It may seem like just another part of your exterior, one to be managed and maintained throughout our lives, not everyone of course as not all keep their hair, but even then it is still noticed and I guess, thought about. It’s been made a thing in society too, as part of your appearance, for judgement and categorising people. A shaved head being a classic one, if you are not a prisoner, in a mental hospital or in the military, people are not sure what to make of it. We had a whole social movement which had it very much as a focus, so attitudes towards it are varied. And if you happen to be female with a shaved head, then also some assumptions and raised eyebrows follow. Although there are plenty of attitudes towards all sorts of hairstyles, this piece is focusing on two, with hair, and without.

Monks – even though apparently enlightened, or at least seeking the path to, they believe that hair symbolises worldly fashion and ego.

Native American Indians – I read an interesting snippet recently about Native Americans being ‘recruited’ by the army for their tracking skills. But once they were fully enlisted, regulated with uniform and military haircut, they say they ‘lost their ability’. Now, that could be the case, or they simply may have been forced to join and didn’t actually want to help, we’ll never know. But on the premise that it is true, I wondered if the hair really could be important.

Antenna – it is said that our hair acts as an antenna, connecting us to the energy around us as a kind of sensor. What it is sensing who can say, but the idea that we are connected to electrical energy all around us isn’t that crazy. Ever do the weird thing where you rub a balloon on your hair to make it static, then the balloon would stick to the ceiling? That’s when you activate it with the balloon rubber, who knows what goes on with other stimuli. And perhaps why certain products might be worse for your hair that at first thought, not just as it lets things seep directly into your head by way of your hair follicals, but because it might also block what is meant to get through. Over the years there have been more and more, hairspray, dyes, gel, shampoo, conditioner, glitter, straightening, hair dryers, perms etc. And that is just all for your hair, when you add up all the products being absorbed through our exterior, willingly applied by us, then it can be of concern.

Senses – we say there are five senses, the main ones anyway, and there is speculation over a sixth one for ESP related activities. So, what if our hair is actually a sense, but one which functions without our awareness perhaps. Taking in our surroundings and feeding us either information or energy, they say if your hair feels good, you feel good, maybe there is something in that. And maybe ties into the antenna idea too, as when something is sensed like the saying ‘someone just walked over my grave’, it’s often accompanied with all the hairs on your body standing on end. Or if you think you are being watched. Now, some may say that is touch, as your skin is alerted to something, but if nothing actually touched you, and you can’t see anything, is it actually your hair that has picked up something? Passing that along to the other senses to then decide on the necessary response. That may be why there has been a policy in certain institutions and punishments to shave people’s hair, under the guise of ‘health and safety’ but is ultimately to cut off one of your senses. As well it being called a dehumanising act in itself anyway, maybe there is an extra layer of dehumanising there we hadn’t quite considered. I wonder…

(c) K Wicks

(c) K Wicks