Straight Hair Vs. Curly

[Shade Everdark]

So, I just got to thinking. Straight hair seems to be the de facto standard for beauty, not just in the goth community, but in the world at large, these days. This is, it goes without saying, not to say that curly hair cannot be attractive. But straight hair seems to hold the modern definition of beautiful hair.

Now, not terribly long ago, perhaps only as long as a century if you go by our literature, curly hair, at least in the 'Western' countries, was seen as much more the definition of health and beauty.

So, what I'm wondering, in the beginning of my idle hours at work, is how, when, and why the shift occurred from the dominance of curly hair as beautiful, to straight hair being on top, pardon the pun.

[BrassFusion]

well, we're not at war with any southeast asian countries anymore (for the moment!!).

seems like our culture has been more receptive/worshipful of, say, japanese shit lately, and they're generally of the straighthaired persuasion. so mebbe.

[Brenda Starrr]

This is a REALLY good subject, Shade!

I think that some may look at curly hair as sexy and seductive, while others see straight hair as "ice queen," harsh, etc. In the goth community (from what I've seen) that is the look that the ladies are trying to give off-"ice queen." It's seemingly more dramatic, especially when paired with the dark eye and lip looks. Almost a "look but don't touch" persona.....

That's all I have. If I come up with a better answer, I'll be sure to give it to you.

[Msterbeau]

I don't see a historical trend as significant as you do Shade. What's fashionable now happens in much quicker cycles then it used to because of photography and all the advances in the past 100 years in our ability to communicate across vast distances. A trend that would take many, many years to propagate now comes and goes in a couple years. Also.. then, as now, there are people in different socio-economic groups, each of whom might favor particular styles due to social influences, money, etc. I think the fact that trends last so much longer makes it seem like a particular style was dominant back then, but I think that diversity is happening because that's what the modern world has enabled. You might just be noticing an uptick overall in straighter styles.

[Destroit]

Hmmm I'd have to say that things cycle more rapidly to me because of more exposure to everything at once. With the media things catch on quick and go quicker. Also back in the day to me if you didn't have curly hair then you'd have to GET your hair curled, which most likely cost alot back in those days to have your hair done. It was probably "hot technology" back then making it more of a status thing. Even if you think of what they wore back then as opposed to now, it was frilly and lacey and such and flowed and had folds to it with warm colors, and curls are kind of soft and glowy looking, so it accents it better. Now a days many girls wear pants and if we wear dresses they usually tend to be shorter and sleek, much like straight hair, also the color scheme has changed. If you think hard too, I mean this stuff cycles every 20 years or so (or less) it seems to me, back in the 60's-70's poker straight black hair was in, but right when the 80's hit BAM hair got blonde and huge (kinda like having curls but not quite) and kept on until the mid-90s with grunge. Other than that, I'm fresh out. Good topic, btw, if I think of anymore to add to it, I will.

[Kit Kat P]

Hmmm I'd have to say that things cycle more rapidly to me because of more exposure to everything at once. With the media things catch on quick and go quicker. Also back in the day to me if you didn't have curly hair then you'd have to GET your hair curled, which most likely cost alot back in those days to have your hair done. It was probably "hot technology" back then making it more of a status thing. Even if you think of what they wore back then as opposed to now, it was frilly and lacey and such and flowed and had folds to it with warm colors, and curls are kind of soft and glowy looking, so it accents it better. Now a days many girls wear pants and if we wear dresses they usually tend to be shorter and sleek, much like straight hair, also the color scheme has changed. If you think hard too, I mean this stuff cycles every 20 years or so (or less) it seems to me, back in the 60's-70's poker straight black hair was in, but right when the 80's hit BAM hair got blonde and huge (kinda like having curls but not quite) and kept on until the mid-90s with grunge. Other than that, I'm fresh out. Good topic, btw, if I think of anymore to add to it, I will.

Yep, just people's way of trying to get over the 80's. It traumatized us all.

[Reaper]

Funny that you mention this Shade as I started straightening my pubic hair. Its really sending a trendy statement that I think others are going to follow for a long time! Ice Queen, meet the Ice Meat!

[Kit Kat P]

Funny that you mention this Shade as I started straightening my pubic hair. Its really sending a trendy statement that I think others are going to follow for a long time! Ice Queen, meet the Ice Meat!

