A couple days ago I helped my friend dye her hair. She has naturally brown hair but she has dyed it for as long as I have known her. First she had blonde highlights and now she has been dying it darker. Hair colors are as much about following the latest trends as fashion is. About 5 years ago the trend was blonde. Bleach blonde. Blonde highlights. You would see girls with black eyebrows but bleach blonde hair. Today the trend has switched to dying hair darker. If magazines and models are telling us that a certain color of hair is the way to feel beautiful, an alarming number of people will believe that is true. For them, dying their hair seems to be about fitting in and conforming to the standards of culture. Their self-image is controlled by what society says. They do not have a positive view of their own bodies unless they know that society approves of this image, too. This is an example of Bordo’s “weak theory” of the body. The weak theory claims that the body is a medium of culture. When people dye their hair, they become signs for the current culture and signify society’s definition of “pretty,” “beautiful” or “hot.” Hair dye is also interesting because it can also be used as a way to rebel against the conformities of culture. People can dye their hair extreme colors in a type of protest against the conforming standards of society. But as we have learned in class, by removing yourself from the binds of the “mainstream” culture, you find yourself conforming to a new subculture. Culture is everywhere and you cannot get away from it. For those people who dye their hair untraditional colors (I have never done this so I am making an assumption here), I would say that it is more about image than self-image. They dye their hair not to have a positive self-image but rather to give off an image that society will notice. Hair dye is a body practice that can be used as a means to conform to society’s standards for attractiveness or as a way to stand out and rebel against the mainstream culture. Either way, the body is still a medium of culture.
I agree with you that dying your hair is a great example of a body practice that deals with culture. I would even take it further to say that how you style or wear you hair shows it too. For instance it seems shocking when women/girls buzz their hair super short, people tend to think they are either homosexual or have cancer.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you brought up the use of hair dye to go against main stream culture. We all just assume people with crazy rainbow colored hair are trying to make some sort of a statement.
Overall I thought your post was short and very to the point! Good job!