Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

Intolerance

It's funny how something as natural as the growth most of us have at the top of our head has become a major part of the way that people judge us. When you think of it, it becomes rather silly to look at people you don't know and make assumptions about them just by the way they deal with a natural part of themselves.

Appearance

Many of us seem to spend an inordinate amount of time just trying to make this aspect of ourselves appear just right. "How's my hair look?" is the most common question asked before a picture is taken. This seems to be the most important thing to think about before the shutter is released and that image is frozen in time. Why don't we ask "How's my face?" or "Is my smile on straight?" But no, we are most interested in how the top of us looks than any other aspect.

Revelation

Which brings me to the topic of this month's view. In the late 60's I was cast in a college drama production and was required to let my hair grow out to augment the period look of the play. The 60's were a time when the hippie movement was just starting and rock n' roll bands had hirsute appearances. I became rather fond of my long locks, but noticed a strange transformation in several people I came into contact with, both strangers and acquaintances. Most younger people thought my new look was "groovy", while the majority of people in the (don't trust anyone) over thirty range were uncomfortable and even downright hostile about my appearance.

Disgust

It was a strange sensation to walk past a group of elders and see a sweet old lady's pleasant expression turn to pure disgust. This was know as the "hate stare", something I had heard about but had never personally experienced. It was the same twisted face one sees in newsreel footage of Nazi prosecution of the Jews and in racist practices of people who don't want "their kind" to live, go to school or even eat anywhere near them.

Transformation

I, a white middle-class student, was now the enemy. Just by not cutting my hair for a few weeks. It sent shivers up my spine, but also gave me a new perspective to members of my own race. From that moment on, I never had the same blind respect for anyone who managed to reach an advanced age.

Membership

Now that I'm in that age group, I can understand why some younger people are weary of us. Just as you can't judge an entire group by their race or religion, you can't judge them by their hair length or age. We're all human and deserve the chance to be regarded individually and not by some preconceived notion of who we might be by the pigmentation of our skin or any other factor. Doesn't the Bible say "Judge not lest you be judged"? And yet it seems that many people who claim to be strong in their faith are the first to rush to judgment. To be fair, there were also a number of people of all age groups who were also just as reactive, but one would hope that with age comes wisdom.

Midlife

At 50 years old, I decided to go back to growing my hair out. As I tell people, it's a midlife crisis, and I can't afford a sports car, don't want a fling with another woman because I deeply love my wife, and it's a cheap way to make me feel younger. Many of us seem to revert back to a time in our lives where we had a certain style of dressing and grooming to rekindle our youth, and I'm no exception.

Disneyrule

This leads me back to something I wrote almost three decades ago when first attending college. I still have the clipping about the time, in 1967, I wasn't admitted to Disneyland because of my hair. There was a park rule then that stated that if a male's hair reached a certain length, he would not be allowed to enter the "magic kingdom". I wrote an angry "Hugh's Views" about this practice in the college newspaper and actually received a justifaction from a Disney employee in a "letter to the editor" stating the policy was "no long hair after 5 p.m. and all day Sunday."

Response

I responded to the park representative by reminding him that black churches in the South were being burnt after five p.m. and that the evening seemed to be a time for people to let their prejudices and fears take over into unreasonable actions shielded by the "cloak of night." The tragedy is that there is now a resurgence in church burning today, and some of all races are just as intolerant as they were then. Burning churches is not in the same league as resentment to hair growth, but both spring from the same primal fear of differences.

Conclusion

I may or may not cut my hair to a shorter length. I have that choice. It's simple. Snip...Snip... it's done. But does anyone have the choice to change their religion, race or beliefs just to become more acceptable to a frightened group of narrow minded bigots? And, if they could, should they?

Hugh Peebles______________________July 1996