Susan Niditch
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195181142
- eISBN:
- 9780199869671
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181142.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The story of Jacob and Esau is told in the book of Genesis. With his mother's help, Jacob impersonates his hairy older twin by dressing in Esau's clothes and covering his own hands and the nape of ...
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The story of Jacob and Esau is told in the book of Genesis. With his mother's help, Jacob impersonates his hairy older twin by dressing in Esau's clothes and covering his own hands and the nape of his neck with the hairy hide of goats. Fooled by this ruse, their blind father, Isaac, is tricked into giving the younger son the blessing of the firstborn. This is only one of many biblical stories in which hair plays a pivotal role. In recent years, there has been an explosion of scholarly interest in the relationship between culture and the body. Hair plays an integral role in the way we represent and identify ourselves. The way we treat our hair has to do with aesthetics, social structure, religious identity, and a host of other aspects of culture. In ancient Israel, hair signifies important features of identity with respect to gender, ethnicity, and holiness. This book seeks a deeper understanding of Israelite culture as expressed, shaped, and reinforced in images of hair. Among the examples used is the tradition's most famous long-haired hero, Samson. The hair that assures Samson's strength is a common folktale motif, but is also important to his sacred status as a Nazirite. The book examines the meaning of the Nazirite identity null held by Samuel as well as Samson null arguing that long hair is involved in a complex set of cultural assumptions about men, warrior status, and divine election. The book also looks at pictorial and other material evidence. It concludes by examining the troubling texts in which men impose hair cutting or loosening upon women, revealing much about attitudes to women and their place in Israelite culture.Less
The story of Jacob and Esau is told in the book of Genesis. With his mother's help, Jacob impersonates his hairy older twin by dressing in Esau's clothes and covering his own hands and the nape of his neck with the hairy hide of goats. Fooled by this ruse, their blind father, Isaac, is tricked into giving the younger son the blessing of the firstborn. This is only one of many biblical stories in which hair plays a pivotal role. In recent years, there has been an explosion of scholarly interest in the relationship between culture and the body. Hair plays an integral role in the way we represent and identify ourselves. The way we treat our hair has to do with aesthetics, social structure, religious identity, and a host of other aspects of culture. In ancient Israel, hair signifies important features of identity with respect to gender, ethnicity, and holiness. This book seeks a deeper understanding of Israelite culture as expressed, shaped, and reinforced in images of hair. Among the examples used is the tradition's most famous long-haired hero, Samson. The hair that assures Samson's strength is a common folktale motif, but is also important to his sacred status as a Nazirite. The book examines the meaning of the Nazirite identity null held by Samuel as well as Samson null arguing that long hair is involved in a complex set of cultural assumptions about men, warrior status, and divine election. The book also looks at pictorial and other material evidence. It concludes by examining the troubling texts in which men impose hair cutting or loosening upon women, revealing much about attitudes to women and their place in Israelite culture.
Susan Niditch
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195181142
- eISBN:
- 9780199869671
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181142.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter explores the nexus in Israelite culture between maleness, charisma, warrior status, and hair. Central to this chapter is a close reading of tales in Judges 13–16 about the superhero ...
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This chapter explores the nexus in Israelite culture between maleness, charisma, warrior status, and hair. Central to this chapter is a close reading of tales in Judges 13–16 about the superhero Samson, a Nazirite from birth. Themes of us versus them, Israelite versus Philistine, are in part created by images of hair. The chapter also includes a close philological analysis of Judges 5:2, an important line about warriors in an ancient poem, and a study of the long-haired, would-be hero Absalom, ambitious and rebellious son of King David, whose hair suggests charisma only to become a source and symbol of his undoing.Less
This chapter explores the nexus in Israelite culture between maleness, charisma, warrior status, and hair. Central to this chapter is a close reading of tales in Judges 13–16 about the superhero Samson, a Nazirite from birth. Themes of us versus them, Israelite versus Philistine, are in part created by images of hair. The chapter also includes a close philological analysis of Judges 5:2, an important line about warriors in an ancient poem, and a study of the long-haired, would-be hero Absalom, ambitious and rebellious son of King David, whose hair suggests charisma only to become a source and symbol of his undoing.
