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truth is beauty, h hair doe in the library?"The hairstyle worn by a person is both a display of their personality and self-value and an item of communication. It reveals social status and membership of a tribe or group. Consider the tonsured monk, the Mohawk of the punk, long hair of the hippy, the short-cropped hair of the soldier and the dreadlocks of the Rastafarians as exemplified by Bob Marley. Today in many cultures people have much greater freedom to choose the kind of hairstyle they feel best expresses their individuality than they used to feel they had.
Hair and hairstyles have a complex meaning and long history. The famous Ice-Age statuettes known as the Venus of Willendorf and of Brassempouy show clear evidence of stylised hair and these may be 30,000 years old.
These statuettes reveal a complex social organisation and tell us that at least some women in the society took care about how their hair looked. This tells us that these prehistoric people had a concept of beauty or attractiveness. Considerable labour went into the hairstyle and the woman could not have done it all herself. There are also small clay figurines from Butmir in Bosnia illustrating short, neatly combed hair and these are up to 7.000 years old.
The Ancient Egyptians took considerable time over their appearance and beauty and cleanliness were very important to them. In their graves we find combs and hairpins. They thought thick hair was best and used hair extensions and wigs made of real hair or sheep's wool. They even dyed their hair and wigs a variety of colours with blues, greens, blondes and gold colours being among the preferred colours though black wigs hued by indigo were the favourite. Wealthy Egyptians had personal barbers who would come to their homes. They also used cosmetics and body oils.
Hair extensions are increasing in popularity today though an article in The Times on February 12, 2004 was rather disquieting. Elle McPherson, Victoria 'Posh Spice' Beckham and Kylie Minogue have all helped to popularise the fashion for hair extensions. Hair salons are charging up to $4000 for long hair extensions to women who don't want to have to wait while their hair grows. But where is this hair coming from? According to The Times some of it may very well be coming from female Russian prisoners whose hair is being forcibly cut off and sold by unscrupulous warders as a lucrative business on the side. As Lyudmila Alpern, who is a deputy director for the Moscow Centre for Prison Reform, was quoted, "If you go into a detention centre with long, beautiful hair, there is little chance you'll come out with it intact."
Previously the hair for hair extensions came from Asia as Chinese and Japanese hair is both soft and strong but a major British importer of hair, Trendco, acknowledged that much more hair is coming from Russian and Tibetan sources. The Times reports that some manufacturers of artificial hair extensions are decrying the practice as immoral.
Hair ImageA hairstyle can be used to alter the image of the wearer. Tightly controlled hair that has been rolled, curled, and sprayed suggests a controlled woman meaning, especially, one who controls her sexuality or perhaps one whose sexuality is controlled. But women can style their hair in such a way as to convey many different emotions. Take Margaret Thatcher for instance. Her hair could be described as a combative helmet with not hint of sensuality about the style or texture, nothing that invites someone to run their fingers through it. It doesn't suggest a woman who is controlled by others but rather a woman who forcefully controls others. The Iron Lady of British politics looks as if her hair well suits her character. A Farrah Fawcett or Dolly Parton look just would not do. Other cultures consider hairstyles to be a sign of control and civilisation. For instance, among the Temne of Africa it can take hours or days to fashion a hairstyle. The fine rows of the hairstyle are a symbolic representation of the cultivation of the land and thus indicate civilisation. These hairstyles are termed 'cornrows.' The adornment and grooming of the hair, the tidying of it, indicates a distancing from the immediately natural as do ideas of cleanliness. It is a civilising process and making it clear that hair is not animal fur. This idea about hair has links with psychotherapeutic treatment in that hair in the patient's dreams often symbolises thoughts so that the grooming of hair has the meaning of the tidying and ordering of thought processes. Rites of PassagepThe Australian Image Company - Complimentary Image Update Newsletter - June '04 Www Beautiesdating Z Z Beauties Beauties En Put Windows Movie Maker Video To Youtube Beauties Datingm n a a Dating Hentai qThe Australian Image Company - Complimentary Image Update Newsletter - June '04 Www Beautiesdating Z Z Beauties Beauties En Put Windows Movie Maker Video To Youtube Beauties Datingf Beauties Dating |