Braids (also referred to as plaits) are a complex hairstyle formed by interlacing three or more strands of hair. [1] Braiding has been used to style and ornament human and animal hair for thousands of years [2] in various cultures around the world.
The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-stranded structure. More complex patterns can be constructed from an arbitrary number of strands to create a wider range of structures (such as a fishtail braid, a five-stranded braid, rope braid, a French braid and a waterfall braid). The structure is usually long and narrow with each component strand functionally equivalent in zigzagging forward through the overlapping mass of the others. Structurally, hair braiding can be compared with the process of weaving, which usually involves two separate perpendicular groups of strands (warp and weft).
The oldest known reproduction of hair braiding may go back about 30,000 years: the Venus of Willendorf in Austria, now known in academia as the Woman of Willendorf, is a female figurine estimated to have been made between about 28,000 and 25,000 BCE. [3] It has been disputed whether or not she wears braided hair or some sort of a woven basket on her head. The Venus of Brassempouy in France is estimated to be about 25,000 years old and ostensibly shows a braided hairstyle.
Another sample of a different origin was traced back to a burial site called Saqqara located on the Nile River, during the first dynasty of Pharaoh Menes, although the Venus' of Brassempouy and Willendorf predate these examples by some 25,000-30,000 years.
During the Bronze Age and Iron Age many peoples in West Asia, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Southeast Europe, East Mediterranean, Balkans and North Africa such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Elamites, Hittites, Arameans, Minoans, Greeks, Persians, Israelites, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hurrians, Etruscans, Phrygians, Dacians, Arabs, Hyksos, Parthians, Medes, Scythians, Chaldeans, Berbers, Mycenaean Greeks, Luwians ,Armenians, Colcheans and Ancient Egyptians were depicted in art with braided or platted hair and beards. [4] [5] There has also been found bog bodies in Northern Europe wearing braided hairstyles from the Northern European Iron Age, and later still such braided styles were found among the Celts, Iberians and Vikings in northern, western and southwestern Europe. [6] [7]
In some regions, a braid was a means of communication. At a glance, one individual could distinguish a wealth of information about another, whether they were married, mourning, or of age for courtship, simply by observing their hairstyle. Braids were a means of social stratification. Certain hairstyles were distinctive to particular tribes or nations. Other styles informed others of an individual's status in society.
African people such as the Himba people of Namibia have been braiding their hair for centuries. In many African tribes, hairstyles are unique and used to identify each tribe. Braid patterns or hairstyles can be an indication of a person's community, age, marital status, wealth, power, social position, and religion. [8]
On July 3, 2019, California became the first US state to prohibit discrimination over natural hair. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the CROWN Act into law, banning employers and schools from discriminating against hairstyles such as dreadlocks, braids, afros, and twists. [9] Later in 2019, Assembly Bill 07797 became law in New York state; it "prohibits race discrimination based on natural hair or hairstyles." [10]
Braiding is traditionally a social art. Because of the time it takes to braid hair, people have often taken time to socialize while braiding and having their hair braided. It begins with the elders making simple knots and braids for younger children. Older children watch and learn from them, start practicing on younger children, and eventually learn the traditional designs. This carries on a tradition of bonding between elders and the new generation.
There are a number of different types of braided hairstyles, including, commonly, French braids, corn rows, and box braiding. [11] Braided hairstyles may also be used in combination with or as an alternative to simpler bindings, such as ponytails or pigtails. Braiding may also be used to add ornamentation, such as beads or hair extensions, as in crochet braiding.
Braiding is also used to prepare horses' manes and tails for showing such as in polo and polocrosse. [12]
In India, braiding is common in both rural and urban areas. Girls are seen in twin braids especially in schools, though now it is becoming less common. Young girls usually have one long braid. Married women have a bun or a braided bun.[ citation needed ]
Braids have been part of black culture going back generations. There are pictures going as far back as the year 1884 showing a Senegalese woman with braided hair in a similar fashion to how they are worn today. [13]
Braids are normally done tighter in black culture than in others, such as in cornrows or box braids. While this leads to the style staying in place for longer, it can also lead to initial discomfort. This is commonly accepted and managed through pain easing techniques. Some include pain killers, letting the braids hang low, and using leave-in-conditioner. [14] Alternative braiding techniques like knotless braids, which incorporate more of a person's natural hair and place less tension on the scalp, can cause less discomfort. [15]
Braids are not usually worn year-round in black culture; they are instead alternated with other popular hairstyles such as hair twists, protective hairstyles and more. Curly Mohawk, Half Updo and Side-Swept Cornrows braids are some of the popular and preferred styles in black culture. [16] As long as braids are done with a person's own hair, it can be considered as part of the natural hair movement.