Rebecca M. Empson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264737
- eISBN:
- 9780191753992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264737.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter shows how the creation of hidden pieces, such as umbilical cords and pieces of tail hair from herd animals, contained within the household chest, point to modalities of personhood, quite ...
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This chapter shows how the creation of hidden pieces, such as umbilical cords and pieces of tail hair from herd animals, contained within the household chest, point to modalities of personhood, quite different to those objectified on the outer surface of the chest. Here, people are brought into being, not though repetition and stasis, but through their separation and movement across time and space.Less
This chapter shows how the creation of hidden pieces, such as umbilical cords and pieces of tail hair from herd animals, contained within the household chest, point to modalities of personhood, quite different to those objectified on the outer surface of the chest. Here, people are brought into being, not though repetition and stasis, but through their separation and movement across time and space.
Mario Luis Small
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195384352
- eISBN:
- 9780199869893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195384352.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter contrasts the organizational embeddedness perspective to the standard social capital perspective. It argues for a focus not merely on structure and position but also on context, everyday ...
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This chapter contrasts the organizational embeddedness perspective to the standard social capital perspective. It argues for a focus not merely on structure and position but also on context, everyday interaction, and routine organizations. After summarizing the mechanisms by which childcare centers brokered social and organizational ties, the chapter specifically examines the operation of these mechanisms in other organizations studied by social scientists, including neighborhood restaurants, hair salons, prisons, churches, grocery stores, and bathhouses. The chapter concludes by discussing the implications of the embeddedness perspective for three critical questions in the study social inequality: how people find jobs, how they acquire health insurance, and how they respond to conditions in their neighborhoods.Less
This chapter contrasts the organizational embeddedness perspective to the standard social capital perspective. It argues for a focus not merely on structure and position but also on context, everyday interaction, and routine organizations. After summarizing the mechanisms by which childcare centers brokered social and organizational ties, the chapter specifically examines the operation of these mechanisms in other organizations studied by social scientists, including neighborhood restaurants, hair salons, prisons, churches, grocery stores, and bathhouses. The chapter concludes by discussing the implications of the embeddedness perspective for three critical questions in the study social inequality: how people find jobs, how they acquire health insurance, and how they respond to conditions in their neighborhoods.
Jerome Murphy‐O'connor
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199564156
- eISBN:
- 9780191721281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564156.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter argues that 1 Cor 11: 2–16 has nothing to do with the veiling of women. The man is criticized for letting his hair grow long, because it was the overt sign of the active male homosexual. ...
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This chapter argues that 1 Cor 11: 2–16 has nothing to do with the veiling of women. The man is criticized for letting his hair grow long, because it was the overt sign of the active male homosexual. The woman, on the contrary, is blamed simply for not dressing her hair in the conventional manner. If she will not be feminine, she might as well go the whole way and appear ‘manish’ by cutting off her hair. Lesbians were known by their short hair. The point of Paul's argument from creation in Gen 2 is that, if God intended no difference between male and female, he would have created them in the same way. The difference between the sexes, in consequence, is important. Since Jews deduced the inferiority of women from Gan 2, Paul affirms their full equality by pointing out that the chronological primacy of man in creation is negated for contemporary man by the simple fact that he has a mother.Less
This chapter argues that 1 Cor 11: 2–16 has nothing to do with the veiling of women. The man is criticized for letting his hair grow long, because it was the overt sign of the active male homosexual. The woman, on the contrary, is blamed simply for not dressing her hair in the conventional manner. If she will not be feminine, she might as well go the whole way and appear ‘manish’ by cutting off her hair. Lesbians were known by their short hair. The point of Paul's argument from creation in Gen 2 is that, if God intended no difference between male and female, he would have created them in the same way. The difference between the sexes, in consequence, is important. Since Jews deduced the inferiority of women from Gan 2, Paul affirms their full equality by pointing out that the chronological primacy of man in creation is negated for contemporary man by the simple fact that he has a mother.
