A person’s hair says a lot about their personality: attributes such as age, gender, even social position and aesthetic tastes can be deduced from hair arrangement. Like clothing or the way of speaking, hair is part of a person’s bodily expression, and it is not unreasonable to think that this has a deeper cultural, and even spiritual, reason.
Our hair says a lot about the way we express ourselves, but also about how others perceive us. One of the most noticeable aspects to others is hair color. Based on surveys, it has been found that people with brown hair are considered more thoughtful and intelligent at first glance. On the other hand, people who part their hair on one side when combing their hair are perceived as more empathetic, sensitive and modest.
Wearing your hair up inspires an air of professionalism and practicality, while wearing your hair down gives the impression that you are a free and carefree person. The same applies to dyes in unconventional colors: dyeing green, purple or blue demonstrates a lack of qualms about social conventions, projecting rebellion and daring.
Many people use hair modification to mark important moments in their life, such as the end of a relationship or mourning. Mexica women stopped washing their bodies and hair for long months when their husbands died in war, as a sign of mourning; Then, a priest cleaned them, combed them, and the resulting mass was buried in place of the body of the deceased.
The story of the strong biblical Samson is famous, whose source of power was his long hair, which symbolized a vow of abstinence. Samson married the Philistine Delilah, a spy charged with finding the hero’s weak point. Upon learning that Samson’s strength resided in his hair, Delilah cut it while he slept, so that her enemies could catch him.
Make your hair stand on end
But is there a scientific connection between hair and perception? After all, hair is made up of dead keratin, a protein that continues to grow even after a person has been buried, just like nails. Technically, hair does not transmit or receive anything, but the hair follicles connected to the skin are alive and transmit information to the nervous system, as part of touch.
In animals, it is easy to notice certain changes in character through their hair. When your dog gets angry, the hair on their back stands up, just like when they get aggressive or scared. This expression is not gratuitous, as it has the function of making predators or possible enemies believe that the animal is larger than it really is and, therefore, potentially more aggressive. Hair is, therefore, part of the defense system in a dangerous situation.
In verbal terms, the word “horrifying” describes exactly what happens to hair when we are faced with an extremely unpleasant situation. In fact, horrifying literally means “that makes the hair stand on end,” and comes from the Latin words horrere (to stand on end) and pilus (hair or hair).
Hair as an indicator of class
Hair has also been a class attribute in different cultures. The Egyptians began with the use of wigs for the upper classes and complete shaves for priests and slaves. Cretan women began to add volume to their hairstyles, as well as complement them with artificial decorations to accentuate their economic “height.” The habit of dyeing hair became stylized in Rome, as did the use of wigs. Natural redheads have been the subject of all kinds of superstitions throughout history. The military cut for men became popular in the Roman legions, since in this way the enemy was prevented from grabbing the soldier’s hair.
In the Middle Ages, it was in bad taste for married women to show their hair in public, especially in the wealthy classes, so the veil began to be used, which had a similar function to the Muslim burqa or niqab of today. Nowadays, it covers even the faces of women in the most traditional Arab countries.
Just like volume, the absence of hair has also been a milestone in hair fashion. Cutting the hair of enemies or holding their severed heads was a form of humiliation, as in modern prison systems, where it is mandatory to cut prisoners’ hair for hygienic reasons, which, however, also functions as a device of control of personal expression (that is, freedom).
Elizabeth I of England imposed a trend by removing part of the forehead and the contours of the face in the 16th century, which began the rise of hair removal, which even today divides people for political reasons. At the beginning of the 20th century, equal political rights between the sexes gave rise to the garçonne cut in the 1920s, as well as flappers, who wore their hair short.
Since the 1960s, growing hair in the armpits, legs and pubic area has been claimed by certain wings of feminism as an expression of rejection and rebellion against the dominant patriarchy.
The surrealist painter Salvador Dalí claimed that pointed mustaches had the same function as a pair of antennas to receive messages beyond the visible spectrum. Although this eccentricity is difficult to prove, beards in men have been seen as a sign of virility and sexual power in many cultures, such as the Vikings and the Gauls, who wore them long and often braided.
Today, even the scruffiest haircuts indicate an awareness of how others perceive us. Going out into the street carefully disheveled is also an aesthetic reason, as well as a position regarding fashion.
What does your hair say about your personality?
* Photography: Laura Makabresku