Comments on: Freddy’s Hair

By: Barbara Piper

Barbara Piper — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 12:17:05 +0000

It would be interesting to see some anthropological perspectives on this case. I’d recommend that Kerim start with Leach’s classic Curl Prize essay “Magical Hair” from 1958, which argued for a space for symbols in an anthropological tradition that tended to focus on what Leach somewhat dismissively called “social structure.”

By: ladenframe

ladenframe — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 04:20:41 +0000

He also got attacked for burning the ROC flag amongst other things http://translatingtaiwanlit.com/2015/12/23/smearing-political-rivals-in-taipei-freddie-lim-take-down-%e6%9e%97%e6%98%b6%e4%bd%90%e8%a2%ab%e6%9e%97%e9%83%81%e6%96%b9%e3%80%8c%e6%8a%ba%e9%bb%91%e3%80%8d%e4%ba%86/
The hair thing is particularly bizarre though

By: Tumbili

Tumbili — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 03:29:13 +0000

Terry, I think what happened in Taiwan and throughout East Asia was a sort of reversal: first, early male modernizers adopted short haircuts as a rejection of Confucian tradition and adoption of “Western” modernity (including its pseudo-science of gender). (In China this overlapped with Han nationalist rejection of the Manchu queue.) Later, modernizers in power began enforcing short haircuts for men, less a rejection of tradition and more as an enforcement of gender norms and, eventually and ironically, also to enforce some idea of national identity in opposition to decadence associated with Western counter-culture in the 1960s-1970s. In countries that had revived Confucianism in modernized forms as part of this national identity, short haircuts thus may have become ironically conflated with Confucian masculinity. (This seems to be the case in Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea. Not sure about elsewhere.) In countries that still officially rejected Confucianism (PRC, DPRK, Vietnam), short haircuts were framed as “socialist” in opposition to “Western bourgeois spiritual pollution” — until, in a double irony, the PRC revived Confucianism as part of the official ideology.

Another thing I’d like to point out, in addition to Terry’s point about Han opposition to the Manchu queue, is that the Confucian rule against cutting hair (身體髮膚，受之父母，不敢毀傷，孝之始也) was one of the points that Confucians in the Han Dynasty highlighted in opposition to the incursion of Buddhist monastic practices at the time.

By: Terry Russell

Terry Russell — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 01:32:06 +0000

I suppose I’m not so convinced of how important Confucianism was vis a vis long hair. Clearly Confucianism, as an ideology, was fundamental in defining Chinese/Taiwanese patriarchy, but was there anything in Confucianism that made the patriarchy more anti-long hair? Certainly not in traditional terms. I haven’t personally seen it, but I’m sure that the image of Confucius in the Taipei Confucius temple has long hair. And my own father didn’t need a Confucian world view for him to feel that my long hair in the 1960s was a threat to his authority.

By: Kerim

Kerim — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 23:26:38 +0000

Japanese musician Kitaro was banned from playing in Singapore because of his long hair: https://singaporearmchaircritic.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/from-harrying-long-haired-men-to-embracing-casinos/

By: Kerim

Kerim — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 23:21:23 +0000

Thanks Terry. When I discuss Confucianism here I should be clear that I’m talking about how it was promulgated by the patriarchal Taiwanese state, not making reference to any traditional texts. While I’m not ready to dismiss the idea that long hair on men is threatening because of the state’s investment in maintaining gender roles, the fact that girls also had to keep their hair short does imply that perhaps a general focus on authoritarianism and military preparedness was more important. More on girls hair regulations can be found in this Taipei Times article from 2005: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/08/22/2003268711

By: Terry Russell

Terry Russell — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 22:41:46 +0000

Two things: I’m not sure how relevant it is here, but school girls up to the end of high school also had to maintain short-cropped hair during the martial law era. It had to be cut at ear-lobe level–extremely unattractive. The other thing is, I’m not sure what you mean about the ‘importance of maintaining short hair in Confucianism.’ Cutting the hair (along with tattooing and body piercing), for both men and women, was a sin against the ancestors who had bestowed the individual’s body upon them. Both men and women wore their hair long until the Manchu’s imposed their style on their Chinese subjects. One of the main reasons that Chinese did not happily adopt the Manchu coif was that it involved shaving the hair on the front of the head, which was considered contrary to Confucian teaching.

By: AJ Lederman

AJ Lederman — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 22:37:11 +0000

It reminds me of long-hair phobia in the US in the 70’s. Non-typical appearance is perceived as a threat. Perhaps it is to the established mores of the day. In the US in loosened up society for progressive changes. Perhaps it is now beginning in Taiwan.