Exactly what constitutes
long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in many cultures may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair in some of the same cultures would be said to have long hair. Scientists view long hair as playing a large part in any animal species'
natural selectionNatural selection is the process by which heritable traits that make it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce become more common in a population over successive generations...
, since hair length is frequently a sign of health. Freudian psychoanalysts also see it in a sexual light, as a representation of the id's release from the suppression of the superego.
Culturally, long hair—particularly amongst men—typically signals the individual's separation from structures., although there are exceptions, such as the
Thai peopleThe Thai are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of languages, and the...
. Ways of life often viewed as more rigid, such as religious cultures, often have explicit rules regarding hair length. For example, one passage in the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
of
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
considers long hair shameful for men, while encouraging it for women. Also, Buddhist monks shave their heads as part of their order of worship. Even outside religious structures, cultures often associate long hair with ways of life outside of what is culturally accepted. Subservient cultures, for example, are sometimes detected by their rulers through hair length, as was the case with the
IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The Irish...
under English rule and the Moors under Spanish rule in Medieval times.
During the cultural revolutions of the sixties and seventies in America and across the western world, long hair remained a strong symbol of rebellion against the cultural norm. Again, though, there are exceptions to these rules, notably among the long-haired and religiously devoted Nazarites of the
Hebrew BibleThe Hebrew Bible is a term referring to the books of the Jewish Bible as originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic...
(
SamsonSamson, Shimshon : שמשון, Standard Šimšon Tiberian ; meaning "of the sun" – perhaps proclaiming he was radiant and mighty, or "[One who] Serves [God]") or Shamshoun شمشون or Samson Σαμψών is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Children of Israel mentioned...
being a famous example) and among the
SikhSikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit term , meaning "disciple, learner" or , meaning "instruction"....
s.
Feminists and women's rights activists have long debated whether to advocate long hair as a solely feminine trait, or to call for short hair in opposition to a stereotype. Asian cultures see long, unkempt hair in a woman as a sign of sexual intent or a recent sexual encounter, as usually their hair is tied up in styles such as the ponytail, plait or any bun.
Meaning
Exactly what constitutes
long hair varies from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, standards applied to each gender may be different: a female with chin-length hair may be said to have short hair, while a male with hair of the same length may be said to have long hair. The traditional connotation of "long hair" in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
meant, roughly, someone artistically knowledgeable or wise, an aesthete. As a descriptive term, it has been applied to Merovingians and
classical musicClassical music is the mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times...
enthusiasts, as well as hippies and aesthetes.
Science
Anthropologists speculate that the functional significance of long head hair may be adornment, a by-product of secondary
natural selectionNatural selection is the process by which heritable traits that make it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce become more common in a population over successive generations...
once other
somaticThe term somatic refers to cells of the body, rather than gametes . In humans, somatic cells contain two copies of each chromosome , whereas gametes only contain one copy of each chromosome...
hair (body hair) had largely been lost. Another possibility is that long head hair is a result of
Fisherian runawayFisherian runaway is a model of sexual selection, first proposed by R.A. Fisher in 1915, and expanded upon in his 1930 book The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection, that suggests an explanation for sexual selection of traits that do not obviously increase fitness of survival, based upon a...
sexual selectionSexual selection is the theory proposed by Charles Darwin that states that certain evolutionary traits can be explained by intraspecific competition. Darwin defined sexual selection as the effects of the "struggle between the individuals of one sex, generally the males, for the possession of the...
, where long lustrous hair is a visible
markerMarker may refer to:* Marker , a television film starring Link Baker and Sonja Bennett* Marker , an Action movie with Steven Seagal* Marker , a company specializing in bindings...
for a healthy individual. For some groups, however, short hair is the selected trait. Some Psychoanalysts and Freudian commentators argue that long hair represents the id and aggression, and that cutting the hair is thus akin to
castrationCastration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries...
