The bangs ascend in a topknot, not unlike the tuft
of a displaying male bird (see below,
Media).
Ya know, I spend a long time on my hair, and he hit it;
he hit my hair. --John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever, 1977 (Schaffer
2001:20)
Hair like steel wool grew far back on his head and gave him a great deal of domed brown forehead that might at first glance have seemed a dwelling place for brains. --Philip Marlowe (The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, 1939, p. 77)
Identity marker. 1. The style,
color, shape, and sheen of the cylindrical, filamentous projections covering
one's scalp. 2. Any of the visual, tactile, and olfactory signs
emanating from human head hair.
Usage: Like our face,
our hairstyle is a nonverbal signature display representing who, what,
and even "why" we are. Our hairdo is a badge of identity reflecting membership
in a group, and also showing our desire to identify with (i.e., be like; see
ISOPRAXISM) other people. Rather like a baseball cap,
our hair may be used to show membership on a corporate, military, or religious
"team" (see HAT).
Baldness. In the U.S., men spend
ca. $2 billion each year to reduce hair loss (known medically as androgenetic
alopecia; Segell 1994). Men have used hair-loss potions at least since
ancient Egyptian times 3000 years ago; in 400 B.C., e.g., Hippocrates devised ".
. . a remedy for his own hair loss made of opium, horseradish, pigeon droppings,
beetroot, and spices (Segell 1994:114).
Bangs. "Indeed, whether
wispy and short or soft and long, today's bangs look 'whimsical and fun,' says
hairstylist Fr?ric Fekkai, who counts Ashley Judd and Sharon Stone among his
clients. Even better, notes Cindy Crawford's cutter Stephen Knoll, 'it's a great
way for women to disguise frown lines on their foreheads'" (Scott 2000:129).
Big hair. 1. Women mark lifestyle and career changes with
different hairstyles, according to Grant McCracken in his 1997 book, Big
Hair: A Journey into the Transformation of Self. 2. The tendency to
trash big hair ". . . started long before President Clinton's alleged
involvement with a series of women who subsequently lost several pounds of hair
after being taken under the wings of image consultants" (Turner 1998:E1).
3. "Upper-class women in the [ancient Egyptian] Middle Kingdom also
developed a taste for huge wigs, the tresses of which were sometimes bound with
ribbons of silver or linen and topped with still more jewelry, as fancy as any
from the court of [French queen from 1774-93] Marie Antoinette" (Barber
1994:204).
Biology. We spend an unusual amount of time noticing,
monitoring, and commenting on each other's hair (or its absence). This is
because, in mammals generally, clean hair is a sign of high status, good health,
and careful grooming. The biological equivalent of scales, feathers, and fur,
hair not only keeps our head warm and dry, but also protects our braincase from
sunshine. Hair once provided camouflage, too, and helped our ancestors blend
into the natural landscape. Today's hairstyles help us blend into the social
scene as well.
First impression. A Procter & Gamble study led
by Marianne LaFrance (2000) of Yale found that, in the U.S., hairstyle plays a
significant role in first impressions. For women, a. short, tousled hair
conveys confidence and an outgoing personality, but ranks low in sexuality;
b. medium-length, casual hair suggests intelligence and good nature; and
c. long, straight, blond hair projects sexuality and affluence. For men,
a. short, front-flip hairstyles are seen as confident, sexy, and
self-centered (see below, Media: 1950s); b. medium-length,
side-parted hair connotes intelligence, affluence, and a narrow mind; and
c. long hair projects "all brawn and no brains," carelessness, and a
good-natured personality.
Hair-preen. Women may run their fingers
through their hair around men they are attracted to (see LOVE
SIGNALS II).
