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Obras de Scott Lowe

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Hair and hairstyles are endlessly fascinating. The cultural differences, the meaning behind particular styles, the changing fashion trends over time, and the assumptions we make about people with particular hairstyles are limitless. If you find yourself wondering how the Ned Kelly beard made a comeback, or why a young person today would choose to rock a mullet, then you're interested in hair too.

Hair by Scott Lowe is from the Object Lessons series of books by Bloomsbury Academic, and I borrowed this copy from the library.

"So, the way hair is dyed, shaped, managed, neglected, restrained, or set free always has meaning. Hair is vexing and it is complex. Everyone has opinions about hair, so naturally the world's religious traditions have a great deal to say about it." Pages 12-13

Lowe goes on to say:
"Hair may be social or private, trendy or deliberately uncool, serious or ironic; hair is geographical, ethnic, and biological, but above all, I think it's religious." Page 14

Having taught religious studies for 30 years, Scott Lowe informs the reader early on that he is going to narrow his focus and present the religious aspects of hair in this book. Was I disappointed on learning this? You bet! Did I feel as though I wasn't going to get the full picture? Absolutely! However, the author still managed to hold my attention and teach me something new, like the fact that Muslim men remove their armpit and pubic hair.

"Modern Muslim men continue to practice a limited form of body depilation, removing only armpit and pubic hair. Torso, arm, and leg hair is usually left undisturbed. Head hair is neatly trimmed and kept short, beards are also trimmed but usually long." Page 46

Lowe points out that some religions use hair and dress to differentiate themselves from Muslims and other religions. Sikhs wear 'full moustaches, extravagant beards and often enormous turbans' and Hindus have short hair, heavy moustaches and no beards. Other religions and hairstyles were presented, including a topic of interest, the tonsure. A variety of interpretations for the shaven head were also revealed.

"A shaven head indicates disgrace or shame when used as a punishment, yet a similar hairless head might signify controlled rage on a White supremacist, self-confident power on a CEO, dedication to a life of celibacy on a Buddhist monk, a recent life transition on a Hindu, and mourning on a Lakota. It's complex." Page 122

The covering of women's hair for religious purposes is included, and wimples, hijabs, veils and wigs are touched on briefly, along with the history of blonde and red hair in men and women.

In an introduction to styling, Lowe piqued my interest with the following:
"In every epoch for which we have evidence, humans have employed enormous creative energy to devise new and distinctive hairstyles. From braiding to perming to tying hair onto massive wire and wood superstructures, powdering, flouring - before the French revolution put an end to that wasteful practice, French aristocrats purportedly used enough flour on their wigs every month to make thousands of loaves of bread - shaving, sculpting, lacquering, coloring, curling, gilding, waxing, primping, ratting, the list goes on and on." Page 69

Unfortunately for this reader, Lowe doesn't expand on any of these tantalising hairstyles, and much is left unexplored in favour of the focus on religion.

Ironically, Lowe had time in the book to touch on the strange custom of eighteenth-century British lovers who 'give each other clippings of their pubic hair' and the Victorian custom of mourning jewellery containing a lock of hair from a deceased loved one. With only three pages given to African-American hair and hairstyles, these were all topics I was eager to explore but will need to do so elsewhere.
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Carpe_Librum | otra reseña | May 18, 2021 |
Hair by Scott Lowe is another in the Bloomsbury series on common items in everyday life. Lowe is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, USA, and Co-General Editor of Nova Religio.

Humans have hair. It is a trait we share with all mammals along with live birth and lactation. The amount of hair varies and the "acceptable" hair varies with culture and time. Long hair on males has come and gone. I remember being chastised by the head football coach for being a "hair god" along with the other males with long hair. This was in 1980. After than I spent almost a decade with a Marine Corps high and tight. Currently, I haven't had a haircut in a decade. Lowe points out that hair follicles have a limited life and produces hair length of about 18 inches on average. Perfect for me. A self-maintaining hair length.

Lowe looks at hair through a religious lens since that is his background. My old comment to the nuns "But, Jesus had long hair." turns out is likely untrue. It seems that shorter hair on men was common. Perhaps the constant warfare and not wanting to give the enemy something to grab may have been part of it. When the Manchu conquered parts of China it required all people to adopt the Manchu hairstyle under the penalty of death. The front part of the head was shaved but a long ponytail in the back. Perhaps the most radical mullet of all time. In colonial America, Quakers refused to remove their hats before the Puritan governor. Several were put to death for failure to obey until the king intervened. The Quakers took their orders from the Bible. God was to see their bare head, not man. I remember Catholic church in the 1970s -- Men removed their hats and women covered their heads with scarves or babushkas.

Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head" (1 Cor. 1:3-6)

Odd too that we live in a country or culture where we criticize the Hijab. There is no public concern about the Amish women keeping their head covered for religious reasons. The Amish and Islam share another similarity -- Facial hair. Beards are a must for men and moustaches are trimmed in Islam or shaved away on Amish males. The moustache is a symbol of the military and the Amish are pacifists. Other religions and cultures are covered too in both the East and West.

Lowe examines hair biologically, historically, and culturally. From fascination of Blonde hair and fear of red hair to the long, short, and style of it all. A well written and researched book on a subject that is so common but has even resulted in death. The hair over our bodies as well as our head is also discussed from the perspective of history and cultures. A fascinating look into the ordinary.

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evil_cyclist | otra reseña | Mar 16, 2020 |
OK, I have to admit that I've just read the bits and pieces on storage as that's what I'm particularly interested in. From what I've read though I'll definitely pick up from where I left off when I can find the time for it.

All in all, the author gives a brilliant overview of how everything works and interacts, in fact the book contains one of the best introductions to datacenter storage topics I've seen in a while.

When he gets down to the nitty gritty details though there's the occasional slip-up where he becomes distracted and is even plain wrong (in my opinion anyway). That doesn't spoil the overall impression though, lots of details and insight in a very complex topic. Must read.… (más)
 
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MartinRohrbach | Jul 22, 2010 |

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Obras
14
También por
1
Miembros
137
Popularidad
#149,084
Valoración
½ 3.5
Reseñas
4
ISBNs
23

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