. Hair is thus considered to be a potent sexual emblem, both for men and women, having many parallels with intercourse. Further connections made with sexuality are made with the fact that historically, adulterous husbands would cut off their wife's hair if she threatened to reveal his secret, thus violating the role of her husband.
Cultural history
Hair is one of the most important ways humans have of both presenting themselves and judging one another socially, being one of the parts of their body which is easiest to manipulate. Throughout many cultures or viewpoints, hair is seen as representing control over oneself, sexually, morally, or otherwise: those having long hair having less control than those having shorter or no hair. Also, having short, cut hair (or a shaven head) is often viewed as being under society's control, such as while in prison or as punishment for a crime, while having long hair signifies being outside of the systems of society.
In Jewish and Christian scriptures
"She, as a veil down to the slender waist,
Her adorned golden tresses wore
Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved,
As the vine curls her tendrils..." |
— John MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, author, polemicist and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost and for his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica....
's description of EveEve was, according to the Book of Genesis and the Quran, the first woman created by God, and an important figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Her husband was Adam, from whose rib God created her to be his companion...
in Paradise LostParadise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books. A second edition followed in 1674, redivided into twelve books with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification...
|
In the
Old TestamentIn Christianity, the Old Testament is the collection of books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the comparable texts are known as the Septuagint, from the...
, the Nazirites would go for long periods of time without cutting their hair to show devotion to God.
SamsonSamson, Shimshon : שמשון, Standard Šimšon Tiberian ; meaning "of the sun" – perhaps proclaiming he was radiant and mighty, or "[One who] Serves [God]") or Shamshoun شمشون or Samson Σαμψών is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Children of Israel mentioned...
is one example; his strength depended upon his refraining from cutting his hair. The
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
says, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." The statement was given in a time when hairstyles were changing from what was considered to be a normal (and longer) length, to a short-cropped haircut. However the monks of
Eastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
today wear long hair.
Classical period
In ancient Greece, long hair was a symbol of wealth and power, while a shaven head was appropriate for a slave. The ancient Greeks had several heroes which wore their hair long, including
ZeusIn Greek mythology, Zeus is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the...
,
AchillesIn Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Achilles also has the attributes of being the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy....
,
HectorIn Greek mythology, Hectōr , or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the son of Priam and Hecuba, a descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy, he is a prince of the royal house. He acts as leader of the Trojans...
, and
PoseidonIn Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
. Both Greek and Trojan soldiers are said to have worn their hair long in battle. Such warriors considered it a sign of aristocracy and are said to have combed it openly in order to show off. Also, in order to keep enemies from getting a hold of it in battle, they were known to cut the front short, but leave it long in the back, where it was more out of reach. Around the sixth century, however, the Greek men shifted to shorter hairstyles. Women in the culture remained with the longer style, which for them showed freedom, health, and wealth, as well as good behavior. In men, it was considered a sign of false pride by this time.
Women in Roman times valued long hair, usually with a center part. Men's hair was usually shorter than women's, although other cultures of the time, such as Greeks in the east, considered long hair to be typical of philosophers, who were thought to be too engrossed in learning to bother with hair. Strictly in the province of Rome, however the shorter hairstyle was especially popular. When Julius Caesar conquered the
GaulsThe Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France and Belgium, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
, who favored long hair, he ordered it to be cut short.
Up to the seventeenth century
In the European
middle agesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, shorter hair often signified servitude and peasantry, while long hair was often attributed to freemen, such as the Germanic
GothsThe Goths were a heterogeneous East Germanic tribe. The historian Jordanes claimed that the Goths arrived from semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland , and that a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century, lending their name to the region of...
and Merovingians. Often, non-Germanic cultures such as Byzantines viewed these "long-haired men" as barbarians specifically citing their hair as proof. In Ireland, English colonists who wore their hair long in the back were considered to be rejecting their role as English subjects and giving in to the Irish life. Irishman, in turn, scolded others of their race who moved into English culture by cutting their hair. Thus, hair length was one of the most common ways of judging a true Englishman in this period. Muslims in Christian areas were ordered to keep their hair short and parted, as their longer style was considered rebellious and barbaric.
