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nomadhome
May 9th, 2008, 08:11 AM
So what if working means you're wearing a long robe and a stole on Sundays and a church full of people are focusing on anything not covered by the robe-- your shoes, your hair-- because maybe your sermon is just a wee bit boring? What if it is your job and calling to serve every one of these people and they have a sense of possessiveness about you personally that is not as common in other jobs?

I'm not sure how many folks are in this position, but I really enjoyed this article on the long hair of female clergy (and a long haired man chimes in in the comments). So, I thought I'd pass it on. :cool:

Whose Hair is It, Anyway?
http://youngclergywomen.typepad.com/the_young_clergy_women_pr/2008/02/whose-hair-is-i.html#continue

Magdalene
May 9th, 2008, 08:32 AM
Interesting. My church doesn't have female clergy, BUT our priests generally have beards, and often long hair as well.

nomadhome
May 9th, 2008, 08:35 AM
Interesting. My church doesn't have female clergy, BUT our priests generally have beards, and often long hair as well.

Interesting, Magdalene! So is long hair the norm for them and totally acceptable, or is it a subject of debate? (Do folks even comment on your priests' appearance?) If long hair is the norm, would cutting it short rock the boat?

far_away
May 9th, 2008, 08:55 AM
That is a facinating article, my church doesn't have priests of either sex but it is really interesting to see what challenges face women in these positions. I wonder whether their are other jobs where your clients get proprietorial about your hair... Doctors or teachers maybe?

Magdalene
May 9th, 2008, 09:03 AM
Interesting, Magdalene! So is long hair the norm for them and totally acceptable, or is it a subject of debate? (Do folks even comment on your priests' appearance?) If long hair is the norm, would cutting it short rock the boat?

It's the norm, but I don't think there would be much comment. The married priests tend to be a bit more groomed, the monastics tend to be more shaggy. Some of it is cultural as well- the Russians don't in general seem to trim their beards, while some of the other ethnicities do. :shrug:

Magdalene
May 9th, 2008, 09:06 AM
I wonder whether their are other jobs where your clients get proprietorial about your hair... Doctors or teachers maybe?

Teachers, absolutely. I remember a high school teacher who always wore her shoulder length hair the exact same way- two-strand twists down the sides held by a puffy bow clip, with bangs (this was the early nineties). One day she came in with it down and I think everyone in the school complimented her on it! (She said her daughter hadn't had time to do it for her that morning.)

But oh yeah, teachers get a LOT of scrutiny from students!

Silver & Gold
May 9th, 2008, 09:09 AM
Hee hee, I liked the little girl's "Jesus bling barettes". Not very blingy but . . .
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10763871

bte
May 9th, 2008, 09:26 AM
... (She said her daughter hadn't had time to do it for her that morning.)

Interesting - who shall teach the teachers themselves?!!

JillieRose
May 9th, 2008, 11:05 AM
If I get into the ministry, I'll be wearing my hair up. Pretty much all the time. The thing is, it's not other people's hair, it's mine. I will make it as undistracting as possible, but if I want to have it long, I jolly well shall. It's an identity thing too: I wear my hair long, it's part of my appearance. Sure, I could cut it, but I like the look it gives me. Even when it's up 24-7.

No major problem in the Church of England, but young female vicars are rare here, so most of the women vicars I know have fairly short hair.

Delenn
May 9th, 2008, 11:25 AM
"Frump" is a state of mind.

nomadhome
May 9th, 2008, 11:48 AM
Hee hee, I liked the little girl's "Jesus bling barettes". Not very blingy but . . .
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10763871

Those are so cute and funny. I would be so tempted to wear them for the silliness! :cheese:

CountessDeJager
May 9th, 2008, 11:54 AM
Interesting article, nomadhome. It gets into the discussion of keeping the goal in mind- if parishioners are wondering why she doesn't do something about the hair in her eyes it means her words are being missed. I'm glad she caught that fiddling with her hair is unprofessional, that seems to be were a lot of the bias against long hair comes from. All the movement is distracting. That doesn't mean short is the only way to go though.

Practicing clergy are in the public eye and I can see how her flock would take an interest in her hair, unfortunately to the point of wanting to help her with their own ideas of what is best for her. The comments are astounding, a woman named Teri wrote "I have actually been told (a few years ago now) that I'd have to straighten my (long, curly) hair in order to be taken seriously." :nono:

Interestingly, when my dad was the minister his getting long hair worked in his favor adding credibility since he is regularly told the increased length and all his white made him look like the Reverend Billy Graham. It sounds like some of these women get the opposite as if they had to choose between being a woman or clergy. :shake: That seems to be a reoccurring theme in many arenas, women get judged for appearance in ways men often are not though a man with long hair certainly can encounter even stronger judgement at work for that choice.

nomadhome
May 9th, 2008, 11:58 AM
If I get into the ministry, I'll be wearing my hair up. Pretty much all the time. The thing is, it's not other people's hair, it's mine. I will make it as undistracting as possible, but if I want to have it long, I jolly well shall. It's an identity thing too: I wear my hair long, it's part of my appearance. Sure, I could cut it, but I like the look it gives me. Even when it's up 24-7.

No major problem in the Church of England, but young female vicars are rare here, so most of the women vicars I know have fairly short hair.

Most of the female pastors that I know are older and have short hair too-- with one exception who has straight, almost waist length, silver hair, which she always wears down. I love it.

