Again in history, hair, and once again women’s hair, has become an example or weapon of protest. We pulled the thread from the streets and squares of Tehran to the social networks of the whole world. Michel Messou, philosopher, sociologist, talks to us about hair.
author ofEthnologist in the barbershop (Éditions Fayard, 2013), Michel Messou, philosopher, sociologist and professor emeritus of the University of Paris-Cite, looks back on the long hair adventure and all that it entails.
At any age, in all eras, in all social settings, hairdressing is “everything is something,” he continues. Among the pharaohs, the absence of hair is a sign of power. Brittle, with chalk, the Huns use it to scare the enemy. Carolingian kings were chosen according to the length of their hair, “a symbol of their strength, their power and their ability to reign,” the expert recalls. In the Middle Ages, headdresses, “with a large elaborate head cone and veil,” materialized the social position of women in power and their wealth.
In the video, French stars cut their hair in solidarity with Iranian women
And what about the fascinators of the late Elizabeth II of England, whose bright colors stood out among the black hats? “She used it to mark her status as queen, her presence and her distinction.” As for the white violets proudly displayed by Sophie Fontanelle, Andy McDowell or Princess Caroline of Hanover, they claim only one thing: to change the codes of seduction by openly suggesting their age…
In the public space, hair appears as the first vector of contact with the other
Michael Messu
By shaving their heads, “the army signed the conscription regiment with a strict act,” Michel Messou later confirms. Likewise, the feast of monks is considered “as an offering to God upon entering a religious order.” In the Bible, Samson derives his Herculean strength from his luxuriant hair. Leaving nature to do its thing, he submits to God, whose will he does not contradict. By cutting his hair, Delilah reduces him to the status of a mere mortal.
Boy cut
The reaping of women in “Liberation” stems from this very intention: “to degrade them and point the finger at them,” responds the philosopher. “Vengeance of the moment, as accused of contributing to the defeat by horizontal cooperation, but above all revenge between the sexes, reaching them with the most precious thing.”
Hair is a powerful way to get out of a situation where it is not appropriate to stay
Michel Messou, Philosopher
“Hair is a strong way to get out of a situation where it’s not appropriate to stay,” insists Michel Mesu, recalling that in the 1920s, the “boyish” cut marked the independence of women who refused to obey the rules of beauty. imposed by men. Conversely, in the early sixties, the Beatles’ messy hair gave wings to several generations of rebellious teenagers. “Let us be treated as girls,” recalls the sociologist.
Ten years later, US civil rights activist Angela Davis wears an Afro to “witness the splendor of naturally curly African hair in response to decades of iron straightening, supposedly a vector of integration.”
In 2022, therefore, the hair revolution is taking place in Iran. Imposed on women in the temple by St. Paul, so that the beauty of their hair would not distract the faithful from their beliefs, the veil is used to hide it. Waltzing away this piece of fabric and cutting off their long locks, Iranian women now refuse to pledge allegiance to the beliefs of another era. They are equal to men and intend to make that clear to the current regime. Even at the cost of their lives.
Michel Messou is the authorEthnologist in the barbershopEditions Fayard, and: Consent or concession to necessitypublished in 2022 by Éditions PUF.
Source: Le Figaro