Elliott Antokoletz
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195365825
- eISBN:
- 9780199868865
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195365825.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, Opera
This chapter looks at Act III, Scene I — one of the towers of the castle — and examines the idea of Mélisande's hair as object of manifold symbolic significance, the seduction of Pelléas in the magic ...
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This chapter looks at Act III, Scene I — one of the towers of the castle — and examines the idea of Mélisande's hair as object of manifold symbolic significance, the seduction of Pelléas in the magic of the night, and the threatening arrival of Golaud. Intervallic expansion serves as basis for dramatic tension and change of mood. This scene also expresses passion and sensuality in terms of diatonic and chromatic saturation, and represents Golaud and fate by the whole-tone-1 collection. The chapter also explores dramatic parallels and polarities. Increasing passion and impending fate are represented by chromatic (octatonic) compression of the whole-tone set by common tritone projections. This scene reveals the emergence of Pelléas, then Golaud. in the darkness, while Mélisande's dilemma is symbolized by heightened dramatic polarity and complex pitch-set interactions. Finally, Act III, Scene 2, the vaults of the castle; Scene 3, a terrace at the entrance of the vaults, dark and light; and Scene 4, before the castle, are examined. These all develop Golaud's expression of jealousy; based on a primary manifestation of the whole-tone cycles and their cells. The chapter further addresses the principle of polarity.Less
This chapter looks at Act III, Scene I — one of the towers of the castle — and examines the idea of Mélisande's hair as object of manifold symbolic significance, the seduction of Pelléas in the magic of the night, and the threatening arrival of Golaud. Intervallic expansion serves as basis for dramatic tension and change of mood. This scene also expresses passion and sensuality in terms of diatonic and chromatic saturation, and represents Golaud and fate by the whole-tone-1 collection. The chapter also explores dramatic parallels and polarities. Increasing passion and impending fate are represented by chromatic (octatonic) compression of the whole-tone set by common tritone projections. This scene reveals the emergence of Pelléas, then Golaud. in the darkness, while Mélisande's dilemma is symbolized by heightened dramatic polarity and complex pitch-set interactions. Finally, Act III, Scene 2, the vaults of the castle; Scene 3, a terrace at the entrance of the vaults, dark and light; and Scene 4, before the castle, are examined. These all develop Golaud's expression of jealousy; based on a primary manifestation of the whole-tone cycles and their cells. The chapter further addresses the principle of polarity.
Günter P. Wagner
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691156460
- eISBN:
- 9781400851461
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156460.003.0010
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter deals with amniote skin characters such as scales, feathers, and hair. One of the key novelties of vertebrates is their skin. Vertebrate skin is unique among metazoans in at least two ...
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This chapter deals with amniote skin characters such as scales, feathers, and hair. One of the key novelties of vertebrates is their skin. Vertebrate skin is unique among metazoans in at least two respects. First, vertebrates are the only phylum for which the body is completely covered by a multilayered epidermal cover. Second, the vertebrate skin is a composite structure comprising the epidermis and the dermis. The chapter first examines the developmental evolution of skin and skin appendages in amniotes before discussing mammalian skin derivatives including hairs and breasts. It then considers the evolution of bird skin from scales into feathers and concludes by explaining the origin of feathers.Less
This chapter deals with amniote skin characters such as scales, feathers, and hair. One of the key novelties of vertebrates is their skin. Vertebrate skin is unique among metazoans in at least two respects. First, vertebrates are the only phylum for which the body is completely covered by a multilayered epidermal cover. Second, the vertebrate skin is a composite structure comprising the epidermis and the dermis. The chapter first examines the developmental evolution of skin and skin appendages in amniotes before discussing mammalian skin derivatives including hairs and breasts. It then considers the evolution of bird skin from scales into feathers and concludes by explaining the origin of feathers.
Ernest H. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195179293
- eISBN:
- 9780199790470
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179293.003.0003
- Subject:
- Biology, Natural History and Field Guides
The diversity in size, shape, and growth requirements of different plants produces an astonishing array of features to see — from hairs, thorns, and waxes to tilting responses towards sunlight ...
