Post 49: Hair Raising

REFLECTION     1991

He looked in the mirror
He looked at his high smooth forehead
Examined his well shaved chin
Gazed at the sparse cut hair
That moulded to his head
And round his fine folded ears

He looked in the mirror
Remembering the time when that forehead
Was hidden by a heavy fringe
When his chin was invisible
Under vigorous hairy growth
And his head proudly bore an untamed mane
A crowning glory of independent choice

He looked in the mirror
He thought, once I fought my Mother
For the existence of my hair
My Father disowned me in the pub
Because I would not shave
And my Sisters friends giggled behind my back
My protected back, covered with unkempt growth

He looked in the mirror
He mused how once he wore his hair with pride
He mourned the past energy of all it’s growing
How had he arrived at this near balding state?
Revealed and defenceless; shorn of his pride
His Samson glory, stolen by the passing years
He looked in the mirror
And carefully clipped a few wild bristles
From his neat moustache

I’ve no idea what inspired that poem. Probably something on the telly. I’ve been wanting to use it on the blog for some while; but have never found a suitable subject that it could inveigle it’s way into. Until now.

Hair has a history of power; or the lack of it. Samson found out the hard way. Rapunzel used hers as a means of escape from her tower. Medusa’s snake like locks petrified all those who looked upon them. And the shaving of heads, especially female, has always been an example of the removal of power as punishment. Being a teenager in the sixties was a time when hair was glorified. The male of the species displayed uncut scalps as a sign of freedom from the norm of ‘tidy’ respectability. There was even a musical which shouted, and sung about the power of hair.

I find it hard to ignore the modern connotations of the power of hair, as women in Iran, Afghanistan, and other repressive regimes, risk life and limb for the freedom to show theirs; to feel a cooling breeze through untrammelled locks; and yes, to be admired for their crowning glory. Why are their persecutors so terrified of this symbol of freedom and choice? Just relating it to an outdated ideology cannot be the only answer.

It’s almost as if those; who force fifty per cent of their population to adhere to a regime of hardline supposedly religious doctrine; who imprison them at home; deny them education, employment, recreation, and any independence of movement when they venture outside; it’s as if these zealots have run out of ‘punishments’ to inflict on the women of their country. But, without going to the extreme of ruling that all female hair should be removed, they’ve done the next best thing; they have ruled that it must be covered. No public display allowed.

And, to be clear, I’m not just relating this obsessive mindset to the restriction of women’s lives. We hear a lot about controlling relationships these days; mainly relating to micro examples. But, perhaps we should be concentrating on the macro; where huge swathes of the world’s population are controlled, vilified and restricted from independent choice; browbeaten into unacceptable lifestyles; with little chance of experiencing the full gamut of what life has to offer. Observations on this subject could be much longer; but I would only be repeating myself. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if it rears it’s uncut, hairy head again in future posts!