subject: What Does Your Hairstyle Signify? [print this page] If you are fond of watching beauty pageants, you probably have noticed that many of these pageants require contestants to wear their hair simply. Usually, beauty pageant contestants will have generic or uniform hairdos especially during the swimsuit competition portion. The main purpose of this is for the judges to focus on the beauty of the face and body. Elaborate hairdos or certain types of hairstyles have the capability of significantly enhancing or modifying facial appearance.
Hairstyles can hide undesirable features of the face such as scars, large ears, and birthmarks. At the same time, hairstyles can also emphasize the good facial features or modify certain features such as the shape of face. Some hairstyles may make the face look longer, rounded, smaller or larger. With the help of proper hairstyling, chubby faces may be made look thinner. This could also work in the opposite direction, making thinner and longer faces look more round or bigger.
Hairdressing is not all about cutting hair or combing hair in certain ways. It also involves adding accessories, changing colors and texture of hair. It is but natural for people to seek things that they do not have or look different in one way or another. It seems ironic that many people who have straight hair want to have curly hair or afro-type hair. Some people who have curly or cork-screw type of hair want to have straight hair. This phenomenon might have sociological and psychological explanations. However, regardless of the motivation for changing hair, hairstylists are the ones to seek for advice and services.
Vanity might be the main reason for people who want to change or maintain certain types of hairstyles. Nonetheless, the phenomenon is also deeply cultural and it also has practical reasons. Many hairstyles identify specific ethnicity and religious affiliations. For instance, the dreadlocks of Rastafarians identify them as members of the Rastafarian religious movement. Although the hairstyle is also common among Jamaican reggae musicians, many of these musicians are also Rastafarians. The most famous among them was Bob Marley.
Cultural identity, religious reasons, socio-economic rankings, and political positions are perhaps the most important reasons why people wear certain types of hairstyles. This is especially true in tribal communities and in ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptian and Chinese civilizations. For instance, the long braided ponytail hairstyle of male Chinese (known as queue hairstyle) was standard in China during the Qing dynasty.
Hairstyle is not just for vanity; it indicates a lifestyle.
