User:The.past.and.the.curious/Hairstyle

Post-war years[edit]

After the war, women started to wear their hair in softer, more natural styles. In the early 1950s women's hair was generally curled and worn in a variety of styles and lengths. In the later 1950s, high bouffant and beehive styles, sometimes nicknamed B-52s for their similarity to the bulbous noses of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber, became popular. During this period many women washed and set their hair only once a week, and kept it in place by wearing curlers every night and reteasing and respraying it every morning. In the 1960s, many women began to wear their hair in short modern cuts such as the pixie cut, while in the 1970s, hair tended to be longer and looser. In both the 1960s and 1970s many men and women wore their hair very long and straight. Women straightened their hair through chemical straightening processes, by ironing their hair at home with a clothes iron, or by rolling it up with large empty cans while wet. Since the 1960s and 1970s, women have worn their hair in a wide variety of fairly natural styles. Part of this came from the “Black is Beautiful” movement which promoted Afrocentric natural beauty as opposed to what some considered a Eurocentric model. For example, Malcom X advised against Black people straightening their hair for such reasons.Black hair then became not only an act of beauty but an act of revolution. The Afro specifically was both fashionable and political in the 1960s onward. However the Afro, or the natural, as it was first called, was not originally a political choice but a style favored by both the artistic and intellectual communities in the 1940s and 1950s.

Contemporary hairstyles

Man with styled hair, 2011

In the 1980s, women pulled back their hair with scrunchies, stretchy ponytail holders made from cloth over fabric bands. Women also often wear glittery ornaments today, as well as claw-style barrettes used to secure ponytails and other upswept or partially upswept hairstyles. The 1980s in America also were a time of noted turmoil between hair choices. Tensions arose particularly between hair choices from women of color, and the workplace as noted by court cases such as Rogers v. American Airlines which upheld employers rights to ban certain hairstyles in the workplace, notably braided hairstyles. Additional instances of USPS, hotel chains, police departments and another industries banning hairstyles common within the Black American community such as braids, colored hair, and dreadlocks from the workplace during this period.

Social and Cultural Implications

Gender

At most times in most cultures, men have worn their hair in styles that are different from women's. American sociologist Rose Weitz once wrote that the most widespread cultural rule about hair is that women's hair must differ from men's hair. In western societies-particularly the US, UK, and Canada- head on the hair is more strongly tied to feminine gender expression. Long hair is seen as not only feminine but more sexually appealing for women. Women are also more likely to style their hair in variety of ways, including using accessories. Meanwhile men styles tended to be uniform amongst one another. Likely due to how many men experience baldness, masculine gender expressions tended to gear towards facial hair rather than head hair. An exception is the men and women living in the Orinoco-Amazon Basin, where traditionally both genders have worn their hair cut into a bowl shape. In Western countries in the 1960s, both young men and young women wore their hair long and natural, and since then it has become more common for men to grow their hair. During most periods in human history when men and women wore similar hairstyles, as in the 1920s and 1960s, it has generated significant social concern and approbation. [?]

Religion

Hair in religion also plays an important role since women and men, when deciding to dedicate their life to faith, often change their haircut. Baldness is likely chosen as a common spiritual symbol of dedication because of how it is seen as undesirable, a sign of aging. Thus, cutting or shaving one's hair is a rejection of worldly pride and vanity as well as sexuality-as hair is often seen as a sex symbol. In Catholicism,  nuns often cut their hair very short, and men who joined Catholic monastic orders in the eighth century adopted what was known as the tonsure, which involved shaving the tops of their heads and leaving a ring of hair around the bald crown.Many Buddhists, Hajj pilgrims and Vaisnavas, especially members of the Hare Krishna movement who are brahmacharis or sannyasis, shave their heads. Some Hindu and most Buddhist monks and nuns shave their heads upon entering their order, and Korean Buddhist monks and nuns have their heads shaved every 15 days.

Conversely, there are also practices of keeping the hair long and/or uncut. One such example is adherents of Sikhism who are required to wear their hair unshorned. Women usually wear it in a braid or a bun, and men cover it with a turban also known as a dastār. Many other religions also have various kinds of head coverings. The three Abrahamic religions for instance have writings in their holy texts regarding the covering of hair, particularly for women. In Islam the hijab, in Judaism, coverings include the tichel, and in Christianity, a variety of different head coverings . [Already mentioned in Prehistory and history?]

Marital Status

In the 1800s, American women started wearing their hair up when they became ready to get married. Among the Fulani people of West Africa, unmarried women wear their hair ornamented with small amber beads and coins, while married women wear large amber ornaments. Marriage is signified among the Toposa women of South Sudan by wearing the hair in many small pigtails. Unmarried Hopi women have traditionally worn a "butterfly" hairstyle characterized by a twist or whorl of hair at each side of the face. Hindu widows in India used to shave their heads as part of their mourning although that practice has mostly disappeared.

Life Transitions

In many cultures, including Hindu culture and among the Wayana people of the Guiana highlands, young people have historically shaved off their hair to denote coming of age. Women in India historically have signified adulthood by switching from wearing two braids to one. Cutting or shaving of the hair can also be done while in mourning. Among the Rendille of north-eastern Kenya and the Tchikrin people of the Brazilian rainforest, both men and women shave their heads after the death of a close family member. When a man died in ancient Greece, his wife cut off her hair and buried it with him, and in Hindu families, the chief mourner is expected to shave his or her head 3 days after the death.

Social Class

Upper-class people have always used their hairstyles to signal wealth and status. Wealthy Roman women wore complex hairstyles that needed the labor of several people to maintain them, and rich people have also often chosen hairstyles that restricted or burdened their movement, making it obvious that they did not need to work. Wealthy people's hairstyles used to be at the cutting edge of fashion, setting the styles for the less wealthy. But today, the wealthy are generally observed to wear their hair in conservative styles that date back decades prior.

Middle-class hairstyles tend to be understated and professional. Middle-class people aspire to have their hair look healthy and natural, implying that they have the resources to live a healthy lifestyle and take good care of themselves. [^{citation needed]}

European-influenced Working-class people's haircuts have tended to be somewhat simple. Working-class men have often shaved their heads or worn their hair close-cropped. While working-class women typically with long hair often have their hair sinched back away from their faces and secured on their scalp. [^{citation needed]}

Ancient history

In ancient civilizations, women's hair was often elaborately and carefully dressed in special ways. Women colored their hair, curled it, and pinned it up (ponytail) in a variety of ways. For waves and curls, they used wet clay, which they dried in the sun before combing out, or they used a jelly made from quince seeds soaked in water. Additionally, various kinds of curling tongs and curling irons were popular tools for hair styling.

Hairstyles in ancient Korea and Japan were influenced by Chinese hairstyles. For instance, the chu’kye style worn in Koguryo was similar in style and head placement as the chu’kye style in China. Also, hairstyles were used as an expression of beauty, social status, and marital status. For instance, Japanese girls wore a mae-gami to symbolize the start of their coming-of-age ceremony. Single women in Baekjae put their hair in a long pigtail and married women would braid their hair on both sides of the head.

Hairstyles during the American Revolution

Men and women wore powder wigs, often worn to protect hair from lice and show wealth. Women wore their hair in simple styles, like bun or down. Women also wore hats to keep their coats clean longer. Some men wore their natural hair in a low ponytail or curls.

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