Hair-raising

Hair-raising

Human body hair is the topic under investigation in the series ‘Hair-raising’.

Hair crops up on large surfaces, small body parts, in nooks and crannies. It doesn’t seek permission. Hair exists in its own right, working its way out until it sprouts.

Some people attack hair with machines, with volcanic liquid wax and steel tools. It has to be removed. Felled. Yanked out.

Others worship hair, preening and primping it, carefully protecting the remaining thinning patches. No one is allowed to touch a hair on those heads. To lose a precious strand is to lose an entire fortune. A bald pate is occasionally concealed with a comb-over. Sometimes outside assistance is required and a toupee is brought in.

Hair can be gelled, brushed and plaited. It can be dyed until there is no vestige of what it used to look like. It can be trimmed or transformed, kinks straightened or curls conjured. You can hide hair or get lucky with it. Ignore it or co-exist.

Signe Adrian 2009