I am glad you're not getting pressure to cut! Sometimes I wonder if some of the talk about hair/shoes/attire of pastors equates distracting-ness with femininity. I wear my long hair up or down as it suits me, even when I am preaching, and plan to keep doing so. However, because it doesn't stay behind my shoulders very well, I tend to clip up just the front and leave the rest down. Otherwise it is prone to tumble into my face at some inconvenient moment.

Xanthippe
May 9th, 2008, 12:06 PM
Last summer, one of my favorite parishioners, a woman only a few years older than I am, said completely sincerely, “You know what I like about you? Your hair isn’t perfect.” I laughed, went to the bathroom to look in a mirror, and sure enough, my “sleek ponytail” was complemented by a crown of wispy frizz outlining my face. Soon thereafter, I had my hairdresser cut my hair into a graduated bob. My hair may never be perfect, but it certainly doesn’t have to look frumpy.

It's interesting that she got a compliment on her hair and that made her want to cut it. I guess it is difficult to be confronted with an image of ourselves that does not match our self-image.

happylynngilmer
May 9th, 2008, 12:17 PM
I know *many* female pastors. I worked at a church for 5 years, and met some very cool people (and some not so cool, but anywho). The female pastors I know sport either long or short hair. I've seen both. I met a female youth pastor on Sunday who has waist length hair! It was beautifully kept.
It does seem like the younger they are, the more likely they are to have longer hair, but I have seen the opposite happen, too!

lora410
May 9th, 2008, 12:30 PM
Our church has two females and one male. They all have short hair and so does the woman who leads the gospel chorus.

Peggy E.
May 9th, 2008, 12:44 PM
"Frump" is a state of mind.

Amen!

Women ministers are still a fairly recent phenomenon and women everywhere who are making inroads into formerly male-only jobs often find themselves closely scrutinized, criticized and held to higher standards than their male counterparts.

But as the pioneers you are, it's up to you to teach them, to lead your flock down the road to understanding and acceptance. If you cut your hair because the congregation isn't quite sure you should have long hair, then you will forever be stuck with short hair and also have made it more difficult for those who follow you to wear long hair.

Do what you feel is right and good and you will bring the flock around eventually.

Jaime
May 9th, 2008, 01:00 PM
Given the general societal convention that short hair = professional/grown up, are the reactions in the article really much different than those other professional women who also wear their hair long? Of course, the nature of the pastoral job includes being the center of attention, at least during the sermon/homily, but I don't see much more going on than the same tired old "why aren't you like everyone else?" mindset.

8) Jim

Masara
May 10th, 2008, 01:37 AM
T I wonder whether their are other jobs where your clients get proprietorial about your hair... Doctors or teachers maybe?

As a teacher, I can say yes on that one. Pupils who would never comment on my clothes or my shoes,seem to feel that my hair is a free for all. Yesterday, while explaining a worksheet, I could feel that part of my bun was coming undone so, still explaining, I unclipped my ficcare and twisted the offending part back up. I looked up at the class to realise the only person concentrating on the worksheet was me. All the kids were watching me put my hair back. Then come the questions "why don't you wear it down?" "how long is it?" "how long does it take to do in the morning?".... (of course this could have been diversionary techniques not to work on the simple past)

I was a server in the Church of England for ages and I always made sure my hair was up and tidy. As invisible as possible. My feeling was that I was doing a job and should not be distracting people. I wouldn't have worn bright shoes either for the same reason. Most of the female clergy I knew then, had shorter hair.

Magdalene
May 13th, 2008, 05:01 PM
Hee hee, I liked the little girl's "Jesus bling barettes". Not very blingy but . . .
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10763871

More "Jesus bling" :cool:

http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/jesii/494/index.html

betsala
May 13th, 2008, 06:23 PM
magdalene- are you orthodox? my father was an orthodox priest (married obviously :) ) and every time he came to a school function he got a lot of stares (he had long hair and a long beard). in church he fit right in though.

prosperina
May 13th, 2008, 09:59 PM
Interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

One of the pastors at my church when I was growing up had long hair. It was pretty and brown and thick and straight and I never remember it being distracting. I always paid attention to her sermon because I liked her sermons. Her husband had long hair too, and he wore it back in a neat ponytail or braid--I don't think I was quite ready for that, but in retrospect it is cool.

Teachers totally get scrutinized for their personal appearance. Male and female teachers alike, but I think more so female. Since I am still sort of young and I am a graduate instructor I get more comments, since female students somehow see me as their contemporary. No, sorry, I am not your peer--there's at least a 9 year difference in our ages-- and yes, I did hear that whispered comment from the back row. These are the same pants that I wore on Monday, but you know what? I washed them. And, I tell you a secret, you can rewear your slacks at least twice before washing! :D

I just finished correcting my final exams and I got three comments about red hair. One of them was in a writing section asking the students to describe their ideal friend or partner. One of them described theirs as speaking French, having travelled a lot, being really nice, kind, and beautiful, and having les beaux cheveux rouges (a grammatical mistake, but still cute). Hmmm.. when in doubt, flatter the teacher! ;) (Sorry if that was a hijack, but I thought it was relevant).

Kayleena
June 3rd, 2008, 03:55 PM
Hi, everyone! :) I do know of one long-haired female preacher; she is Pastor Melissa Scott. On the shows that I've happened to catch on PAX TV, she has beautiful waist-length red hair. I've seen it curly more often than I've seen it straight, so that leads me to believe that her texture is naturally curly. I think she's in her 40's. Have a blessed day! :)