adoption of the center-part coiffure by one sex and not the other is a practice determined solely by culture. (2) In this quote, Bartman explains that patriarchal society under the Romans categorized hairstyles the same way it categorized gender. Indeed, the purpose of this chapter is to outline, from a historical perspective, a cultural history of hair that demonstrates how women’s attractiveness based to their hairstyle is cultural, and that hairstyles generally, and the status of women at the historical/cultural moment, influences the relevant practices. In order to emphasize on the cultural aspect within the historical perspective of hair, I decided to create seven sub-categories, rather than chronological ones: “Hair: A Gendered Symbol of Punishment,” “Hair: Symbol of Attractiveness and Sex Appeal,” “Magical Hair: an Object of Fetishism / Mysticism,” “Hair Color: A Preference for Northern European Beauty Standards,” “Racial Implication of Hair: Freedom or Confinement?” “Hair: A Symbol of Women’s Freedom and Liberation, or How to Blur Gender Boundaries,” and “Head-Covering: Perpetual Gender discrimination or Right to Freedom of Expression?” In the first category, “Hair: A Gendered Symbol of Punishment,” we see how, from ancient China to nowadays America, hair has always been used as a mean to punish and shame women and young girls.
We discuss a notorious example of head-shaving, which happened after the liberation of France after World War II, when women suspected of having sexual intercourse with the enemy would also be head-shaved and forced to walk in public. Secondly, in “Hair: Symbol of Attractiveness and Sex Appeal,” we describe how, from the European Renaissance and throughout the centuries, women have reinvented themselves using their hair as a mean of expression, as well as a mean to gain power and attractiveness. Third, from the mysticism during the Middle Ages, to Disney’s magical hair in the movie Rapunzel, we discuss in “Magical Hair: an Object of Fetishism / Mysticism” the symbolism of hair and how a 21st century -movie princess re-appropriates herself through hair. Fourth, in “Hair Color: A Preference for Northern European Beauty Standards,” we illustrate the fascination for blonde hair. Since early Christian times, blond hair has been associated with being angelic and youth. Today, it is still an object of fascination and desire, particularly since the glamorous Marilyn Monroe look. In contrast, from the African American community, whose female members can spend hours at the salon to straighten their hair (“Racial Implication of Hair: Freedom or Confinement?”), to Cindy Lauper and Madonna who used their hair to portray exuberance and freedom of style (and speech) (Hair: A Symbol of Women’s Freedom and Liberation, or How to Blur Gender Boundaries”), we wonder where women’s liberation through hair stops and begins to translate as submissive behavior in the service of becoming beautiful and attractive according to Western standards of beauty. We examine how hair, in all its complexity, can be both a symbol of liberation and submission at the same time, which leads to the last category:
“Head-Covering: Perpetual Gender discrimination or Right to Freedom of Expression?” in which we discuss the recent debate of head-covering in France, where law number 2004-228 prohibit women from wearing headscarf in government operating school. 2.1.1. Hair: A Gendered Symbol of Punishment “Is cutting hair as punishment child abuse?” Surprisingly enough, it is a question many parents wonder and ask online. Back in 2010, an Orange County Deputy DA and his wife have filed suit against the county, the state and the County Social Services Agency over being listed in the State Index of child abusers. The reason of their offense was that they had cut their teenage daughter’s hair as a punishment. Unfortunately, Hair as a symbol of punishment is nothing new. In Ancient China, for example, cutting someone’s hair short was a way to mask Chinese prisoners. People would know instantly that they were criminals, one seeing their short hair (Miller 82). To cut someone's hair in the Middle Ages meant dishonor as well. Although knights would cut their hair to signify submission, women often did so to signify penitence: Isabella, wife of Richard Cornwall, lay on her death bed: "[...] as she lay dying in the year 1240, [Isabella] had 'the dark locks of her abundant hair-cut and made full confession of her sins" (Bartlett 54). As we can see, short hair for women was already exclusively a sign of submission (woman’s hair is cut when a sin is committed). Famously, in more recent history, we witnessed the same behavior / need to punish through hair removal. For example, in order to be punished and deprived from all dignity, head shaving was practiced on French women who were suspected of having collaborated with Nazi occupiers during World War II. From 1943 -1946 about 20,000 women of all ages and professions were accused of sexual, economical and over all collaborating with the occupying Germans. Most often it was the men who carried out the punishment of shaving the accused head sometimes in the town square among a cheering crowd to humiliate, degrade and make an example of their betrayal and sometimes it was a matter that was carried out within the home at the hands of the accused woman’s father or husband (see Figure 2.4). Whereas most of the shavings concerned women, some men were shaved, even though the number is quite small. Only seven “départements” of France (Allier, Aveyron, Drôme, Isère, Loire, Loiret et Tarn-et-Garonne) have a history of men shaving during WWII. However, men head-shaving were not sexually related. Men were shaved for having deserted or for having betrayed France by working in Germany, stealing or being “collabos” (the “collabos” were the men and women who had collaborated with Germans).