A long hair fad was widespread among English and French men in the 11th and 12th centuries, though otherwise it was considered, mostly because of church endorsement, proper for men to have shorter, and women, longer hair. The fad was largely brought about by monarchs who rejected the shorter hairstyle, causing the people to follow.
WulfstanWulfstan may refer to:*Wulfstan of Hedeby, 9th century merchantman and traveller*Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York *Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York , Bishop of Worcester and Bishop of London...
, a religious leader, worried that those with longer hair would fight like women, and be unable to protect England from foreign invasion. (This idea can be found in later military leaders as well, such as those of the
American ConfederacyThe Confederate States of America was a separatist political entity existing between 1861 to 1865, established by eleven southern slave states of the United States of America, each of which had previously declared their secession from the United States...
.) Knights and rulers would also sometimes cut or pull out their hair in order to show penitence and mourning, and a squire's hair was generally shorter than a knight's. Married women who let their hair flow out were frowned upon, as this was normally reserved for the unwed, although they were allowed to let it out in mourning, to show their distressed state. Long hair in the period signified youth and courtly behavior, and some scholars even suggest that in men it shows homosexuality, though this is disputed, as it was almost solely religious monks who connected long hair with woman-behavior.
In England, during the English Civil War times of 1642 to 1651, hair length was emblematic of the disputes between Cavaliers and Roundheads (Puritans). Cavaliers wore longer hair, and were less religious minded, thought of by the Roundheads as lecherous. The more devout Roundheads had short hair, although there were exceptions.
Recent meanings
Beat poets during the 1950s wore longer hairstyles, as did many of the urban gay culture, although long hair was far from popular. However, the 1960s introduced
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
, who started a widespread longer hair fad. In the 1960s long hair, especially on men, was worn as a political or
counterculturalThe counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural protest movement that developed in the United States between 1960 and 1973 as a reaction against the political conservatism and perceived social repression that prevailed during the 1950s. The movement gained momentum during the US government's...
symbol or protest. This cultural symbol extended to several Western countries in the Americas, Western Europe, South Africa, and Australia. Specific long hairstyles such as
dreadlocksDreadlocks, also called locks or dreads, are heavy matted coils of hair which form by themselves eventually fusing together to form a single dread. This is possible in all hair types if the hair is allowed to grow naturally without grooming or conditioning for a long period of time...
have been part of counterculture movements seeking to define other alternative cultures and lifestyles since this time. Longer hair in general remained popular among the youth rebellion throughout the liberal decade of the 1960s. Homosexuals, who had adopted a long hairstyle in the early fifties, continued the trend through this decade. Clergymen and conservative parents saw the long hair fad as a threat to
gender identityGender identity is the gender, or lack thereof, a person self-identifies as. It is not necessarily based on biological fact, either real or perceived, nor is it always based on sexual orientation...
, cultural, and religious norms as it grew with the spread of the
hippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district...
movement in the 1960s. Notably, some country-and-western performers during this period (and many fans) also sported longer hair.
In the 1970s, the popularity of
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
's
reggaeReggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady. Reggae is based...
music and musician
Bob MarleyRobert Nesta "Bob" Marley was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers and Bob Marley & The Wailers...
prompted interest in
dreadlocksDreadlocks, also called locks or dreads, are heavy matted coils of hair which form by themselves eventually fusing together to form a single dread. This is possible in all hair types if the hair is allowed to grow naturally without grooming or conditioning for a long period of time...
internationally. The anti-establishment philosophy of
RastafariThe Rastafari movement is a monotheistic, Abrahamic, new religious movement that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former, and final, Emperor of Ethiopia, as the incarnation of God, called Jah or Jah Rastafari....
