Hair Symbolism

Hair symbolism.  For a long time, hair has been a symbol in society.  There are many Bible quotes that deal with hair, one specifically states that if a man has long hair it’s shameful, but if a woman has long hair it’s glorious (1 Cor. 11:14-15).  Basically it is saying that each sex should have opposite hair.  More recently, hair is used to classify groups people, from hippies, and punks, to even certain generations, like the 80s for example.  Hair is a powerful identifier.  Why?  Well, because it’s physical, and that makes it really personal, and then, it is visible, making it public.  Another thing that I think is important is that hair can change quickly.  Unlike your arms, or legs, or other body parts, hair can be changed frequently, and it might even be a moderator for how people’s identities’ change.  The way you did your hair as a little child is probably not how you do it now.  Even the way you might have done your hair last year could be different than now.  But are your arms and legs much different today than they were last year?  Hopefully, not.  They are different from when you were a child because they have obviously have grown.  But they aren’t curly because you permed them, or a different colour.  (Unless you tan often.)  What I’m trying to say is that one way of seeing the evolution of a person is through their hair.  Not just scalp hair, everyone knows that other hair plays a role in growing up.  I don’t need to go there.  Different places where we have hair have different significances if you are a boy or a girl.  Most hair is unwanted as a female except scalp hair, which I would argue is definitely “tangled” in a women’s perspective of being feminine.  And for men, scalp hair is important, but maybe facial hair is more so, because you always see young guys trying to grow beards, and other patterns of facial hair.  Back to women, not only is having hair on our head an important part of being “feminine” but, it has been for a long time.  Remember Rapunzel?  And also, pick up any women’s magazine and I bet there will be at least one article on hair.  Magazines are always talking about the different styles and looks you can have if your hair is cut this way and that way.  Most men magazines don’t have articles like this, as most men don’t really change their hair for different events.  Furthermore, hair colour even creates stereotypes like … the dumb blonde.  What I am trying to say is, hair is different than other body parts.  It is personal, public, and somehow it can embody a lot of our personality.  But, we are never bound to these observations.. as one of my favourite quotes is, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” (Gandhi)

Did you know:  According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the person with the longest scalp hair is Xie Qiuping, a Chinese woman whose hair is 18 feet 5.54 inches or 5.627 m.  (Although some websites say her hair is 16 feet, they might be older websites.. still, so much hair!) On the Locks of Love website, the minimum hair donation is 10 inches long.  So by my calculation, Ms. Qiuping could donate her hair approximately 22 times!!!

Photo taken from: http://www.chinafails.com/2010/07/xie-qiuping-with-the-worlds-longest-hair/