Alice Walker’s short creative nonfiction, Dreads uses imagery to convey her narrative about a hairstyle that was inspired by singer, Bob Marley. Dreads are defined as a “hairstyle in which the hair is washed, but not combed, and twisted while wet into braids or ringlets hanging down on all sides”, according to howtogetdreads.com. Imagery was chosen for this paper by the depth of Walker’s illustration of beauty that natural hair has that might seem to be abonnement or not professional by society standards. This reading sparks interests just by the title a lone. That people have mixed feeling about dreads, some might see it as being spiritual; or as a political statement. However, Walker loves the way her natural hair is supposed to form without
This essay is concerned with issues of identity, body image and the politics of hair within African American culture. It discusses the lived experiences of a number of African American women and is no way generalizable to all African American women. Nonetheless, body image and hair politics are prominent features in African American culture because they have deep historical roots and still feature in present day. Body image is generally understood as a mental image of one’s body as it appears to others (Featherstone 2010). This mental image produces body consciousness, which Samantha Kwan describes as an amplified mindfulness that one’s body does not conform to hegemonic cultural standards (Kwan 2010). In today’s modern context, hegemonic cultural norms are reproduced and widely disseminated by the mass media with the help of new technologies. These new technologies Elliott’s discusses, with some in the form of satellite television and other widely utilized media, give viewers unprecedented opportunities to view and scrutinize their favorite celebrities in close proximity (Elliott 2010).
The existing literature on ethnic and racial studies among African-Americans has focused on issues pertaining to beauty and body politics especially on natural hair. Spellers and Moffitt assert that the body politics that one assumes, guides how one relates to a particular political ideology in a particular society. Black natural hair is considered as a way by which the true identity of African women can be understood (Jacobs-Huey). It is a symbol of power among black women; it influences how people are treated by others.
Revolutionary fashions made it acceptable to show more skin, develop different styles, and be able for women to express themselves. Women began to liberate themselves from the traditional long hairstyles and turn to the new and shorter masculine hairdos. “The bob appeared in the US shortly. Women with bobs needed more frequent haircuts, and wanted permanent waves” (Monet). Women began to cut their hair shorter, cringing their hair, and finger waving it.
Sontag’s article, she characterizes modern society today as the correct manner for how women must be represented. There is no need to look further than the closest billboard to see today’s society’s beautiful woman with her necessary quality. The demanded characteristic of women places a disadvantage to them compared to men, who are not “graded” or treated depending on their appearances. The feature that men are evaluated on are their social aspects, which they can alter. Even though women and men cannot choose their appearances naturally, surgeries and beauty products can be used. One could think that it is the same for women and men, but that is false. As Ms. Sontag writes, “in a man’s face, lines are taken to be signs of character.” But by a woman, she writes, “every wrinkle, every line, every gray hair, is a defeat.” The norm for a woman’s appearance in today’s society is illogical and can get out of
The hems of skirts and dresses rise to a newer, more promiscuous level. Traditional long hair, supposedly the crowning glory of a woman, is cut shoulder-length or shorter. Defined waistlines are lost, giving way to a shapeless and loose fitting style of clothing. Manufacturing of cosmetics has emerged during this decade, and a variety of products have become popular among women. The famous Gabrielle Chanel, more commonly known as “Coco Chanel,” performs her renowned performance in the late 1920s (Yarwood 139).
