Hair, as a powerful expression, may seem frivolous to some. But first, this is Women’s History Month. Second, how people choose to present themselves generally reflects their beliefs, values or mood — and hair is one small part of that picture.
Hair is also how marginalized groups have rebelled in the past and it is still policed as a means to establish control. This might all sound way too deep when it comes to talking about “just hair.” But hair isn’t just about vanity, as mentioned; it's a powerful tool.
In Tiffany Thomas’ piece on hair ideology, she notes there's a hair hierarchy with straight hair being at the top and curly hair being at the bottom. This is why the Black Power Movement’s emphasis on natural hair and afros were so impactful.
Hair was a way for these Black women to fight against the inherently racist beauty standards. As Thomas points out, straightened Black hair is still seen as one of the few professional styles — leaving out other styles like afros, braids and dreadlocks. This doesn’t necessarily mean Black women shouldn’t wear their hair straight. The point is other hairstyles, especially protective and natural ones, should be just as valid as straight hair. If we are as inclusive of a society as we say we are, then all hair types and styles should be considered professional.
We can see this pressure around hair with Michelle Obama. In the White House, as the First Lady, she kept her hair straight and now, out of the White House, she wears braids.
In 2022, she publicly said, “As First Lady I did not wear braids. I have to ease up on the people. I thought about it. I was like it would be easier. Nope, nope they are not ready.”
In 2012, Gold-medalist Gabby Douglas, while performing at the Olympics in gymnastics, was met with controversy because her hair was “unkept and messy,” according to a Time Magazine article. Douglas wore her hair in a pulled-back ponytail, like many other gymnasts, but the texture was different. It wasn’t like all the other non-Black Olympic gymnasts.
But hair is not only about race, but also culture, ethnicity and religion. Orthodox Jewish women have modesty customs around their hair. Many who practice these customs wear their hair long but cover it with a particular type of wig or scarf after marriage.
According to Deborah Pergament in “It's Not Just Hair,” one of the ways the Nazis dehumanized the Jewish people was by shaving their heads. The Holocaust Memorial Museum in the U.S. received 20 pounds of human hair from these practices.
But a shaved head doesn't always mean oppression; for others it can be an act of expression or rebellion. It’s the coercion that makes it dehumanizing.
Regardless, the lack of visible hair is also a point of tension. For Muslim women choosing to wear a hijab can spark discrimination from others. Ironically, hijabs are also generally used as a part of modesty customs. But the hijab visibly shows a person’s faith, and Islam is not a religion Western cultures often welcome.
According to Wendy Greene’s on A Multidimensional Analysis of What Not to Wear in the Workplace, Muslim women have faced hijab bans at their work despite it being a form of religious discrimination.
This is really all just scratching the absolute surface of the politics of hair. Hair is not just hair and really, I could say much more when talking about hair. It is a tool for Eurocentric ideals, it is significant in indigenous culture, it's important in queer history.
Hair holds so much meaning for people and it’s not about vanity. It’s about personhood.
Abigail Murphy is the Dadeville beat reporter for Tallapoosa Publishers Inc.