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The diversity in size, shape, and growth requirements of different plants produces an astonishing array of features to see — from hairs, thorns, and waxes to tilting responses towards sunlight (phototaxis) and rapid responses to touch (sensitive plants). Widely differing growth forms also occur, including life styles associated with photosynthesis, parasitism, and carnivory, as well as the mining and galling effects of insects. This chapter describes a few of the many intriguing features of plants, including descriptions of the above characteristics as well as lenticels, plant patches, variegated leaves, and poison plants.Less
The diversity in size, shape, and growth requirements of different plants produces an astonishing array of features to see — from hairs, thorns, and waxes to tilting responses towards sunlight (phototaxis) and rapid responses to touch (sensitive plants). Widely differing growth forms also occur, including life styles associated with photosynthesis, parasitism, and carnivory, as well as the mining and galling effects of insects. This chapter describes a few of the many intriguing features of plants, including descriptions of the above characteristics as well as lenticels, plant patches, variegated leaves, and poison plants.
Heather L. Norton, George Koki, and Jonathan S. Friedlaender
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195300307
- eISBN:
- 9780199790142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300307.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter reviews the skin and hair pigmentation variation across Northern Island Melanesia. Advanced reflectance instruments now allow for detection of considerable regional variation in ...
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This chapter reviews the skin and hair pigmentation variation across Northern Island Melanesia. Advanced reflectance instruments now allow for detection of considerable regional variation in pigmentation both in the skin and hair. An island-by-island cline in skin pigmentation is revealed, with increasing M Index (heavily pigmented) values towards Bougainville Island. The skin pigmentation M values for Bougainville populations are as high as any surveyed population elsewhere, including West Africans. Papuan speakers in different islands have somewhat lighter hair pigmentation than their Austronesian-speaking neighbors. The distribution of six candidate genes for possible association/causation with pigmentation suggests that at least two (OCA2 and ASIP) could be associated with melanin phenotype variation in this region. While natural selection clearly must have an effect on pigmentation in this intensely irradiated region, it clearly does not dictate the pattern of melanin variation among these groups, which must be the result of ancient population associations.Less
This chapter reviews the skin and hair pigmentation variation across Northern Island Melanesia. Advanced reflectance instruments now allow for detection of considerable regional variation in pigmentation both in the skin and hair. An island-by-island cline in skin pigmentation is revealed, with increasing M Index (heavily pigmented) values towards Bougainville Island. The skin pigmentation M values for Bougainville populations are as high as any surveyed population elsewhere, including West Africans. Papuan speakers in different islands have somewhat lighter hair pigmentation than their Austronesian-speaking neighbors. The distribution of six candidate genes for possible association/causation with pigmentation suggests that at least two (OCA2 and ASIP) could be associated with melanin phenotype variation in this region. While natural selection clearly must have an effect on pigmentation in this intensely irradiated region, it clearly does not dictate the pattern of melanin variation among these groups, which must be the result of ancient population associations.
Christina Shuttleworth Kraus
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263327
- eISBN:
- 9780191734168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263327.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The ancient term commentarius designates works ranging from official records to collections of anecdotes to historical narrative. The ancient historiographical commentarius tended to be represented ...
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The ancient term commentarius designates works ranging from official records to collections of anecdotes to historical narrative. The ancient historiographical commentarius tended to be represented as an emperor in search of new clothes, as it were – clothing that would provide the copia, ornatus, and completeness appropriate to a work of artistic prose. The three ancient critics presented testify to the frustrations inherent in evaluating a Caesarian commentarius. Additionally, some ways in which the ancient reactions to the Commentarii are reflected in modern criticism (primarily of the Bellum Gallicum) are covered. The chapter then demonstrates that what Eden (1962:74) calls the ‘ambivalent status’ of the commentarius does fit closely with the biographical tradition concerning Caesar’s habits, dress, and demeanor; and further, suggests that same biographical tradition can be read as a complex of metaphors. Caesar’s particular brand of commentarius may be just the kind of oratio this character deserved.Less
The ancient term commentarius designates works ranging from official records to collections of anecdotes to historical narrative. The ancient historiographical commentarius tended to be represented as an emperor in search of new clothes, as it were – clothing that would provide the copia, ornatus, and completeness appropriate to a work of artistic prose. The three ancient critics presented testify to the frustrations inherent in evaluating a Caesarian commentarius. Additionally, some ways in which the ancient reactions to the Commentarii are reflected in modern criticism (primarily of the Bellum Gallicum) are covered. The chapter then demonstrates that what Eden (1962:74) calls the ‘ambivalent status’ of the commentarius does fit closely with the biographical tradition concerning Caesar’s habits, dress, and demeanor; and further, suggests that same biographical tradition can be read as a complex of metaphors. Caesar’s particular brand of commentarius may be just the kind of oratio this character deserved.
