A Uniquely American Hairstyle - The Afro

I contend that the 1960s and 70s were the years when African-American hair was the healthiest its ever been.  For roughly a decade, black Americans all over the United States wore their hair unencumbered and unprocessed.  In fact, where I grew up (Los Angeles) the hairstyle was called a  "natural"  because hair was not processed (relaxed) or pressed.  Just a good trim to give it shape and keep it neat and some Afro Sheen to keep it soft and shiny.  

The comb in this pic was commonly known as a "cake cutter" for obvious reasons.

The hairstyle is interesting for a number of reasons. While cultural hairstyles are often connected to religion and are centuries-old, the Afro was connected to a political movement for civil rights and came on the scene in the middle of the 20th century.  It is also interesting that the Afro is a rare instance of both sexes wearing their hair in the same style.  This hairstyle that African-Americans created was a way to define themselves for themselve and liberate themselves from a Eurocentric definition of beauty. 

Both men and women wore Afros.

 

Say it loud!



Superstars wore Afros.

My prom date wore an Afro, 1973.



This picture represents the seventies on so many levels.  There's my friend and I, both 14 years old, in our matching tie-dyed hot-pants with knee-high socks and moccasins.  Neither one of us can remember where we were going that day.  My friend has an Afro to die for while I am Afro-challenged.

Microbraids in Tibet

  

As usual, I was watching a movie and noticed something about the hair of the people in the movie.  This was not documentary but was based on a true story.  The title of the movie is "Seven Years in Tibet" with Brad Pitt.  The movie is ho-hum but I was transfixed on the hair style of the Tibetan women and how it reminds of African-American microbraids.

Also, as usual, I had to find out why they braid their hair in such tiny braids.  African-American women wear micro (tiny) braids for easy hair care, to protect their own hair and for a different look.  Tibetan women braid their hair in tiny braids - 108 to be exact - because Tibetan Buddhism holds that 108 sacred qualities constitute an enlightened mind.  The number "108" is significant in Buddhism for many things and Tibetan women represent this with their hair style.


Source





Source







In old Tibet women never cut their hair from the the time they were born.

However, microbraids are fading in Tibet as women begin to embrace modern society and perferring shorter hair. An increasing number of young men and women often dye their hair and follow the fashions of pop film stars and singers.  Those women with the traditional long braids look wistfully on the young Tibetan women.  "I deeply admire and envy today's girls wearing bobbed hair, which looks neat and tidy and is very easy to look after," said Zhaxi Zholma, a 65-year-old Tibetan lady.

Source: Chinese Embassy:

The Men with the Flaming Orange Beards

After reading that a journalist was recently killed in Libya who had produced a documentary about the Afghanistan war I went to Netflix and found the film available for download so I watched it.  The documentary is titled "Restrepo" and is about a group of soldiers who are on a mission to "win hearts and minds" in the middle of Taliban country.  While the film was riveting I immediately knew that the elderly man with the orange beard was a henna user.

While I knew henna is big in places like Afghanistan, little did I know the importance of henna in the Pashtun Muslim culture.


Screen capture from "Restrepo"



Screen capture from "Restrepo"

Screen capture from "Restrepo"

Screen capture from "Restrepo"

Since women aren't allowed in public I have no idea what their hair looks like but this pervasive use of henna by the Afghanistani/Pakistani Pashtun men intrigued me so I did some research.

Firstly, men routinely dye their hands with henna as early as boyhood.

Here are some boys showing off their henna'd hands and fingernails.

Here are the henna'd hands of a male Afghan soldier as he stands at attention.



Secondly, Pashtun men have been using henna on their hair and beards for centuries and do so to emulate the Prophet Muhammed who also used henna.

In fact one Sunni sect wanted to call for a fatwa on muslims who use anything other than henna because Mohammed said "Verily, the best thing with which you can change the colour of hair is al-henna and indigo..." in one the hadiths.

Here are some more pics of henna'd men in Afghanistan:

Source1: The Land of Men with Flaming Orange Beards
Source2: Why Afghanistan Matters
Source3: Free Thinker
Source4: Henna