, echoed in much of the reggae of the time, resonated with
leftIn politics, left-wing, political left, leftist and the Left are terms used to describe a number of positions and ideologies. They are most commonly used to refer to support for changing traditional social orders or for creating a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and privilege...
-leaning youth of all ethnicities — especially and primarily among
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
s and other
BlacksThe term black people usually refers to a racial group of humans with skin colors that range from light brown to nearly black. It also has been used to categorize a number of diverse populations into a common group. Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub Saharan...
, but among
countercultureCounterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition...
whites as well. In the 1980s the view of long hair as a solitary signifier of political or counter-cultural identity was countered and parodied in films such as Rambo and many other militaristic heroes of media which challenged then-contemporary views of what was masculine. Today, longer hairstyles remain popular among
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States...
enthusiasts. Long hair may be grown for the
purposePurpose is the reason for an action being done, an object existing or being made or used. Purpose can be synonymous with the goal or the intended result of an action....
of being donated to an
organizationAn organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating it from its environment...
, such as
Locks of LoveLocks of Love is a non-profit charity based in the United States. The organization accepts donations of human hair and money, with the stated intention of making wigs for needy children who have lost their hair due to a medical condition....
, for hairpieces to help those who could not have hair otherwise, such as those who are diagnosed with
alopecia areataAlopecia areata is a condition affecting humans, in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body, usually from the scalp.. Because it causes bald spots on the scalp, especially in the first stages, it is sometimes called spot baldness...
.
Beginning in the early to mid 2000s, long hair for boys and young men
became popular in Western countriesThis article describes the many fashions and trends commonly seen in the world during 2000–2009. Throughout this period many styles linked with 1990s anti-fashion and retro movements remain popular in the 2000s though there have been considerable changes as well...
, a trend that has continued throughout the decade.
Women
Women often have a stronger inclination towards long hair than men do. Younger women tend to have longer hair than older women. Hair quality is correlated with women's health. Hair length and quality can act as a cue to a woman's youth and health and, as such, signify reproductive potential. Some feminists have declared long hair as "irrefutably feminine," while others argue for shorter hair. Some religious scholars even believe that without hair or long hair, a woman is not complete. In some cultures, long, well-kept hair symbolizes wealth and luxury, as such hair is difficult to maintain in poverty.
Islam
Muslims regard Prophet Muhammad as the best example to live by, and try to emulate him whenever possible. The Muslim Prophet Muhammed reportedly in
Sahih MuslimSahih Muslim is one of the Six major collections of the hadith in Sunni Islam, oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It is the second most authentic hadith collection according to Sunni Muslims, the most authentic book of hadith after Sahih Al-Bukhari...
had hair that "hung over his shoulders and earlobes".
Sahih BukhariThe Sahih of al-Bukhari , as it is commonly referred to as, is one of the Six major Hadith collections of Sunni Islam. These prophetic traditions, hadith were collected by the Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari and published during his lifetime...
, regarded the most authentic of
hadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
, also supports this. The Prophet Muhammad has also described Prophet Jesus, as "having long hair reaching his ear lobes".
With regards to women, neither Qur'an nor Sunnah explicitly state that women cannot cut their hair. Hadith does mention that women should not imitate men, and vice versa, and hence many scholars on this assumption, decree that women should let their hair grow longer than the hair of the Prophet, reaching beyond their shoulders, as hadith mentions that the Prophet had his hair between his shoulder and his earlobes. (he described Jesus's hair which hung to his earlobes as long),
However culturally, some Muslims are opposed to men having long hair as it is also important in Islam to have clear differences (in appearance) between sexes. And generally these cultures encourage women to have long hair and men to have short hair. The Taliban viewed long hair for men as a western influence, and punished it by arrest and forced haircuts, albeit this would be a direct contradiction of the
sunnahSunnah is an Arabic word that means habit or usual practice. The Muslim usage of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of Muhammad, the main prophet of Islam....
of the Prophet. Similar measures have been taken by Islamists in
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
.
