Isn't it Just Hair?

October 21, 2009

"I spent more than $65,000 over the 25 years that I colored my hair!" said Anne Kreamer, author of Going Gray: How to Embrace Your Authentic Self with Grace and Style. Encompassing appointments and products, the amount was roughly equivalent to a year’s expenses at Barnard. Kreamer was one of three panelists at the Just Hair? panel held on October 15 at Barnard College. Moderator Janet Jakobsen, director of the Barnard Center for Research on Women, also welcomed Ayana Byrd ’95, articles editor at Glamour and author of Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, and Atoosa Rubenstein ’93, former editor-in-chief of Seventeen, and founding editor of CosmoGIRL!, to address how hair not only affects how others perceive us in society, but also how we feel about ourselves. Looking at the complexities that hair generates for women in everything from politics to fashion, the panel pondered the question, "Isn’t it just hair?"

Women of different races, ethnicities, and religions all find that perceptions of their hair type, style, and color can influence the jobs they are offered and the attitudes others take in dealing with them. Kreamer also noted the financial burden of hair maintenance is a concept that is often overlooked when paying a hairdresser becomes a habit and goes on for years. "It’s not hard to believe that the hair [trade] is a $7 billion industry."

It seems that hair is never just hair.

For those who want to hear more about the concept of hair, a recording of the event is available on iTunes U as an mp3 or a video.

– Mackenzie Salenger '13

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