haircut

For humans, haircut, hairstyle, or hairdo normally describe cutting or styling head hair. Unlike other animals, human beings of many cultures cut their hair, rather than letting it grow naturally. Hair styles are often used to signal cultural, social, and ethnic identity and can be used to illustrate social status or individuality. Men and women naturally have the same hair, with the primary component of hair fiber being keratin. Keratins are proteins, long chains (polymers) of amino acids. Generally, hairstyles conform to cultural influences of gender. Fashion trends may have a great influence depending on the person.

There is a thriving world market in cut human hair of sufficient length for wig manufacture and for the production of training materials for student hairdressers and barbers. In less developed countries, selling one's hair can be a significant source of income — depending on length, thickness, condition, and color, wig makers have been known to pay as much as US$40 for a head of hair. In the United States, cut hair of at least 10 inches (25 cm) length may be donated to a charity, such as Locks of Love.

History

• The New Testament asks "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." (1 Corinthian 11: 14-16).
• In the 17th century, Manchu invaders issued the Queue Order, requiring Chinese, who traditionally did not cut their hair, to shave their heads like Manchus. The Chinese resisted. Tens of thousands of people were killed due to their hairstyle.
• In the 1920s, the evangelist Billy Sunday popularized the phrase "long-haired men and short-haired women", a term he meant to encompass his disapproval of radicals, liberated women, homosexuals, and Greenwich Village artists.
• Until the Beatles came along, classical music was called longhaired music, because a longer style was popular among male orchestral artists and conductors.
• Pianist Professor Longhair was bald, and had earlier been billed as Roy "Bald Head" Byrd; one of his hits was "She ain't got no hair".
• In 2006, former Virginia Senator George Allen became involved in a political and racial controversy that turned, in part, on the difference between a mullet and a Mohawk.

Further reading

• Liu, Christine, "Le Gala Hair Group: Introducing the digital perm", Boston's Weekly Dig, Wednesday, January 31, 2007, Issue 9.5.

External links

• History of Hairdressing

See also

• Mitt Romney Cranbrook incident‎ - US presidential candidate, then in school, bullying a classmate because of their hairstyle
• Long hair

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