DESCRIPTION:
Hair always tells a story,
Hair is all about connection- to the past, to our race or ethnicity or religion, to our families, to our cultural zeitgeist, to our friends and partners, and to ourselves. Since the beginning of time, hair has served as a second language, telling the story of women’s lives like nothing else does.
The body has truly become the canvas upon which contemporary women paint their secrets and self-doubt, their hopes and their dreams, their pain, and their disappointments. Hair sits right on top, with feelings from deep within our hearts and our histories, showing up for everyone to see. Hair always tells a story, but too often pain, anxiety, racism, sexism, and rigid beauty standards underlie these stories.
The multi-layered, deep meaning of hair cuts across the boundaries of age, place, ethnicity, race, cultural origins, class, ability, sexual orientation, and gender identification Hair matters personally, socially, sexually, spiritually, culturally, ethnically, globally. Hair is the ultimate feminist issue. The right to choose isn’t just about reproductive rights. Join me on this journey to understand it.
Table of Contents
Hair Matters: Untangling the Universal and Unique
-
Every Woman’s Issue
-
Women and Hair: A Love- Hate Story
History: The Roots of the Past
3. It’s Never Just Hair
4. Hair Throughout History
5. Hair, Sexuality, & Gender Politics
6. Hair Economics
Hair Stories: The Realities of Hair Today
7. Hair and I 8. Our Mothers: Our Hair
9. “Hair Doesn’t Get Fat”- Hair and Body Image
10. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
11. What’s Age Got to Do with It?
12. Tangles and Transitions
13. “Good Hair:” The Dilemma of Non-White Hair in a White- Powered Culture
14. From the Roots to the CROWN
15. Hairapy or Therapy? Stylists as Essential Workers
Hair -Raising Thoughts
16. Connection. Connection. Connection
Epilogue
Endnotes
Bibliography
REVIEWS
"In Hair Tells A Story, my heart and soul are now fortified to face 'a bad hair day' with an enlightened set of fresh eyes, allowing more self compassion and acceptance of the unique expression my hair creates, each and every day. Thank you Margo for including our complicated relationship to our hair along with our important body image narrative!"
-
Emme,
Supermodel, activist, author
she/her
"Once again Margo Maine knocks it out of the park …this time on a new topic, seldom written about but of great importance. Using wide-ranging personal stories, she vividly illustrates how women’s hair has been sexualized and how attempts to control and cover it have restricted female autonomy around the world for thousands of years. This insightful and witty book is a pleasure to read and a significant addition to feminist literature."
-
Jean Kilbourne,
Feminist activist, media critic, author, Senior Scholar, Wellesley Centers for Women, creator of the “Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women” film series.