Big Hair: A Journey Into the Transformation of Self

Shelley Butler teaches anthropology at York University.

After reading this book, I found myself looking at hair in new
ways—considering, for example, whether a woman was sporting a
“dangerous” blond look, or perhaps the “brassy” blond look.
According to author Grant McCracken, such differences reflect crucial
ways in which women create and express their identity; thus, while
dangerous blond suggests sexual and emotional access, brassy blond
offers openness, but not necessarily intimacy. Such are the semiotics of
hair that McCracken explores in an entertaining, enthusiastic book that
manages to combine a gossipy, funny tone with a light touch of cultural
studies.

Visits to the hairdresser are important occasions for self-fashioning
and transformation

in contemporary North American society. But this was not always the
case: in the 1950s, McCracken writes, hairstyles and hairspray “spoke
of highly conventionalized, unchanging selves, of women frozen into
place.” This approach to hair suited a sexist society that associated
women—along with their hair—with sexuality and nature, both of which
needed to be controlled. The author credits Vidal Sassoon with having
revolutionized hairdressing.

McCracken parts company with critics who believe that women are simply
dupes to fashion and are therefore silly to worry about hair. He
describes how choosing a hairstyle is a process of negotiating identity,
status, and stereotypes. Included are discussions of hair color—from
the invention of blond to the rise of nonblond—and of current styles
and their historical antecedents. Readers interested in such fashion,
film, and TV icons as Linda Evangelista, Marilyn Monroe, and Candice
Bergen are sure to be intrigued. Numerous photos are included.

Less successful is McCracken’s discussion of the hairdresser–client
relationship. He mistakenly writes as if all hairdressers were men, a
perspective that limits the depth of his insights. As well, his
conclusion that women can be empowered by spending more time and money
on their hair is unconvincing.

Nevertheless, McCracken deserves credit for writing an accessible,
quirky, and interesting book that will lead general readers to look at
everyday life in a new way.