The Biology of Perception
“T
hen Delilah said to Samson, ‘Until now
you have mocked me and told me lies.
Tell me how you might be bound.’ And
he said to her, ‘If you weave the seven locks of my
head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin,
then I shall become weak and be like any other
man.’”
Judges 16:13 (English Standard Version)
This is not the quote you want to remember as you
are holding a pair of scissors to your hair for the
first time in four years. Thankfully, that was not
when I remembered that particular verse; self-examination came later. A quart of hair conditioner
and seven hours of tearing hair later, I pulled a
comb across my scalp for the first time in four
years. Between pain, exhaustion, and the seemingly endless task, I experienced a trance-like state,
leaving me time to reflect on my “hair identity.”
Hair is a unique trait for all of us; biology dictates
the quality of our hair, but we are ultimately able
to decide how we present it to the rest of the world.
Unlike clothes, which change day-to-day, we are
limited in our choice of hairstyle based on a mixture of how our hair grows and personal ideas of
how we want to present ourselves. Hairstyles can
be used to present a particular self to the outside
world, specifically that which we prefer to be seen.
Having the same hairstyle for a long period of time
allows hair to become an extension of personal
identity. Locked hair, which has a minimum
investment of a few months of immature plaits, or
braids, is on the extreme end of commitment to a
particular hairstyle. The conversion from a tangle
into a felt-like lock is dependent upon pressure
and time; this process does not happen overnight.
Unlike most other hairstyles, maintenance is more
like cultivating a plant than getting a haircut.
Perhaps as a result of this long commitment, few
hairstyles have the symbolic weight that locked
hair does. Locked hair raises preconceptions about
politics, race, and personal cleanliness. A number
of religions, including Christianity, Buddhism
and Judaism, in addition to the obligatory
Rastafarianism, have firmly established traditions
of plaited hair. I am certainly in the minority for
not attaching spiritual significance to my locks,
but it is nonetheless important to recognize this
practice. People, with and without locked hair,
sometimes assume the decision must have some
deeper significance than a hairstyle.
Questions posed about dreadlocks often reveal
preconceptions about locked hair. I cannot begin
to estimate how many times strangers asked how
long I had to stop washing my hair, whether I was
Rastafarian, or if I sold drugs. These commonly
asked questions had easy answers — never,