OH god, I just got the worst image.

[torn asunder]

Funny that you mention this Shade as I started straightening my pubic hair. Its really sending a trendy statement that I think others are going to follow for a long time! Ice Queen, meet the Ice Meat!

do you know why pubic hair is curly!?

if it was straight, it'd poke your eyes out!!

[Fierce Critter]

Good subject.

I started perming my hair in the mid 80's and kept it up through this past year. Perms were majorly in for women in the 80's. That's why I initially got into them - for a change, I wanted to be a bit more in vogue.

One of the reasons I decided to go straight recently was the difference I saw in others who appeared with it both straight and curly.

For instance, a guilty pleasure of mine are reality shows like "So You Think You Can Dance." All the girls - average age in their lower to mid 20's - auditioned with straight hairstyles.

Then, once they got on the show and the show's stylists got ahold of them, some of them appeared with curly hairstyles.

It was striking how much better they looked with the straight styles. And by better, I mean across the board, they looked younger and thinner with the straight styles.

So I tried it straight. And found it worked the same for me. It makes me look younger and thinner.

I've gone back and looked at those photos I took several times. And I still can't get over the difference. I even weighed myself to see if I'd lost weight unknowingly. Not an ounce. It's all in the hairdo.

That said, as for curly hair once being the barometer of health and beauty, I think it's the same phenomenon of once upon a time larger women/men being seen as those who were healthy/beautiful. Back "then", it was because that was a sign you had the means to feed yourself - and feed yourself well, and that you didn't have to work yourself literally to the bone. I think the curly phenomenon in historical context was because you could afford to have your hair done - period. You didn't just have to wake up, rub some dust in it to clean it, and throw it up in a scarf. You could afford shampoos, ornaments, people to set it in curls, etc.

I'm a poor example of any kind of trend, however. I started getting spiral perms when it was hard to find a salon that did them. And when I discovered crimping in the French & Italian fashion magazines my sister used to bring home, I had to search high and low to find one myself.

It took a couple years for people to go really overboard with the spiral wraps. And after I'd gotten over the crimping thing, a year or two later crimping irons were everywhere.

I'm not one for following current trends. I do what I think makes me look attractive to my own eyes. For years it was perms beause my hair is so thin and lifeless without one. But thanks to a really great new stylist, I've recategorized my hair as "delicate and fine." :D So I'm more comfortable going with straight styles. Even still, shags like mine aren't really the vogue. Flips, allover one-length with bangs, and new versions of the "Jennifer Aniston" 'do seem to be really popular right now.

[pomba gira]

do you know why pubic hair is curly!?

if it was straight, it'd poke your eyes out!!

When I was around middle school age I kind of assumed white people would have straight pubes. Was glad to find out otherwise 'cos I had kind of an icky image in mind.

Anyway... in the 19th c. curly hair had scarcity value for just the reason Chernobyl mentioned... if your hair was naturally straight, curling it was a very labor-intensive process that required either servants or bringing in a hairdresser... both options obviously were only available to fairly well-off people.

That long fake looking, perfectly straight hair you see on black women these days is popular because the technology to achieve that degree of straightness (at least without doing major damage to the hair) is only about 10-15 years old... so it's still something kind'a new, just like jheri-curls in the '80s thru the early '90s.

[Reaper]

When I was around middle school age I kind of assumed white people would have straight pubes. Was glad to find out otherwise 'cos I had kind of an icky image in mind.

Anyway... in the 19th c. curly hair had scarcity value for just the reason Chernobyl mentioned... if your hair was naturally straight, curling it was a very labor-intensive process that required either servants or bringing in a hairdresser... both options obviously were only available to fairly well-off people.

That long fake looking, perfectly straight hair you see on black women these days is popular because the technology to achieve that degree of straightness (at least without doing major damage to the hair) is only about 10-15 years old... so it's still something kind'a new, just like jheri-curls in the '80s thru the early '90s.

LMAO

[FarrIL]

You see more of a trend in fashion and society where bigger girls are more desirable than skinny, but the fashion industry chooses the twigs. Topic my man, his roommate and I had yesterday about the town I live in: People are either in dire need of a gastric bypass, or they need to eat McDonald's every day for a week, at least.

