Hair and texture

[melannen]

I'm writing about a religious order where not caring for one's hair is a matter of devotion. For people with straight, fine hair (which happens to describe the founder of the Order) this means that if they wish, they are allowed to rinse it with water, comb it every few days, and have a very simple trim, every couple months or less; the ideal, imitating their founder, is for it to hang in lank, oily clumps around the face and shoulders.

Would it be reasonable and not-offensive for members of the order who have hair that is too coarse, kinky or curly for this to happen to generally wear shortish, freeform dreadlocks, as the equivalent? And if not, what should their hair be like?

(The story is set in a semi-cyberpunk future and modern cultural markers don't necessarily apply, except of course for how they do, because the author and [presumably]readers are part of a modern culture.

(Also, does anyone have links to any general guides to writing about people with different hair textures? I feel like I've read at least one, but I couldn't find it today.)

Comments

[devilc]

Q: In this culture of yours, is there a reason that people who have coarse textured, kinky, or very curly hair can't cut it short?

Also, those who combed their hair only a few times a week would have elf-locks, and then there's also the Polish Plait.

[melannen]

It's the "matching the founder" thing, mostly. Mostly I didn't want to have the people with the "right" kind of hair wear it longer and everybody else have to cut theirs short, because that has unfortunate implications, at least to me. (And it's fanfic, so I don't get to pick the founder's hairstyle.) But I couldn't think of an alternative that had no possible unfortunate implications, because hair's so political.

(Also, I've gone through periods of combing shoulder-length hair only a few times a week, and just finger-smoothing it on the off-days, and it takes a lot longer than that to start to mat. Though, of course, it depends on texture.)

[flyingthesky]

This doesn't answer your question exactly, but as someone who has fine, superstraight hair that used to only be washed once a week*? You kind of need to comb fine hair every day/multiple times a day unless you've got it pulled back or it tangles up and forms a mat of hair that will break fine-toothed combs. Like, if I wear my hair down while I'm sleeping, just some regular shifting during the night tends to make some decent beginnings of dreads in my hair.

So you know. I would suggest that maybe you consider just giving everyone dreads.

* It was almost four feet long and it took thirty minutes or so to wash properly because my hair is fine, but I have an awful lot of it. Anyway, forty minutes to shower was not the kind of time I had on weekdays.

[melannen]

Heh, yeah, when I had hair down past my waist it was braided about 95% of the time, including in the shower, because I just didn't have the energy. But at "just long enough to tie back" I've found it's lot more possible to leave it down and go awhile without combing, especially if it's pretty oily, although you're right that it might work better to have them at least tie it back when sleeping.

(It takes my hair about two months in braids-never-taken-out to start to properly lock, but I honestly have no idea where it falls on a spectrum between "fine" and "coarse".

[elf]

Long, straight hair turns into mats *quickly* if not braided or brushed regularly. Especially if it's fine/thin hair. Thicker hair may hang in oily clumps, but is more likely to dreadlock. Washing with soap is optional (washing makes it clean and not oily, but doesn't do much to prevent tangles). A "no-management hair" policy for straight hair is a ponytail. (Which will mat or dread if not brushed, but will look like a ponytail from a distance.)

Simple trim every few months? I cut my hair about every seventeen years. I plan on another trim in six more years. I wouldn't consider a haircut, simple or not, every couple of months to be a hands-off hair care policy. Or is it "cut your hair to match the founder's?"--which is drastically different from "don't spend even five minutes a day on your hair."

It's been my experience that less modern hair care generally leads to longer hair--avoiding heat-curling, blow dryers, hairspray and curling/straightening chemicals makes for stronger hair & less split ends. (On average. There are always exceptions.)

I'd expect a "let your hair be natural" religious devotion to allow for different results across all hair types. If the goal is "look like Our Great Leader," there'd be no rules against hair care to that end--but those whose hair naturally matches the founder's without much effort would be considered lucky.

[melannen]

It's a "hair to match our Founder" (The group in question is called The Sisterhood of the Half-Blood Prince, if that means anything to you) and I don't doubt that some members put a lot of effort in trying to get their hair to look like it matches his, but the ethos is that vanity is bad, and the Order hasn't been around long enough to completely turn its principles into empty rituals, so they're still more into "make it look like your haircare regimen matches his" instead. (Also, I really, really wanted to avoid 'black people being forced to make their hair look like a white guy's' because I hate that, and also my MC is black with natural hair and would probably walk out.)

I cut my hair about once every ten years (but I get it cut really short when I do, so I cycle through all the lengths.) However, a straight cut across the bottom to keep it around the same length is, like, five minutes, scissors or a knife, and a friend (no skill required, and no friend required if you don't care how even it ends up) - I was subjected to that for most of my childhood until I took control of my own hair.

[Also the vast majority of people I've known who do have really, really long hair get "split ends trimmed off" a couple of times a year - which I never did because I never really saw the point of, and I liked the way it looked in its natural shape. Yay for someone else who doesn't!)

I guess I'm just not sure what "let your hair be 'natural'" would be across the whole range of hair textures, whether there would be any uniformity at all in that case. And also I've known people with "natural" hair who put a shedload of effort into it every day - 'natural' has its own politicizations.