In spite of this, several Taleban affiliated members of the Mehsud clan are recognisable by their long hair. The Saudi-
CircassianThe term Circassian may refer to:*Circassians, term used to designated various peoples of the north Caucasus.* Northwest Caucasian languages, specifically:**Adyghe language, West Circassian**Kabardian language, East Circassian...
Islamist fighter Amir Khattab was also notable for his long hair.
In the Muslim world, it seems the trend of hair styles is now favouring short over long in men. In the past, Bedouin Muslims often wore their hair in long braids, but western influences brought on the view that such styles were feminine in nature. Now, Bedouins are much less likely to have long hair. Islamic countries in
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
such as
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
view long hair in men as homosexual and in one case the Egyptian police viewed it as satanic and a sign of an infidel, although Western Rock music and heavy metal may have contributed to this view.
Native Americans
Many
American IndianThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
men wore long hair before the arrival of western influences on their culture. (In Cherokee legends, for example, males said to be handsome were often described as having "long hair almost to the ground" or similar formulas.). Both men and women of these cultures have frequently struggled to maintain their tradition, but have faced heavy opposition. Many consider it a sign of giving in to western influences to have their hair cut. Early American settlers saw long-haired, native men as rebelling against their civilized society. Mountain men and trappers who adopted the customs were also considered amoral, and often identified by their long hair. Since the cultural movements of the sixties and seventies, however, Native Americans have felt less pressure to have short hair, as different movements have defended their cultural rights. For example, several states have loosened prison regulations, allowing Native Americans to wear long hair during incarceration, along with other cultural allowances. There has been resistance to these changes, however, as long hair is sometimes used to hide drugs, as well as to identify with a gang.
Sub-Saharan Africans
In
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
n cultures, women with long hair were highly valued. Long, thick hair was seen as a sign of health, strength, and capability to bear many children. In keeping with this general theme, women who were too young for marriage would shave a portion of their heads to signal so. This tradition, however, did not extend to every African tribe, as several valued shorter hair.
African Americans
When black slaves were freed in the Americas, they struggled to reach the social status of whites. Many former slaves tried to conform their hairstyles as part of this struggle. African-American women felt pressured to make their hair straight like white women, rather than keeping the shorter, curlier style they had known. However, during the
civil rights movementThe Civil Rights Movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. It was accompanied by much civil unrest and popular rebellion. The process was long and tenuous in many countries, and most of these movements did not achieve or...
of the 1950s and 60s, African-Americans such as
Malcolm XMalcolm X , also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist. To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against...
advocated hairstyles such as afros and
dreadlocksDreadlocks, also called locks or dreads, are heavy matted coils of hair which form by themselves eventually fusing together to form a single dread. This is possible in all hair types if the hair is allowed to grow naturally without grooming or conditioning for a long period of time...
. Social pressures at the time were heavily influencing African-American females to have long, straight hair, like many Caucasians did. Recently, scholars have observed continued pressure on blacks to have long, straight hair. Amelian Jones believes that dolls marketed towards children add to this pressure, citing as an example a new black Barbie with long hair. Jones believes that African-American females should maintain their "African" cultural norms without feeling pressured to "tame" their hair.
East Asians
Historically, East Asian cultures viewed long hair as a sign of youth and aesthetic beauty. Long hair is associated with private life and sexuality. East Asian cultures see long, unkempt hair in a woman as a sign of sexual intent or a recent sexual encounter, as usually their hair is tied up. Common Buddhists have long hair, while Buddhist monks have shaved heads. For Sikhs,
KeshIn Sikhism, Kesh is the practice of allowing one's hair to grow naturally as a symbol of respect for the perfection of God's creation. The practice is one of the Five Ks, the outward symbols ordered by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 as a means to profess the Sikh faith...
is the practice of allowing one's hair to grow naturally as a symbol of devotion to God and lack of worldliness. In Jewish and other cultures, shortening hair signifies mourning and sadness.
