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

[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.")