Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History

by Victoria Sherrow (Editor)

Examines the ways in which hair has served as a signifier of class, gender, ethnicity, conformity/non-comfority, authority, and power throughout history. Countless issues and examples are explored in this volume including: hair styles of royalty; wigs worn by lawmakers and judges; ceremonial hairstyles of tribes throughout the world; Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads; hair in the counterculture (including the musical Hair ); skinheads, Mohawks and punk style; the hairstyles of First Ladies; celebrity hairstyles; women shaving their heads to subvert gender and sexuality stereotyping; the entire hair-care industry; the search for a cure to baldness; and diseases and disorders related to hair. Broad topics in this book include hair arrangement/styling; care and cleansing; business and commercial aspects; laws and legal matters; trends and trendsetters; and health and science. An introductory essay explores the universal human interest in hair and hair-styling throughout history and around the world. It is followed by alphabetically arranged entries, each including sources for further reading. This work is highly relevant to the study of class, gender, popular culture, and politics. A lavish set of color and halftone illustrations completes this fun and useful title.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Art, Cultural

488 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Victoria discovered her interest in reading and writing both in early adolescence. In 1978 she moved to Los Angeles and worked two jobs. It was at that time she read Writing for Children and Teenagers by Lee Wyndham , and that is when her fate as a writer was sealed. Victoria had decided to write a children's novel. She went to an annual L.A. conference on writing for children where she learned the basics of marketing and submitting work for writers. Then she started writing.

Her first stories were rejected but she kept strong at it. The year after(1979), she managed to sell a story. Then she sold more. And since she has become a multiple award winning author with over 100 published titles to her name. Sherrow has written poetry, short stories, picture books, and articles.

Victoria has taught writing for over twenty years, reviewed children’s books for newspapers, judged writing contests, and done numerous presentations at schools, libraries, and bookstores. She is a long-time member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and served as a judge for the SCBWI’s Golden Kite Award.

Reviews

[Ruby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay so I haven't personally dabbled *too* much in encyclopedias before this, but I feel like even for something published/compiled in the early aughts, there is shockingly little information here. Not the best source to start a paper off with but thank god I've got about fifty thousand other things to sift through

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book when I was going through the height of my OCD, which meant I was obsessing about certain topics that I felt like were at the beginning of my list. Sleep, and then hygiene and beauty, and then hair. These were the topics at the top of my list. I don't recall that much about this book except for bringing it home and having my sister remark that it was such a strange book to be reading.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of information, but it’s literally an encyclopedia and not something to sit down and read cover to cover.

[Niquole Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was really excited to get this book from the library but as I was reading it just seemed to be dryer then I initially thought. Some of the information on various hair topics raised more questions than answering them. It also seemed to lack detail about some of the hair topics.

Parts of the book were good though, it was nice to read about the origins of some haircare and the hairstyling tools across various cultures. Seems to be good for a general reference or education about hair.

[Frieda Vizel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very in depth and the bibliography/other suggested sources are sparse.

[Meli Maldonado]

Not a review just note to self:

Great link to perceptions of good hair and slavery