[elf]

Sounds like it'd be "hair to match the founders" much more than "no hair care"--so there'd be a common habit of a couple of minutes of brushing in the morning, and keeping the hair trimmed to roughly shoulder length.

For people whose hair is really, really not going to fall into that pattern without force, there are several options:
1) require ("strongly encourage") hair straightening chemicals (or spells, if those are available)
2) keep their hair very short & make them wear wigs
3) keep their hair natural, somewhat short, and put them under the constant pressure of "well, it's just too bad you're not as naturally suited to follow in The Founder's footsteps... I suppose you'll do the best you can anyway..."

Which option to use depends on how fanatic "look like the founder" is. If it's "you neeeeed to look like him as much as possible" that gets one result; if it's "you neeeeeed to imitate his attitude and lifestyle as much as possible," that's a very different result.

For "what would fairly neglected hair be like" across a range of textures etc--look for photos of rainbow gatherings and Burning Man. (And by "natural" I mean "it grows this way, and I throw enough attention at it so it doesn't get in my face when I'm eating," not "I've spent 3 hours trying to make it look like I have wavy hair without the application of curling irons and plastic spray.")

[lilacsigil]

I have moderately thick, wavy Caucasian hair, and I've been through periods of depression where there was less hair-care than what you describe above. My hair didn't tangle or form thick clumps - it was just oily and heavy. People with finer hair than mine seem to get huge tangles.

[melannen]

Maybe my problem was specifying 'fine' because my hair sounds about like yours - and on the range of the whole human scale it's still pretty fine, but I guess as white people hair goes it's on the coarse side. So maybe I should have just said "is it reasonable for people whose hair doesn't do that to wear dreadlocks?"

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Very close to reasonable, yes. Proper dreadlocks do require some attention to establish, so that they will form 'tails' and not a giant matted mess. Once established, however, they are an excellent low-maintenance hairstyle and have been used by various cultures. That part should fit fine.

While dreadlocks are best known as a way of wearing nappy hair, they will also work rather farther down the scale. Very fine, straight hair usually won't lock properly but sometimes wavy hair will and loosely curly hair almost always will.

Do be aware that hair is a minefield, and ethnic hair even more than average. Even a quick browse will turn up examples. If you're sensitive to other people's tantrums, you might want to avoid this issue. Me, if people are already screaming at each other over something, I just pick what I think is reasonable and write it.

Re: Well...

[melannen]

Hmm, if very fine straight hair won't lock, what *does* it do if not combed or styled constantly? I have people up above saying that fine straight hair will start to lock almost immediately and I need to go coarser if I want every-couple-days combing to work...

Re: Well...

[elf]

Fine straight hair will mat, because it tries to fall *down* rather than *around* the other hairs. But it's also easy to keep straight by a very quick brushing--two minutes or less per day will do it. Sometimes every other day is enough. It can be less hair care than most people put into tying their shoes.

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Hmm, if very fine straight hair won't lock, what *does* it do if not combed or styled constantly?<<

Depends on the type of hair:

* Very fine straight hair that is oily tends to stay straight, without tangling a great deal, hanging in greasy rattails as you've described.

* Very fine hair that is average and fluffy, or dry and frizzy, will tangle -- sometimes severely enough that the tangles can't be undone, if left long enough.

Dreadlocks differ from tangles in that they are felt. The scales of the hairs open and lock together. Look closely at the surface of the dreadlocks and you will see that they are almost smooth; the individual hairs will not move and have fused into a compact mass. Tangles are looser and fuzzier, and individual hairs will still move. This is why they can sometimes be picked loose with enough patience.

The coarser and kinkier hair is, the better it tends to lock. The finer and straighter it is, the less well it tends to lock, but it may still tangle. In between you've got hair that will form dreadlocks, but they'll be looser and fuzzier especially at the surface.

I've seen a variety, and I've done research on hair types for some of my own writing. But if you're getting divergent answers, there are two options for solidifying the data:

1) Empirical research. Find several people of different hair types who will let you take a close look at their dreadlocks. Unless you've got a bunch of close friends who wear their hair this way, it's likely to annoy people.

2) Consult a real expert. Talk with a hairdresser, or several, who have ethnic clients and have seen dreadlocks in different types of hair.

Be aware that these are tendencies, not absolutes, especially in populations with a lot of genetic mixing. Aim for the most common effects and you should be okay.

Re: Well...

[archangelbeth]

My kid has very fine (darker blonde) hair, somewhat wavy, going down past her waist. I had my mom try to braid it (as she'd always braided my hair, and I thought that I was "doing something wrong" as it was so hard to get a good braid in my kid's hair), and she exclaimed that the kid had hair "as fine as cat hair!"

Said hair will tangle if you look at it cross-eyed. The less it gets conditioned, the faster it tangles. It will tangle IN A BRAID. (I have no idea how it does this, and braiding at least cuts down on tangles.) It will tangle from one brush or comb-stroke to the next. She hasn't got it in a sleep-braid tonight and I dread the mats that will appear in the morning. *sigh*

It doesn't really dreadlock, though. It mats. If left to its own devices, I think it would slowly form one giant mat, somewhat like a cobra hood, starting around the top of her neck where it turns into skull and going down her back.

I think to get the Half-Blood Prince's hair, there'd need to be oiling/conditioning for at least some people. Shiny dreads might fit the "look"?