Lanita Jacobs-Huey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195304169
- eISBN:
- 9780199866939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304169.003.02
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter presents findings from observations of hair educational seminars and hair shows in cities throughout the United States and in London, England. In these places, hair stylists were ...
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This chapter presents findings from observations of hair educational seminars and hair shows in cities throughout the United States and in London, England. In these places, hair stylists were intensely aware of their clients' lay hair-care expertise. Notably, across all of the black hair-care communities observed, stylists framed their work and professional identity as analogous to that of medical doctors. Given the risks associated with the considerable hair-care knowledge and experience of African American women, stylists' constructions of themselves as doctors constitute attempts to minimize the relevance of clients' lay knowledge and thus to resolve the challenges posed by clients' lay hair expertise. At a communal level, the positioning of themselves as doctors and of professional hair care as science serves to legitimize cosmetology as a science-based industry on par with the medical profession. This is another instance wherein language is employed by black women (and men) to construct provisional stances of authority and relations of power with clients and other hair-care practitioners.Less
This chapter presents findings from observations of hair educational seminars and hair shows in cities throughout the United States and in London, England. In these places, hair stylists were intensely aware of their clients' lay hair-care expertise. Notably, across all of the black hair-care communities observed, stylists framed their work and professional identity as analogous to that of medical doctors. Given the risks associated with the considerable hair-care knowledge and experience of African American women, stylists' constructions of themselves as doctors constitute attempts to minimize the relevance of clients' lay knowledge and thus to resolve the challenges posed by clients' lay hair expertise. At a communal level, the positioning of themselves as doctors and of professional hair care as science serves to legitimize cosmetology as a science-based industry on par with the medical profession. This is another instance wherein language is employed by black women (and men) to construct provisional stances of authority and relations of power with clients and other hair-care practitioners.
Todd Lewis and Subarna Tuladhar
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195341829
- eISBN:
- 9780199866816
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341829.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter begins with Siddhārtha's hair‐cutting rite at five years old. This vratabandha rite is also described in accordance with Newari practice. The poet introduces the Amarakosha, an important ...
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This chapter begins with Siddhārtha's hair‐cutting rite at five years old. This vratabandha rite is also described in accordance with Newari practice. The poet introduces the Amarakosha, an important traditional text. The poet also gives Prince Siddhārtha an updated modern education, with physical education and subjects such as geography, engineering, astronomy, etc. After years spent in studies, Siddhārtha returns to the capital. His cousin, Devadatta, has his first argument with Siddhārtha over a duck Devadatta wounds while hunting. The poet provides an example of how a Buddhist court would highlight compassion over property in its deliberations. Lastly, the king and his courtiers devise to remedy Siddhārtha's growing malaise with a ceremony to which unmarried girls of the kingdom are invited to meet the prince. The chapter ends with the father's decision to send a team of negotiators to arrange for a marriage with Yashodharā.Less
This chapter begins with Siddhārtha's hair‐cutting rite at five years old. This vratabandha rite is also described in accordance with Newari practice. The poet introduces the Amarakosha, an important traditional text. The poet also gives Prince Siddhārtha an updated modern education, with physical education and subjects such as geography, engineering, astronomy, etc. After years spent in studies, Siddhārtha returns to the capital. His cousin, Devadatta, has his first argument with Siddhārtha over a duck Devadatta wounds while hunting. The poet provides an example of how a Buddhist court would highlight compassion over property in its deliberations. Lastly, the king and his courtiers devise to remedy Siddhārtha's growing malaise with a ceremony to which unmarried girls of the kingdom are invited to meet the prince. The chapter ends with the father's decision to send a team of negotiators to arrange for a marriage with Yashodharā.