ANYWAY: back to the real topic.

Screw straight, screw curly: Go wavey. =D

Curly just means that the girl probably spends a little more time in front of the mirror, or if it's natural, she's been blessed with strong hair. My sister had the issue of taking 2 hours to curl my hair, only for my hair to start falling flat because it refused to stay curled. I like my hair being naturally straight so that I can do more things with it. o.O

Straight hair doesnt need as much maintaining either. And for a person who may be vain but refuses to get up an hour earlier to primp up, straight hair = great hair.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Curly hair can look awesome, but it needs to be very well taken care of. Often it can just look like a mess and i don't mean the sort of brazen / disheveled kinda hott-ish mess. I think its just something inherent in curls that makes them more difficult to deal with. (grooming-wise)

Not to say straight hair doesn't have the same problem, but it seems more likely for curly hair to look er... dumpy , than straight hair does.

I also have kind of a "good looking hair" fetish so i might be a bit overly critical.

And per usual like stated indirectly above there's the obligatory "it depends" issue when talking about such things.

[Brenda Starrr]

do you know why pubic hair is curly!?

if it was straight, it'd poke your eyes out!!

Then I'mma poke some eyes out.

[Steven]

When I was around middle school age I kind of assumed white people would have straight pubes. Was glad to find out otherwise 'cos I had kind of an icky image in mind.

that was one of the most profound things Ive read in some time.

[wearyone]

So, I just got to thinking. Straight hair seems to be the de facto standard for beauty, not just in the goth community, but in the world at large, these days. This is, it goes without saying, not to say that curly hair cannot be attractive. But straight hair seems to hold the modern definition of beautiful hair.

Now, not terribly long ago, perhaps only as long as a century if you go by our literature, curly hair, at least in the 'Western' countries, was seen as much more the definition of health and beauty.

So, what I'm wondering, in the beginning of my idle hours at work, is how, when, and why the shift occurred from the dominance of curly hair as beautiful, to straight hair being on top, pardon the pun.

no idea why straight hair became the thing to have. I did it for a while, got tired of it, now I'm curly like shirley temple! lol

[Msterbeau]

no idea why straight hair became the thing to have. I did it for a while, got tired of it, now I'm curly like shirley temple! lol

Shirley Temple is hot. I mean when she got older she was... I mean... er.... Nevermind.

[Shade Everdark]

Shirley Temple is hot. I mean when she got older she was... I mean... er.... Nevermind.

Keep digging there, Bubba, that hole isn't deep enough yet.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Need a shovel?

btw.. some people.. with really really naturally blonde thin hair.. have straight pubes

[Fierce Critter]

btw.. some people.. with really really naturally blonde thin hair.. have straight pubes

Ponders her melon of naturally blonde, thin hair...

It's been a long time since I've SEEN my pubes...

(OVERSHARE)

[Sybil]

Paul asked me a while back what my "type" is... he met a few of my ex's.

None of them looked like one another.

I think everyone is beautiful.

Unique.

From eyes to hair to hands.

-I know the topic is about hair- (My man is bald for those of you who dont know. He is a spitting image of Marc. teehee)

Before Paul, I didnt have a preference with hair....

Like I said, everyone has beauty.

...it takes a long time to see the REAL beauty ..........

[bean]

I like my hair curly. It's quick and easy...I get out of the shower and put some product in it and I'm done.

When I straighten my hair (for a change in look), the whole process takes at least an hour, though when my hair was super short, it took about 15 minutes.

Most people seem to prefer me with curly hair.

[tweetspie]

IMO, curly hair is a BITCH

It's hard to get it to look good without spending 4 hours on it, and then in the summer it usually ends up going up in a pony tail anyway because it's so freaking hot. And when it's humid, it's worthless to even try because it just poofs up as soon as you go outside.

As for straight hair, I finally found a straightener that would work on my hair after YEARS of looking, but I can only use it in the winter because I sweat when I use it in the summer and my hair gets wet and curls again >.<

I can't win... I'm thinking of shaving it or going with dreads lol

[Darus313]

Are we talking pubis

If so... very nice... hi 5..!

In Kazakhstan we harvest the pubis.

Straight ones are easy to weave into clothing...

Dat is all.

D