In India, many Hindu ascetics wear dreadlocks, known as Jatas. [17] Young girls and women in India often wear long braided hair at the back of their neck. [18] In the Upanishads, braided hair is mentioned as one of the primary charms of female seduction. [19] A significant tradition of braiding existed in Mongolia, where it was traditionally believed that the human soul resided in the hair. Hair was only unbraided when death was imminent. [20] [21] In Japan, the Samurai sported a high-bound ponytail (Chonmage), a hairstyle that is still common among Sumo wrestlers today. Japanese women wore various types of braids (三つ編み) until the late 20th century because school regulations prohibited other hairstyles, leaving braids and the bob hairstyle as the main options for girls. [22] In China, girls traditionally had straight-cut bangs and also wore braids (辮子). The Manchu men have historically braided their hair. After conquering Beijing in 1644 and establishing the Qing Dynasty, they forced the men of the subjugated Han Chinese to adopt this hairstyle as an expression of loyalty, which involved shaving the forehead and sides and leaving a long queue at the back (剃髮易服). The Han Chinese considered this a humiliation as they had never traditionally cut their hair due to Confucian customs. The last emperor, Puyi, cut off his queue in 1912, marking the end of this male hairstyle in China, the same year when China became a republic. [23] [24]
Braided hairstyles were widespread among many North American indigenous peoples, with traditions varying greatly from tribe to tribe. For example, among the Quapaw, young girls adorned themselves with spiral braids, while married women wore their hair loose. [25] Among the Lenape, women wore their hair very long and often braided it. [26] [27] Among the Blackfoot, men wore braids, often on both sides behind the ear. [28] The men of the Kiowa tribe often wrapped pieces of fur around their braids. Among the Lakota, both men and women had their hair braided into 2, with men’s being typically longer than women’s. Some had their hair wrapped in furs, typically bison. During times of war, warriors would often have their hair unbraided as a sign of fearlessness. Among the Maya, women had intricate hairstyles with two braids, while men had a single large braid that encircled the head. [29]
In Jamaica, the Rastafari movement emerged in the 1930s, a Christian faith practiced by descendants of African slaves who often wear dreadlocks and untrimmed beards, in adherence to the Old Testament prohibition on cutting hair.
Some fetishists find braids to be a strong erotic stimulus. Most commonly, the tightly woven French braid, known as the French braid , is mentioned in this context.
In the older psychiatric literature, there are occasional references to fetishists who, in order to possess the desired object, would cut off female braids. For example, Swiss psychiatrist Auguste Forel described the case of a braid-cutter in Berlin in 1906, who was found in possession of 31 braids. [30] Richard von Krafft-Ebing had already explored a deeper understanding of hair fetishism in the late 19th century. [31]
In psychoanalytic literary interpretation, authors have continued to explore braid-cutters to this day. Notably, an episode in Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls has aroused considerable interest. [32] [33] Sigmund Freud had interpreted hair-cutting as a symbolic castration in Totem and Taboo (1913). [34] Some authors later followed him in seeing the braid as a phallic symbol. [35] [36] [37] Others interpreted braids as a symbol of virginity and the unbraiding or cutting of the braid as a symbol of defloration [38]
A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the hair may be seen in carved "Venus figurines" such as the Venus of Brassempouy and the Venus of Willendorf. The creation of different hairstyles, especially among women, seems to be common to all cultures and all periods and many past, and current, societies use hairpins.
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.
Dreadlocks, also known as dreads or locs, are a hairstyle made of rope-like strands of hair. This is done by not combing the hair and allowing the hair to mat naturally or by twisting it manually. Over time the hair will form tight braids or ringlets.
A braid is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-stranded structure. More complex patterns can be constructed from an arbitrary number of strands to create a wider range of structures. The structure is usually long and narrow with each component strand functionally equivalent in zigzagging forward through the overlapping mass of the others. It can be compared with the process of weaving, which usually involves two separate perpendicular groups of strands.
The afro is a hair style created by combing out natural growth of afro-textured hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair. The hairstyle can be created by combing the hair away from the scalp, dispersing a distinctive curl pattern, and forming the hair into a rounded shape, much like a cloud or puff ball.
Cornrows are a style of traditionally three-strand braids, originating in Africa, in which the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to make a continuous, raised row. Cornrows are often done in simple, straight lines, as the term implies, but they can also be styled in elaborate geometric or curvilinear designs. They are distinct from, but may resemble, box braids, Dutch braids, melon coiffures, and other forms of plaited hair, and are typically tighter than braids used in other cultures.
