There’s a cultural, regional shift happening around the world. It’s showing up in a lot of places, including right here in our lovely locks. With the democratization of information, many people have access to heaps of information. Articles, music, videos, photos and cinema. The West has a solid hold on a lot of that information and distribution power, which is influencing much of the digital and sociophysical landscapes.
But fair to say, a result of globalized media is globalized culture. We are connected with each other in so many ways, it’s inevitable that we begin to desire and adapt our behavior and fashion by what we see–even if it’s physically, very far away.
I left my hair straightener, dryer and potions of lotions at home, during my December trip to Botswana. My follicles flew freely. But my hair became quite the philosophical topic of conversation. People kept calling me “white” in Africa, local friends and otherwise. I’d put my arm next to theirs, compare skintone and sometimes be darker than the accuser.
“You have white hair,” they’d always say.. I didn’t have “African” hair and I didn’t have “Asian” hair. I had European hair, so I was white.
My new South African friend Lucky, (above), said, “Africans will always look at your hair first,” to guess where you might be from. Commentary usually followed by mention of my “white” eyes, noes, forehead and other white features.
Only later did I learn about the mega-hair-wave market that hacks off pounds of Indian hair to into African weaves. Watch Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair. It is actually a very well researched, articulate, opinionated, educational, pointed and hilarious film. He exposes the billion dollar business of pain and suffering to tame the tresses. But why? For what reason have these women decided to put thousands of dollars a month to make their hair look smooth, flowing and shiny like their European sisters?
http://youtu.be/1m-4qxz08So
I tucked that question away until I got to Japan. Here, in Tokyo, women and men with seemingly beautiful, straight, shiny black hair mutate their natural style. I see (unnaturally) blonde and brunette Japanese men and women. Though I am staying in a cosmopolitan fashion district. I presume people are much more likely to make the self-expressive dye-job leap. But, I want to know why.
I want to know more about Western culture. I want to know more about Japanese culture. I want to know more about African culture and I want to know what media these people consume. Online, on TV, on the radio, in magazines and in advertising.
I want to know what happens in their minds when they wake up in the morning and decide, “This looks good. I want to look like this.” Why does the West have a hegemonic hold on hair culture? Or does it? Is there a silent, cultural, confirmation that European culture is the highest of high fashion? Is there an unspoken agreement in Tokyo or Cape Town when locals make minor mutations to their image?
What happens to a community when they are all of a sudden flooded with mountains of new information? It gets localized and appropriated. And behavior changes and former generations remember the good ‘ol days. To whom does the responsibility belong?
I never really thought much about my hair culture until very recently. I’m as guilty of mutation as any of the women and men pictured above. My hair has been red, green blue, purple and once or twice, blonde on accident in a few spots. All the while I’ve applied dangerous amounts of heat to my hair daily for a more ‘orderly’ look that frizzes up at the mention of moisture in the air. So where does this leave us? Does the West have ah old on hair or is it just a horse of different color?