Carol Bonomo Albright and Joanna Clapps Herman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823229109
- eISBN:
- 9780823241057
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823229109.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This 1991 poem by Dana Gioia is about a family with earth on their hands, who calls on an ancient Sicilian ritual of planting a sequoia for a firstborn with a lock of his hair.
This 1991 poem by Dana Gioia is about a family with earth on their hands, who calls on an ancient Sicilian ritual of planting a sequoia for a firstborn with a lock of his hair.
Lanita Jacobs-Huey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195304169
- eISBN:
- 9780199866939
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304169.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
When is hair “just hair” and when is it not “just hair”? Documenting the politics of African American women's hair, this book explores everyday interaction in beauty parlors, Internet discussions, ...
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When is hair “just hair” and when is it not “just hair”? Documenting the politics of African American women's hair, this book explores everyday interaction in beauty parlors, Internet discussions, comedy clubs, and other contexts to illuminate how and why hair matters in African American women's day-to-day experiences. It draws inspiration from early scholarship on both black and white women's language use while laying out a wholly new direction of inquiry grounded in multi-sited ethnography, discourse analysis, and the investigation of embodied social practice. Recognizing that, next to language itself, hair is the most complex signifier that African American women and girls use to display their identities, the book examines how hair and hair care take on situated social meanings among African American women in varied linguistic interactions—whether with one another, with African American men, or with European American women. Its use of a multifaceted approach comprehensively documents exactly how and why hair comes to matter so much in African American women's construction of their identities, and how language both mediates and produces these social meanings. The book demonstrates the symbolic and social significance of hair among African Americans in constructing race, gender, and other dimensions of identity.Less
When is hair “just hair” and when is it not “just hair”? Documenting the politics of African American women's hair, this book explores everyday interaction in beauty parlors, Internet discussions, comedy clubs, and other contexts to illuminate how and why hair matters in African American women's day-to-day experiences. It draws inspiration from early scholarship on both black and white women's language use while laying out a wholly new direction of inquiry grounded in multi-sited ethnography, discourse analysis, and the investigation of embodied social practice. Recognizing that, next to language itself, hair is the most complex signifier that African American women and girls use to display their identities, the book examines how hair and hair care take on situated social meanings among African American women in varied linguistic interactions—whether with one another, with African American men, or with European American women. Its use of a multifaceted approach comprehensively documents exactly how and why hair comes to matter so much in African American women's construction of their identities, and how language both mediates and produces these social meanings. The book demonstrates the symbolic and social significance of hair among African Americans in constructing race, gender, and other dimensions of identity.
Philip Waller
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199541201
- eISBN:
- 9780191717284
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199541201.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Image and representation mattered for the self-advertising writer; moreover, there was a popular expectation that writers, like artists, would flaunt unconventionality in dress and hair-style. Vanity ...
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Image and representation mattered for the self-advertising writer; moreover, there was a popular expectation that writers, like artists, would flaunt unconventionality in dress and hair-style. Vanity and affectation, and in some instances a studied rebellion, were involved in this manufacture of a presence. Writers whose appearance excited comment in this period include Max Beerbohm, Arnold Bennett, Hall Caine, G.K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, John Davidson, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Andrew Lang, Richard Le Gallienne, Compton Mackenzie, George Meredith, William Morris, Ezra Pound, George Bernard Shaw, Robert Louis Stevenson, Tennyson, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, and W. B. Yeats.Less
Image and representation mattered for the self-advertising writer; moreover, there was a popular expectation that writers, like artists, would flaunt unconventionality in dress and hair-style. Vanity and affectation, and in some instances a studied rebellion, were involved in this manufacture of a presence. Writers whose appearance excited comment in this period include Max Beerbohm, Arnold Bennett, Hall Caine, G.K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, John Davidson, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Andrew Lang, Richard Le Gallienne, Compton Mackenzie, George Meredith, William Morris, Ezra Pound, George Bernard Shaw, Robert Louis Stevenson, Tennyson, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, and W. B. Yeats.
