While our society has not discarded racism, sexism and homosexuality, it has at least been addressing and spreading awareness regarding these. The above-mentioned forms of discrimination are more widely seen and talked about. But, there’s a long list of more subtle forms of discrimination. Some examples are discrimination related to speech, name, attractiveness, language, age, height, etc. One of the most interesting forms of discrimination is the one related to hair. Most people tend to think that discrimination stops at caste, colour and dress. What we don’t realise is that it way beyond all these aspects. People tend to discriminate on the basis of the hair colour, hair texture, hair type, hair length and the mere presence of hair.
Studies and records show how bald men and women are looked at very discriminately. While trends are accepting bald men as being sexy, the women are still seen or perceived to be suffering from some disease. It is sad to see how we assume things about people we hardly know. We usually link baldness with old age or some malignant disease. Especially bald women are almost always seen as suffering from cancer or some disease which is forcing them to go bald or lose their hair. Americans haven’t elected a balding presidential candidate since Eisenhower, in the 1950s.
Bald was the style of “black men” as believed by people for centuries and thus given a derogatory status in the fashion-hungry world. But, the trends began to change in the late 90s when white men copied African American style and began shaving their heads. It took some time, but now there are plenty of bald film stars like Bruce Willis, Vin Diesel, and Patrick Stewart, not to mention sports icons Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neill.
So, now we think that having hair solves all problems. Looking further into the matter shows us that having hair doesn’t stop the discrimination. Surprisingly, the hair colour matters too. Especially people who’re “redheaded” are usually targeted in pop culture jokes. People having red hair are called “Ginger” headed people. Idioms such as “beaten like a red-headed stepchild” or “there’s something about the red ones” and stereotypes of feisty tempers and hypersexuality contribute to an ostracism of people with the genetic phenotype for red hair. And the stereotype and discrimination haven't left Prince Harry also, who has been termed by his army unit as “Ginger Bullet Magnet”. The United Kingdom, being the home to the most number of “redheads” is still the place where there is large spread discrimination. It is supposedly increasing day by day rather than decreasing, says Simon Cheetham, founder of www.redandproud.com, a website fighting ginger discrimination.
Further, there is conscious/unconscious discrimination against people with different hair texture as well. Hair texture varies from straight hair to the curlier, kinkier hair. Curly hair also has its own variation ranging from very loose curls to the very tightly packed afro textured hair. Straight hair enjoys a higher prestige and is more widely accepted in both professional settings and everyday settings. This social stigma attached to having curly hair has created an entire economy around hair care products and treatments to straighten hair. And these aren’t cheap. So, people end up changing their hair texture only to please others. A lot of places in the world like the Dominican Republic consider natural hair as “bad hair” and most Africans are forced to straighten their hair in order to hide their African roots and thus save themselves from discrimination. Reel life also projects discrimination against hair texture. Actors in Hollywood face challenges when it comes to having curly hair and the roles that they play in particular films. Actors with curly hair tend to play roles that are sillier and less serious in nature.
Thus, discrimination is present in one form or another in every aspect of life. Be it more visible forms of discrimination like racism, linguistic, obesity or subtle ones like hair texture, hair colour or hair style. It’s high time we stop it. After all, nobody is born homophobic.
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