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fairview
September 4th, 2013, 10:46 PM
Perhaps as has been reported on the forum there has been more than one innocent woman may have had her hair cut involuntarily and it may have been sold on the black market. Based on what sometimes seems to be the de-evolution of our society, I won't try to debate that.

However this last year as a new stylist, I have had the pleasure and the privilege to trim (dust) the luxurious hair of two Indian women from India. These two young ladies had more hair than what one would find on the south end of a horse that was headed north. To say it was luxurious didn't even begin to fairly describe it. I needed a map to get my hands out of it. I loved working that hair. Nuff said.

During the course of our chatter each was brimming with excitement because this summer they were going back to India to see theer family that still lived there and to participate in some religious festival that involved going to a temple to GET ALL THERe HAIR CUT OFF!!

Yes folks, I hate to disappoint you but that is where the majority of the India hair comes from. From willing volunteers celebrating a traditional religious rite that includes the hair as being an offering. The priest or monks or whom ever aren;t stupid, They collect it and sell it as a means to support themselves. Hey, personally I think it is flipping crazy to invest all that time growing gorgeous hair from birth to have it all whacked off but then again, I'm more than 100% positive there are things seemingly more insane in my America culture and my religion for an outsider looking in.

i hate to disappoint Y'all

RedNymph
September 4th, 2013, 11:58 PM
If it's necessary to support themselves...not everyone gets to grow up privileged or have money in the plenty. It may seem stupid and superficial to some people, but it's a part of their teachings/ culture. Not every country follows the same "rules" and they have different social and cultural structures. If it's done by force however, that is something that is absolutely horrible.

jeanniet
September 5th, 2013, 01:05 AM
There's been a discussion of this particular practice here before. I don't have an issue with women donating their hair if they are freely choosing to do so, with full disclosure. However, if they are kept in the dark as to what happens to the hair and how much is received for it, that's another matter. One cannot freely make a donation without knowing the true value of such a donation. And while the claim is that the money collected is used to improve the community, there is considerable corruption when it comes to money in India (my father is from India and one of my uncles was a high-ranking judge there), so that claim may or may not be true. The point is, do these women know how much their hair is worth? And, knowing that, still wish to give it away? Then more power to them, but if not, it's a shameful practice. Most of the women donating their hair are very poor, much too poor to visit the US or a hair salon here.

Unicorn
September 5th, 2013, 02:11 PM
I'm glad this was posted. I don't think I've commented on this subject in other threads. But as the OP states, it is a religious rite, not a "donation". Before the days of the abundant extensions market, this rite still happened. The women are also free to sell their hair is they so wish, just as they can choose to undergo this rite. There are many cultures, where cutting or shaving the hair off is symbolic of a new start/end. Businesses have simply tapped into this practice, and the monks eat from it. It is also common for monks to live from the donations of food and whatever else they need to live. So yes this rite has a two fold purpose in these times.

Naturally peoples views are as individual as they are, but I've seen more than one woman interviewed, who had no problem with the fact the (her) hair was sold. Responses were along the lines of "I sacrifice the hair, what the priest does with it afterwards doesn't bother me, I did it for spiritual reasons". The ceremonial cutting is what is relevant to those who chose to do it.

These women don't expect to be paid any more than Christians expect to be paid/sponsored for sacrifices made for lent. The sacrifice is made for it's own sake.

Of course hair, just like so many things can be stolen... just take the same precautions as one would, when buying anything.

Unicorn

Kaelee
September 5th, 2013, 03:42 PM
I have to question rather or not they know their hair is then sold. Not that it's a donation...but if I knew that I had given something to God and found out later that it was sold for who knows what purpose, I might be rather upset.

jacqueline101
September 5th, 2013, 06:25 PM
If its their religious calling and they're comfortable with it who are we to judge.

Unicorn
September 6th, 2013, 07:19 AM
I have to question rather or not they know their hair is then sold. Not that it's a donation...but if I knew that I had given something to God and found out later that it was sold for who knows what purpose, I might be rather upset.

No doubt some don't know, but some do. It's worth bearing in mind that part of their religious culture is to feed the priests, so they many wouldn't necessarily mind that it's sold with the money going to the temple. As I stated in my previous post, I've seen (via youtube) some asked and they didn't mind at all. Their only concern was the ceremony itself. After all, once the ceremony is complete, what else are they going to do with the hair, but trash it? How is this any better?

Women have been selling hair for centuries, I'm sure they still can if they wish to. Again, the hair isn't a donation, the shearing of the head is a religious rite, exactly as it was before extensions became popular.

Unicorn

Bagginslover
September 6th, 2013, 07:36 AM
Last time this came up, I remember reading that the biggest issue with it was that theives had cottened on to the value of the hair, and so were targetting the temples and stealing the hair to sell themselves.

Anyone devout enough to cut of all their hair for their deity probably isn't going to mind the monks/preists living off the proceeds of that hair, the cutting of the hair is the ritualistic part, not what happens to it afterwards as far as I'm aware. I do think though, that they'd be very upset at the thought of someone robbing their religious leaders of their means to survive.