Around the seventeenth century, the Manchu people forced all men in China to adopt a hairstyle called a
queueThe queue or cue is a hairstyle in which the hair is worn long and gathered up into a ponytail. It was worn traditionally by certain Native American groups, Indian Brahmins and the Manchu of Manchuria.-Queue:...
, which was basically a long braid down the back with the hair on the front part of the head shaved. This style lasted well into the nineteenth century, when the Chinese began immigrating to America. Americans at first judged them to be poor workers because their long hair brought an association with women. Both Islamic and Christian missionaries to the Chinese were strong advocates of shorter hair for their converts, but this was a small group. Around the
Destruction of Four OldsThe Four Olds or the Four Old Things were Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas. One of the stated goals of the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China was to bring an end to the Four Olds...
period in 1964, almost anything seen as part of
Traditional Chinese cultureThe Culture of China is one of the world's oldest and most complex cultures...
would lead to problems with the
CommunistThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and the ruling political party of the People's Republic of China and the world's largest political party...
Red GuardsRed Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the China, who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...
. Items that attracted dangerous attention if caught in the public included jewelry and long hair. These things were regarded as symbols of bourgeois lifestyle, that represented wealth. People had to avoid them or suffer serious consequences such as tortures and beatings by the guards. More recently, long hair was ridiculed in China from October 1983 to February 1984, as part of the
Anti-Spiritual Pollution CampaignThe Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign was a Chinese political campaign from October 1983 to February 1984 that was started by political factions in the leadership of the Communist Party of China who were fearing the distribution of Western liberal ideas among the Chinese population due to their...
.
Li YangLi Yang is the Chinese creator of Crazy English, an unorthodox method of teaching English. He claimed to have taught English to more than 20 million people in a decade....
, an unorthodox Chinese English teacher who brands the popular
Crazy EnglishCrazy English is a brand name related to a non-traditional method of learning English in mainland China conceived by Li Yang. Li believes that the traditional way of learning English in China is ineffective. Li Yang's method places heavy emphasis on practicing English orally...
, claims the following on his website:
What [America, England and Japan] want most is for China’s youth to have long hair, wear bizarre clothes, drink soda, listen to Western music, have no fighting spirit, love pleasure and comfort!
In
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
and
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, long hair was valued in until the seventeenth century, when the area adopted outside influences including Islam and Christianity. Invading cultures enforced shorter hairstyles on men as a sign of servitude, as well. They were also confused at the short hairstyles among women in certain areas, such as
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, and struggled to explain why women in the area had such short hair. They came up with several mythical stories, one of which involved a king who found a long hair in his rice and, in a rage, demanded that all women keep their hair short.
See also
- Dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also called locks or dreads, are heavy matted coils of hair which form by themselves eventually fusing together to form a single dread. This is possible in all hair types if the hair is allowed to grow naturally without grooming or conditioning for a long period of time...
- Grooming
Personal grooming is the art of cleaning, grooming, and maintaining parts of the body. In animals, it is a species-typical behavior that is controlled by neural circuits in the brain.- In humans :...
- Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the dermis. The fine, soft hair found on many nonhuman mammals is typically called fur; wool is the characteristically curly hair found on sheep and goats. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the...
- Haircut
- Hairstick
- Lady Godiva
Godiva , often referred to as Lady Godiva , was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry, in England, in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants...
- Locks of love
Locks of Love is a non-profit charity based in the United States. The organization accepts donations of human hair and money, with the stated intention of making wigs for needy children who have lost their hair due to a medical condition....
- Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" is a German fairy tale in the collection assembled by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales...
- Trichophilia
Trichophilia or hair fetishism is a paraphilia in which one becomes sexually aroused by, or is extremely fond of, human hair; commonly head hair....
(hair fetishism)
Images
- Male long hair in art (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)
- Female long hair in art (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)