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Periwinkle
September 6th, 2013, 04:04 AM
I was talking with my mum yesterday about the fact that so many religions require/suggest some kind of hair covering.

I have previously read that some rules for believers to follow may have had their basis in practicality before they became part of the scripture. I can't remember specific examples unfortunately, but I think one of them was something like the fact that shellfish in biblical times would likely have been very dangerous to eat anyway, which could have led to its being forbidden?

Anyway, I was wondering if there might be other reasons behind hair covering? I've searched online, but only managed to find the specific scripture for various faiths that suggests men/women cover their hair, which isn't really what I'm looking for. Is there another reason covering of the head has been seized upon so many times? Would hair have literally been unclean, for example, or could there have been a practical benefit?

Steven's Bride
September 6th, 2013, 04:57 AM
The most practical I can think of is that if hair was up and covered, it would be more likely to stay clean and less likely to attract dirt and insects (lice, etc.). Bathing wasn't as convenient back then.

It would be interesting to know more about this subject.

Vintagecoilylocks
September 6th, 2013, 06:32 AM
Not sure how far back you researched but if you go deep into the history of man religion has been there from the beggining. We are the only worshipping creature on the planet. People who worshipped the one true invisible God, the woman covered. Even some of the one's who worshipped stone and other lessers gods in there temples did. It is a natural human trait to feel the need to show humility and modesty in the presence of a god. You realize we are the only creatures who bow down and do prostrations. No practical reason for that. Mnay cultures did not have that custom of woman covering their heads until they embraced Christianity. So they were not concerned with keeping hair clean. Maybe for warmth but not daily until they accepted a new faith.
The Christian reason is very specific. It continues from the Jewish faith its not just a mindless custom with no foundation. People may have forgotten or put it aside but it was specifically established for the children of God. There are reference to this in the Talbot. Reference to the difference of woman who do cover and do not cover. Hopes this helps.

chen bao jun
September 6th, 2013, 06:48 AM
It is also very practical. As we know on this forum, sun is bad for hair (too much, anyway), wind is bad for hair, wearing hair loose all the time is problematic for most hair. And actually, its not just religious, most times and most peoples have covered women's long hair when outside. Most are too young to remember, but I remember when you would not have gone out without a hat anymore than you would have gone out naked, and it was not just for style.
(men also)

Periwinkle
September 6th, 2013, 07:19 AM
I remember when you would not have gone out without a hat anymore than you would have gone out naked, and it was not just for style.
(men also)

That's an excellent point actually - I suppose that would once (before hats became a fashion accessory more than a practical device) have been to do with keeping warm, as presumably catching cold was far more dangerous than it is today and also there might have been some economic reason behind having a hat rather than another layer of clothing?

GrowingGlory
September 6th, 2013, 07:43 AM
People didn't wash their hair as frequently then. Hats covered unsightly hair and reduced odor.

Marbid
September 6th, 2013, 08:36 AM
Every religion is different in some way. Same goes for culture. for example, japan way back in the day, women showed their beauty thru their hair as physical beauty was always covered and only shown to the husband. This is upper class thou. The poor wore their hair up to keep it from getting dirty, and only let it down to show publicly at their death bed. Women anyhow, I have not read on men. Some cultures treasure hair so much it is forbidden to look at a woman's hair loose, there is a certain village in china where their entire culture is centered around a woman's hair. From marriage, to coming of age. The hair of girls in that village is treated like gold, cut at the coming of age of 16, used the cut hair as decoration. even the shed hairs are gathered and used as decoration. The different hair styles stating your stature in the the village and weather you where single, married, with children, on and so forth. The village's name is Huangluo village. Very amazing. No one cut's their hair after the coming of age at 16.

Then there are cultures that view hair as a vanity. Piousness means removing that vanity, or covering it up. Because hair is beautiful. Some would see it as a showing of beauty to let long beautiful hair down. And when beauty is seen as a distraction or even worse to the people, as a temptation to do what should not be done, hair is the first to go. Too many religions out there like this to single them out.

But hair is beautiful. Some people accept that beauty, and worship it. Some shun it as temptation. Some hide it under wraps to protect it. Some to be protected from it. All of these cultures (even African cultures where long healthy hair was and is a rarity, some cover the hair in clay to protect it, others keep it short because they cannot have it long and beautiful, so short and beautiful it is. But if they could, they would. ) and their practices regarding hair, stem from the common thought that hair is beautiful.

You where looking for the origins of some hair practices no? It can all be traced to what hair is thought of universally.

jacqueline101
September 6th, 2013, 10:02 AM
I think it had to do with the lack of cleanliness due to no water. Hair worn back looks cleaner.

chen bao jun
September 6th, 2013, 11:22 AM
I was talking about the late 1950's and early 1960's. People were as clean then as they are now.

Middle class people wore hats when going out of their house. A man especially had to take his hat off when indoors and would tilt it when greeting a woman. A woman just always put a hat on, usually a pretty and flattering hat and she could keep it on indoors, not usually at home but at lunch or something like that. Definitely at church.

It was a cultural thing. Hats partly showed social status. A workingman would have a cap, while a middleclass man would have a hat. But of course by the 1960's workingmen also wore hats a lot of the time.

People stopped doing it in the mid 1960's when it became important to rebel and break rules to young people. Young people saw no purpose in following rules that they thought outdated and saw no point to hats. Young women for the first time in Western history wanted to wear long hair and wear it loose with no restraint. Young men also wanted long hair and no hats. Other social class markers also died-all young people began wearing blue jeans, which were working class clothes, people stopped wearing gloves, especially white cotton gloves--people even stopped wearing underwear for a certain time (braless look, and the death of the girdle, later resurrected as 'shapewear').

However, some of the old fashioned things had a purpose. As I said before, in those days there was no need for sunscreen for hair and no trouble with the sun drying out your canopy and also the wind creating tangles. Men who stopped wearing hats suddenly became prey to cancer (melanoma). Also, all those white gloves kept your hands germ free or less full of germs. Colds passed around less in those days.

Those who are older than I am can perhaps share some more.

jrmviola
September 6th, 2013, 01:58 PM
Im not sure how far back in time you want to go but here are some places you can look for further research: The Bible (oldest books would be Gen.- Deut. and job, ruth.) ; and the works of josephus date around 1st c. AD (He does alot of historical stuff), there are some books called "the apocrepha" (sp?) that deal with 200 BC and different cultures... There are bound to be some other than those from other cultures, I know there are some Asian works from the 3rd Century AD (or thereabouts) that deal with general culture but i dont know the names. Im not trying to be place specific, thats just as far as my knowledge goes.
Hope that gets you started....

sumidha
September 6th, 2013, 05:36 PM
Oh goodness there are so many practical reasons to keep your hair covered... To protect it from bugs, dirt and the sun, to keep it from tangling and catching on things, to keep animals and children from chewing on it, to keep you cool in hot weather, to keep you warm in the winter... I'm not religious at all and wear my hair covered for convenience fairly often. In fact, I just got back from a week of camping where I was wearing a scarf over my hair pretty much 24/7! :)