A Cultural History of Hair in the Modern Age

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A thick, tangled and deliciously idiosyncratic history of hair. Times Literary Supplement Over the last century, there has been a revolution in self-presentation and social attitudes towards hair. Developments in mass manufacturing, advances in chemical science and new understandings of bodies and minds have been embraced by new kinds of hairdressers and their clientele and embodied in styles that reflect shifting ideals of what it is to be and to look modern. The emergence of the ladies hairdressing salon, the rise of the celebrity stylist, the impact of Hollywood, an expanding mass media, and a new synergy between fashions in clothing and hairstyles have rippled out globally. Fashions in hair styles and their representation have taken on new meanings as a way of resisting dominant social structures, experimenting with social taboos, and expressing a modern sense of self. From the 1920s bob to the punk cut, hair has continued to be deeply involved in societys larger issues. Drawing on a wealth of visual, textual and object sources, and illustrated with 75 images, A Cultural History of Hair in the Modern Age presents essays that explore how politics, science, religion, fashion, beauty, the visual arts, and popular culture have reshaped modern hair and its significance as an agent of social change.

Reviews

A thick, tangled and deliciously idiosyncratic history of hair ... There is plenty to inform and intrigue, partly because the study of hair demands an exhilarating disciplinary range: from the art of cuts and colours, the history of scissors, razors and combs and the sociology of barbershops, to the semiotics of hair pulling and lock tugging, the ethnography of Afros, and the sexual politics of boyish bobs. * Times Literary Supplement *
[I]n carefully argued, insightful case studies that deploy sophisticated analytical tools, this volumes contributors document the complex shifts in hair dressing and grooming which have located hair as central to contemporary individualistic self-fashioning and as a key signifier of sexuality and lifestyle politics. Innovative and persuasive, this collection provides an invaluable history of hair for those who want to truly understand its modern significance and powerful cultural status. -- Andrew Stephenson, University of East London, UK

Author Bio

Geraldine Biddle-Perry is Associate Lecturer in Cultural Studies at Central Saint Martins, London, UK, and co-author of Hair: Styling, Culture and Fashion.