Hi-top fade is a haircut where hair on the sides is cut off or kept very short while hair on the top of the head is grown long.
A bun is a type of hairstyle in which the hair is pulled back from the face, twisted or plaited, and wrapped in a circular coil around itself, typically on top or back of the head or just above the neck. A bun can be secured with a hair tie, barrette, bobby pins, one or more hair sticks, a hairnet, or a pen or pencil. Hair may also be wrapped around a piece called a "rat". Alternatively, hair bun inserts, or sometimes rolled up socks, may also be used to create donut-shaped buns. Buns may be tightly gathered, or loose and more informal.
A queue or cue is a hairstyle worn by the Jurchen and Manchu peoples of Manchuria, and was later required to be worn by male subjects of Qing China. Hair on top of the scalp is grown long and is often braided, while the front portion of the head is shaved. The distinctive hairstyle led to its wearers being targeted during anti-Chinese riots in Australia and the United States.
Long hair is a hairstyle where the head hair is allowed to grow to a considerable length. Exactly what constitutes long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in some cultures may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair in some of the same cultures would be said to have long hair.
Kinky hair, also known as afro-textured hair, is a human hair texture prevalent in the indigenous populations of many regions with hot climates, mainly sub-Saharan Africa, and some areas of Melanesia, and Australia. Each strand of this hair type grows in a repeating pattern of small contiguous kinks. These numerous kinks make kinky hair appear denser than straight, wavy, and curly hair types.
African-American hair or Black hair refers to hair types, textures, and styles that are linked to African-American culture, often drawing inspiration from African hair culture. It plays a major role in the identity and politics of Black culture in the United States and across the diaspora. African-American hair often has a kinky hairy texture, appearing tightly coiled and packed. Black hair has a complex history, culture, and cultural impact, including its relationship with racism.
Hair twists, flat twists, or mini-twists, are a hairstyle popular with Afro-textured hair around the world, and sometimes with other hair textures. The style is achieved by dividing the hairs into several sections, twisting strands of hair, then twisting two twisted strands around one another. They can also be created with one strand of hair at a time, with a comb. They are not to be confused with larger, longer dreadlocks,.
Discrimination based on hair texture, also known as textureism, is a form of social injustice, where afro-textured hair or coarse hair types, and their associated hair styles, are viewed negatively, often perceived as "unprofessional", "unattractive", or "unclean". This view can lead, for example, to some school students being excluded from class.
The natural hair movement is a movement which aims to encourage people of African descent to embrace their natural, afro-textured hair; especially in the workplace. It originated in the United States during the 1960s, and resurged in popularity in the 2000s.
Box braids are a type of hair-braiding style that is predominantly popular among African people and the African diaspora. This type of hairstyle is a "protective style" and is "boxy", consisting of square-shaped hair divisions. Box braids are generally installed by using synthetic hair which helps to add thickness as well as helping the natural hair that is in the braid. Because they are not attached to the scalp like other similar styles such as cornrows, box braids can be styled in a number of different ways. The installation process of box braids can be lengthy, but once installed they can last for six to eight weeks. They are known for being easy to maintain.
A protective hairstyle is a term predominantly used to describe hairstyles suitable for Afro-textured hair. These hairstyles are designed to minimize manipulation and exposure of the hair to environmental elements. Factors such as extreme temperatures, humidity, and precipitation can adversely affect hair health. Protective hairstyles are beneficial in mitigating these effects by keeping the hair tucked away and reducing its exposure to potentially damaging conditions.
Pamela L. Ferrell is an American entrepreneur, pioneer and advocate in the natural haircare field. She is best known for the pivotal role she played in assisting the United States (U.S.) Army and Navy with their review of hairstyle policies and regulations. She is the first known and documented African-American to help shape hair policies within the United States Armed Forces.
Rogers v. American Airlines was a 1981 legal case decided by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York involving plaintiff Renee Rogers, a Black woman who brought charges against her employer, American Airlines, for both sex and race discrimination after she was dissuaded from wearing her hair in cornrows due to the airline's employee grooming policy. Rogers believed that this hair policy was a violation of her Title VII rights.
The Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2022 was a bill in the United States Congress intended to prohibit discrimination based on an individual's hair texture or hairstyle by classifying such discrimination illegal under federal law. It applied to federally assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment. The act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) on March 19, 2021. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced a companion bill in the Senate on March 22, 2021. The CROWN Act of 2022 marked the second time the legislation was introduced in Congress.
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