Bernard Capp
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199641789
- eISBN:
- 9780191744228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199641789.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
Many social and cultural practices and traditions, though legal, were viewed by reformers with varying degrees of disapproval. Puritans deplored vanity and extravagance, while approving of civility ...
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Many social and cultural practices and traditions, though legal, were viewed by reformers with varying degrees of disapproval. Puritans deplored vanity and extravagance, while approving of civility and decorum. The chapter surveys campaigns to curb excesses in male and female dress and hair-style. It then examines the position of music in public ceremonial life and in the social and cultural life of London and the provinces. It explores too how musicians found a livelihood now that many traditional forms of patronage and employment had disappeared. Music and dancing remained generally acceptable in the context of polite and genteel society, but were condemned in the context of ballad-singing and plebeian dancing in alehouses. The chapter ends with a brief survey of puritan attitudes to art, and the position of artists in the interregnum.Less
Many social and cultural practices and traditions, though legal, were viewed by reformers with varying degrees of disapproval. Puritans deplored vanity and extravagance, while approving of civility and decorum. The chapter surveys campaigns to curb excesses in male and female dress and hair-style. It then examines the position of music in public ceremonial life and in the social and cultural life of London and the provinces. It explores too how musicians found a livelihood now that many traditional forms of patronage and employment had disappeared. Music and dancing remained generally acceptable in the context of polite and genteel society, but were condemned in the context of ballad-singing and plebeian dancing in alehouses. The chapter ends with a brief survey of puritan attitudes to art, and the position of artists in the interregnum.
Dale F. Lott
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520233386
- eISBN:
- 9780520930742
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520233386.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Natural History and Field Guides
Bison seldom if ever die of heat, but they often die of cold. The dark coat that makes the sun a nuisance in summer may be a lifesaver in winter. Bison evolved in really terrible winters; and even ...
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Bison seldom if ever die of heat, but they often die of cold. The dark coat that makes the sun a nuisance in summer may be a lifesaver in winter. Bison evolved in really terrible winters; and even now, especially severe winters kill many of the old and the young. Every calorie of heat absorbed from the sun is a calorie the bison does not have to manufacture from the scarce forage. Bison cut their energy output by losing their appetite. They eat less and produce less heat — and not just because food is scarcer in winter. There's more to hair than color; it also offers insulation. Bison wallow in the summer, especially during the middle of the day. Wallowing puts soil into and onto their coat.Less
Bison seldom if ever die of heat, but they often die of cold. The dark coat that makes the sun a nuisance in summer may be a lifesaver in winter. Bison evolved in really terrible winters; and even now, especially severe winters kill many of the old and the young. Every calorie of heat absorbed from the sun is a calorie the bison does not have to manufacture from the scarce forage. Bison cut their energy output by losing their appetite. They eat less and produce less heat — and not just because food is scarcer in winter. There's more to hair than color; it also offers insulation. Bison wallow in the summer, especially during the middle of the day. Wallowing puts soil into and onto their coat.
Lanita Jacobs-Huey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195304169
- eISBN:
- 9780199866939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304169.003.04
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter looks beyond the contexts of hair-care practice among African American women to consider narrative performances about hair in black comedy clubs. Black stand-up comedy is an especially ...