Media. In the 1950s, magazine and TV images of Elvis
Presley popularized the rebellious ducktail, in which the hair sweeps
back to meet in an upturned point at the rear of the head, and the bangs ascend
in a topknot, not unlike the tuft of a displaying male bird. In the
1960s, anti-establishment bushy hair for men was popularized by
magazine and TV images of the Beatles, a British pop group whose members wore
their hair noticeably longer than other males of the time. In the 1970s, very
long straight hair for women was popularized by magazine and TV images
of the American folksinger, Joan Baez, whose dark tresses contrasted with the
shorter, chemical-permanent styles of the time. In the 1980s, pop
singer Madonna's TV-video-pictured soft-tousled blond hair popularized
a sexier, Marilyn Monroe look of the 1950s era. In the 1990s, TV ads of Chicago
Bulls player, Michael Jordan popularized the shaved-head look,
originally introduced by actor Yul Brynner in the 1956 movie, The King and
I.
Optics. Like a lion's mane, our head hair grows longer than the hair on our body. Our mane borders three sides of the face (like a bottomless picture frame) to contain and exhibit its features. Bushy (i.e., longer and thicker) manes draw attention to themselves, and to the faces they contain, making the ears, forehead, nose, and chin look comparatively "smaller." Shorter, thinner manes bring less notice to themselves, but make brows, cheekbones, jaws, and noses loom "larger" on the facial plain.
Sex. The relative full or close-cropped look of our head mane
explains the traditional contrast between men's and women's hair. Short,
military cuts show off masculine power traits: bony brow
ridges, prominent noses, and larger jaws. Longer, thicker
hair showcases feminine eyes
and lips while downplaying the more manly traits. Men may
project additional "strength" with dense facial manes. Beards "widen"
the lower face, while mustaches turn the lip corners downward to project a
"fierce" look. It is only hair, after all, but to the very visual primate
brain, appearances are "real." (N.B.: "Because the
top rulers were virtually always male, the royal headdress in [ancient] Egypt
also came to symbolize virility and included a false beard" [Barber
1994:150].)
RESEARCH REPORT: According to
anthropologists, in many societies long hair shows "openness," "passion" and
"lack of inhibition"; while shaved heads and short hair symbolize "discipline,"
"denial," and "conformity" (Alford 1996).
Neuro-note. The emotional appeal of human head hair is mediated, in part, by grooming-related tendencies wired into paleocircuits of the cingulate gyrus.
See also FACIAL I.D., FACIAL
RECOGNITION.
YouTube Video: Watch a 30 second video showing hair as a consumer product.
COMBOVER
Hair cue. 1. An historical and usually male practice of suggesting youth by covering hairless scalp areas on top of the head with hair from the scalp's back and sides. (N.B.: U.S. Patent 4,022,227 details a three-part methodology for sculpting the style.) 2. More recently, a usually masculine practice of wearing the hair noticeably longer on top, shorter on the back and sides, and marked with a conspicuous lateral part.
Usage. 1. In the former historical sense, combovers have been used since Roman times (e.g., by Julius Caesar) to make hair loss less visible than it otherwise might be (see INVISIBILITY). Since hair enhances facial attractiveness and may be read as a youthful sign of virility, men often resist its loss in service to courtship (see REPRODUCTIVE FORCE). 2. In its more recent sense, combover-style manes attract notice and are similarly appealing in courtship.
Humorous hair. Viewers may judge conspicuous combovers for male pattern baldness as being somewhat sad or comical. Not only are combovers unattractive but also may reflect denial or borderline dishonesty (see DECEPTION CUE).
Trump hair. A case in point is the glowing yellow hue and gravity-defying shape of Donald J. Trump's combover, which seems to say, "See me, I am unique!" A key to decoding Trump hair may be found in the trademark mustache of surrealist artist, Salvador Dali (1904-1989). Like the dramatic, curvilinear waxed hairs of Dali's upper lip, Trump's flamboyant combover seems to defy gravity. The meaning of both men's eccentric-hair displays is designed to announce a most wonderful presence: "ME."
See also HAIR CUE.
Copyright 1998 - 2020 (David B.
Givens/Center for Nonverbal Studies)
Photo of asymmetrical hairstyle (since the human face is relentlessly symmetrical, a visible asymmetry--such as the bangs pictured here--catches eyes and draws notice; picture credit: unknown)