Why we think so much about our hair

We spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about, and in various ways ‘styling’ our hair. It’s not entirely silly; we’re trying to tell the world – through the language of keratin strands – about who we are.

FURTHER READING

“It could seem bizarre quite how long we spend on those strands of stringy keratin that sprout – unreliably – from our scalps. We will, over a lifetime, devote thousands of hours and even more money on hairdressers’ careful attempts to coax and sculpt our coiffure into exactly the right colour, shape and dimension. There are days when our entire mood will be supported by a sense that our hair is cooperating and others when our spirits will be just as powerfully ruined by an unfortunate glimpse of our disobedient locks in an elevator mirror...”

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CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Joe Bichard

Additional Sounds by Skillbard

[KILITZI]

lol...the animation is always adorable

[BojanKerkez]

If I'm using my hair to speak, I guess for the last couple of years I've been running out of things to say.

[NoCokeOnlyIce]

Do an episode on why kids always think divorce is their fault.

[DiguYT]

"The number of times you found a hair on your food is not nearly as scary as the number of times you haven't"

[mlubinka]

My father's bald and I'm not, so I'm just basically counting down

[ronniemicstandxo]

I don't care what's in your hair I just wanna know what's on your mind.

[bananasrppl]

ponytails means "i don't want my hair in my face because it's so annoying or either too hot." Atleast according to me and most of my friends

[matthewhawryluk]

This is like when a teacher over analyzes a book and pulls out all these random symbols.

[Donar]

All my hair tells people is: "Look at these shitty genes. Even the most expensive hair products can't tame this hair type". If hair is a language, I'm an illiterate ...

[AmineKabour]

Hair can be so creepy if you think about it.

[rhiarose]

And as a black women, my hair becomes political whether I want it too or not. And frankly, my problem (or our problem) is other people pay too much attention to it.

[gabbarsingh]

That moment you realize that Narrator of this Video is Bald

[jarin]

hmm what does constantly looking like trash say about me

[TasTheWatcher]

You mean why do *you* care so much about *your* hair.

[juliajohnson]

as a black person you HAVE to care about your hair because society is constantly policing the way you wear it. So I couldn't relate to this as much.

[sharenc]

Or when black girls wear cornrows or Bantu knots we are ghetto, then white people do it and it's creative and exotic #blackgirlstruggle

[LilyDream]

This video is cool. However, if you're a Black person, hair matters soooo much. Society notices and cares whether hair is in an afro or made straight, etc. History of black hair is complicated and brutal, and Black people with tightly curled hair still get discriminated based on how their hair grows naturally from their head. If a Black woman normally has their hair in a natural afro style, and then decides to get their hair straightened regardless of the resulting style, *everyone* in their circle and beyond will notice. This video does not provide the nuance that comes with how people can be treated differently in societies that take a lot of stock on conforming "abnormality" (I.e. Black "kinky" hair) into what is deemed proper and acceptable (I.e. straighter or loosely curled hair).

[Matadurr]

Sitting here laughing throughout a good part of the video because in the military we have no choice of how to "express" ourselves with hair.

[Шизлманизл]

Hair is like the only thing that looks good on my entire head.

[bradboy]

I don't need hair that would just be overkill. A handsome face needs some space.