Hair

Hair. Hair is a visible and continuous sign of growth (or, in its cessation, of the approach of death), and as an indication of vigour, it lends itself to various statements of relationship to God or to other goals—e.g., the Nazirite vow in Judaism. Christianity adopted a sign of dedication in the opposite direction, by introducing the tonsure, the shaving of the top of the head of priests and monks. Tonsure has taken different forms, from the shaving of the whole head to only a part, often leaving a fringe to draw out the symbolism of the crown of thorns.

In E. religions, comparable contrasts can be found. Thus among Hindus, keśāntah, the first shaving of the beard, is one of the saṃskāras; but a Hindu ascetic will leave his hair long and matted (juṭā): Śiva, in particular, displays his contrasted modes of activity through the style of his hair. Among Sikhs, a Khālsā Sikh is prohibited from cutting hair from any part of his body, and keś is one of the Five Ks. Among Rastafarians, a similar message of identity is sent through hairstyle, but this may be by ‘dreadlocks’ or by careful cutting (for the long locks of Jews see PEOT). A further extension can be seen in care taken to cover the head—for example, in the custom for some Jewish women of wearing a wig (shaytl/sheitel) in public (see HEAD, COVERING OF).

To bring order into this diversity, E. Leach (‘Magical Hair’), Journ. of the R. Anth. Inst. 1958) argued that the treatment of hair denotes social responses related to ideal social categories. Thus long hair is related to unrestrained sexuality, short or tightly bound hair is related to restricted sexuality, closely shaved hair is related to celibacy. C. R. Hallpike (‘Social Hair’, Man, 1969) argued that hair rituals cannot be mapped on to sexual opportunity alone. In his view, the treatment indicates relation to the acceptance or rejection of social control.