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This chapter looks beyond the contexts of hair-care practice among African American women to consider narrative performances about hair in black comedy clubs. Black stand-up comedy is an especially fitting stage for examining the cultural and gender implications of Black hair, for the subject routinely emerges in black humor. Jokes about hair often rely on the audience's shared cultural knowledge and experiences with black hair textures, styles, procedures, and terminology. African American comics exploit this in-group knowledge through embodied and highly gendered humor that plays on cultural discourse styles, innuendo, and comedic strategy. In doing so, they expand current understandings of how and why hair matters in African American women's and men's everyday lives.Less
This chapter looks beyond the contexts of hair-care practice among African American women to consider narrative performances about hair in black comedy clubs. Black stand-up comedy is an especially fitting stage for examining the cultural and gender implications of Black hair, for the subject routinely emerges in black humor. Jokes about hair often rely on the audience's shared cultural knowledge and experiences with black hair textures, styles, procedures, and terminology. African American comics exploit this in-group knowledge through embodied and highly gendered humor that plays on cultural discourse styles, innuendo, and comedic strategy. In doing so, they expand current understandings of how and why hair matters in African American women's and men's everyday lives.
Lanita Jacobs-Huey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195304169
- eISBN:
- 9780199866939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304169.003.05
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Based on insights gleaned from a two-month Internet debate about African American hair and identity politics, this chapter illustrates how gender and race come into play in black women's political ...
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Based on insights gleaned from a two-month Internet debate about African American hair and identity politics, this chapter illustrates how gender and race come into play in black women's political claims about hair. For example, many African American women employed cultural discourse styles to communicate their own hair-care ideologies while critiquing those of others. They also utilized cultural hair terms to establish their cultural knowledge and extensive black hair-care experience, and hence their right to speak on such issues as whether or not hair straightening is indicative of self-hatred among black women. In Internet discussions, the participants' references to hairstyle and texture became an explicit means of constructing racial identity and authenticity. The question “BTW [By the way], how do you wear your hair?” was an indirect way of assessing a speaker's ethnic identity and presumed racial consciousness vis-a-vis their hairstyle choices.Less
Based on insights gleaned from a two-month Internet debate about African American hair and identity politics, this chapter illustrates how gender and race come into play in black women's political claims about hair. For example, many African American women employed cultural discourse styles to communicate their own hair-care ideologies while critiquing those of others. They also utilized cultural hair terms to establish their cultural knowledge and extensive black hair-care experience, and hence their right to speak on such issues as whether or not hair straightening is indicative of self-hatred among black women. In Internet discussions, the participants' references to hairstyle and texture became an explicit means of constructing racial identity and authenticity. The question “BTW [By the way], how do you wear your hair?” was an indirect way of assessing a speaker's ethnic identity and presumed racial consciousness vis-a-vis their hairstyle choices.
Laura Scuriatti
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719075001
- eISBN:
- 9781781702567
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719075001.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
In recent years, contemporary artists have been increasingly devoting attention to human hair, and specifically to body hair. When it comes to picturing and representing female bodies, often even the ...
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In recent years, contemporary artists have been increasingly devoting attention to human hair, and specifically to body hair. When it comes to picturing and representing female bodies, often even the most radical and iconoclastic artworks can be seen as reproducing the same ideal criteria that have their roots in centuries of visual representation, sexual aesthetics and patriarchal ideology. This chapter analyses some examples of images of female bodies with body hair – both in advertising and in contemporary art. It examines the way in which such images might endorse or indeed try to expose the taboo of body hair and the different representations and constructions of female bodies across the diversity of Western cultures. First, the chapter compares two images used in recent advertisement campaigns with Mixed Metaphors (1993), a painting by the artist Dottie Attie. These three images share a common concern with the female body and its hair, and all depict female genitals with pubic hair or a semblance thereof.Less
In recent years, contemporary artists have been increasingly devoting attention to human hair, and specifically to body hair. When it comes to picturing and representing female bodies, often even the most radical and iconoclastic artworks can be seen as reproducing the same ideal criteria that have their roots in centuries of visual representation, sexual aesthetics and patriarchal ideology. This chapter analyses some examples of images of female bodies with body hair – both in advertising and in contemporary art. It examines the way in which such images might endorse or indeed try to expose the taboo of body hair and the different representations and constructions of female bodies across the diversity of Western cultures. First, the chapter compares two images used in recent advertisement campaigns with Mixed Metaphors (1993), a painting by the artist Dottie Attie. These three images share a common concern with the female body and its hair, and all depict female genitals with pubic hair or a semblance thereof.
