Is short hair a conscious - or unconscious - signal that a woman is not interested in sex? The question was raised this week by sex therapist and former comedienne Pamela Stephenson, who believes 'deliberately reducing one's attractiveness' can sometimes be a way of repelling men's interest.http://www.blogher.com/what-does-womans-hair-length-say-about-her-sexuality
Take a minute to think about how many times per day we check our hair in a mirror or the reflection in a window as we pass by. How many times do we touch it or for that matter, how often do we think about our hair throughout the day?
Why do we spend more personal care time on our hair than any other aspect of our appearance? Why does the way our hair feels, looks, or moves affect our mood and confidence so powerfully? Why when an attractive member of the opposite sex enters our area of possible encounter does our hand shoot straight up for a final touchup of our hair?
It simply isn't possible to appreciate the importance of hair in our daily life without examining its role in a sexual context. Whether we realize it or not, when we smell, touch, fondle or caress someone's hair, the behavior is a sexual act.
Female hair is usually viewed as seductive with the color and length being used to categorize. Redheads are labeled as wanton, brunettes as aggressive, and blondes as submissive. Long hair an indicator of fertility and availability, and short hair as independent and forceful. The thinning of female hair implies loss of sexuality and femininity. Lack of luster and body indicates poor personal grooming.
Our hair has always played a major part in the sexual drama of life.
Anjula Mutanda, relationship psychologist, TV presenter and author of Celebrity Life Laundry :
Longer hair is associated with youth perhaps because as young girls we usually wear our hair long, and it is generally the case that when women become mothers they cut their hair for the sake of practicality, continuing to wear it shorter and shorter as they get older.
This, of course, coincides with a gradual falling away of libido and sexual activity.
While long hair appears to indicate to the male brain a more submissive and available woman, in simple terms it also distinguishes women from men in appearance.
That's why it is such a powerful symbol of femininity and why, conversely, if a woman even subconsciously feels she is losing interest in sex, she will cut her hair.
Dr Pam Spurr, relationships expert:
Don't be fooled when a woman cuts it all off or completely restyles it and yet denies there's anything going on.
You can bet that some sort of emotional change is taking place, and usually a dramatic cut reflects a whole new phase for her.
Hannah Betts, style and beauty expert :
When Delilah wanted to destroy the potency of Samson, she lopped off his locks.
By the same logic, when an attempt is made to curtail female sexuality, scissors will be brandished.
Rapunzel is the archetype for this sacrifice of seductiveness.
Moreover, the chop goes two ways: in the fairy story, just as Rapunzel is fleeced of the hair that symbolised her sensuality, so her lover loses the eyes with which he gazed at it.
The message: a woman shorn is a woman stripped of desire and desira
Lady Alice Doglas:
I've associated long hair with femininity and sexuality ever since I shaved my beautiful blonde locks off after attending my first punk concert aged 14.
My mother wept, but I loved it. There was something fantastically refreshing, at that age, about removing myself from anything overtly girly.
I had led a rather sheltered life at boarding school up until that point, before the punk movement swept me up in its grasp, and shaving my head meant that I was now part of that scene.
It was liberating to think that I no longer needed to conform to the little girl stereotype.
But I don't think that I was really aware of how that would affect my sexuality.
Perhaps I was too young to know, but I do remember feeling more boyish.
So it's ironic that now, as a woman in her 40s, I am so desperate to hang on to that feminine image of long locks that I have even had hair extensions to bolster what was once mine naturally.
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