Are hairstyles cultural?

In the 1979 film, 10, Bo Derek, ran along a beach with his hair braided in braids. Through this scene, he established himself as a pop culture icon of appropriation, specifically of black hairstyles. It may be one of the first contemporary examples of the appropriation of black hairstyles by celebrities, but it certainly wasn't the last. The tail is a hairstyle from China in which the front of the head is shaved every 10 days while the rest of the hair is allowed to grow and braided at the back.

There have been a number of incidents with the Kardashian clan over the years, including Khloe Kardashian wearing Fulani braids, a traditional hairstyle of a West African ethnic group. From birth, hairstyles symbolize age, marital status, wealth and rank, and the thickness of the hair can also indicate a woman's fertility. Perhaps the most interesting examples are the hairstyles that geishas and maiko (novice geishas) wear during the different stages of their learning and career. In popular culture, the Mohawk, also known as Mohican, is a hairstyle that has come to symbolize dissatisfaction and rebellion, its true story overshadowed by the subculture of punk rock.

Instigating heated discussions about which women can wear certain hairstyles seems to me to play directly with the chauvinist narrative of a woman who is defined by her appearance and what she is wearing. It was considered disrespectful for anyone else to wear the hairstyle, although it was a common hairstyle among Pawnees. The story of braids serves as a testament to the strength, ingenuity and resilience of black people; a reminder that hairstyles can often be much more than a fashion statement. The older maiko can wear the katsuyama and yakko-shimada hairstyles on special occasions and festivals.

I choose to celebrate the freedom to balance between hairstyles, and if women of any race choose to adapt my styles, I have no qualms about that. In medieval China, hairstyles reflected a people's affiliation to a tribal dynasty or confederation. Take a walk through the threads of human history with these five different hairstyles from around the world. The name of this style comes from the Mohawk Nation, and young warriors used to wear this hairstyle.

Braids are a type of braided hairstyle in which “the hair is braided very close to the scalp, moving down and up to form a continuous, raised row.