The kids I went to school with, the boys I had romantic relationships with, and even my family members, all made negative comments about my body hair. As a young kid, I believed my body hair was a personal problem. Experimenting with different hair removal procedures, some even painful. I wasted hours removing the hair on my body, in attempts to feel better about myself. My low self esteem became linked with the hair on my body. I believed I had too much body hair for a girl but according to Mills (1959) and the social imagination, I had too much body hair for society. My peers, as well as my family, had been socialized to believe that women’s body hair was gross, and unfeminine. Women had been taught to remove their body hair for decades now in the western world, and it was showcased or the lack there of hair was showcased in all forms of media. As a young girl, my mom bought me my first razor and paid for the electrolysis for the hair on my arm. It was in these actions, where the idea that it was my own problem started to form because it felt like I needed treatment for this problem of mine. I was perceiving a deep seated public issue as my own personal trouble. I can’t blame my mother or my peers because by the time my peers and even my parents were born, the western world had already determined that women should not have body hair. Christina Hope (1982) explains that in 1914 in America magazine’s had just begun
African American hair looks gorgeous, attractive and beautiful. Your hair is extremely fragile and needs proper care and gentle touch so that it doesn’t break or get loose. Here are the top African American hair cares FAQs.
Don’t touch my hair: this should be a sentiment simple enough to understand. However, for many black women this establishment of boundaries can be broken repeatedly and without any regard for personal space. Solange Knowles’ song “Don’t Touch My Hair” and accompanying music video takes this declaration of self and creates an anthem for the empowerment of black women and dismissal of microagressions, white beauty standards, jealousy and appropriation. Her lyrics emphasize the emotional connection that black women have to their hair. But, beyond this pride is an act of self-love militant and radical against white standards of beauty; or is this self-love subscribing to the notion that black women’s hair is an object detached from their personhood- objectifying themselves to other’s gazes and not subverting them? In order to answer this question, theories from Helen
Hair styles and make-up have been a significant part of the culture for centuries. It has been changing with every era, decade or style of art. The difference can be as small as a change of a shape of the eyeliner or it can be a complete change of people’s looks. What was considered beautiful in Renaissance was absolutely outdated 100 years after this era. In this essay I will be talking about the hair and make-up in Renaissance. It all started in Italy, home of the greatest artists of the time. The first section of my essay will be about Italy and the way people were changing their natural appearances using various products. In the second section I will move to the north of Europe to explore a bit more about this topic and see how much the fashion that was set in Italy has changed. In the third section I will look at what was going on in the Great Britain and compare the Elizabethan hair and make-up to the continental style.
There have been musicals, documentaries, researches, panel discussions and even talk shows about hair, hair qualities and hairstyles, even Oprah Gail Winfrey chose hair for the magazine's September 2013 theme. According to Adlman (2013), Oprah Winfrey in a video interview said,
During this time, women were seen embracing their natural tresses with locks and twists, but that seemed to quickly change. In order to fit into this new European standard of beauty, women were required to alter their hair, thus stripping them of the little identity they possessed. The increased support for the natural hair movement alters the black woman’s perception of beauty while intentionally and unintentionally challenging the ideology of beauty within the western world. With more women wearing their hair natural, black women have begun to accept their unaltered appearances while redefining their perception of beauty.
This paper will argue that to be a Black woman with natural hair, is deviant in the eyes of white culture. Natural hair is regarded as unkempt, unclean, and unprofessional (Thompson 2009). American society seeks to demonize the hair of Black women because natural hair disregards Eurocentric beauty standards (Robinson 2011). To rebel and wear one’s hair naturally comes with a price - especially in the workplace and school environment - because there are discriminatory dress-codes that prevent Black women from meeting institutional requirements (Klein 2013). Black women face discrimination for their natural hair due to the power imbalance of white men in work and educational structures.
One of women’s constant struggles is upkeep with culture and society’s ever-changing definition of beauty. Although both genders have hair on their bodies, the views and acceptability of the amount or the location of body hair vary immensely. In fact, women are often thought to be hairless and men to be hairier (DeMello, 2014). Women must then put in effort to uphold a standard, in which the idea that being feminine is natural and effortless (Toerien and Wilkinson, 2003). That being the case, I will argue that the hairless female body has been transformed over time to represent beauty and youth. More importantly, I will argue that it has now become normative in Western society and deemed unacceptable if women do not conform to the hairless
Once in awhile people decide to make a change in their daily life, but one of the changes most people make in their life is getting a haircut. Haircuts make you feel new and good about yourself, but if you want to get the dream haircut you should know everything about how to do it. Getting haircuts is one of those things you can do at home or get at a salon, but if you want to do it at home you should know every single detail about how to do it.