Hair stereotypes - input wanted!

Hi all,

I`m in the prep stages of writing a novel, and am trying to characterise my characters with distinct hairstyles. My question is, what are the stereotypes associated with different hairstyles? Particularly curly/straight? All I can think of is that perhaps curly-haired types are perceived of as troublemakers or clowns, or perhaps more individualists. Short, well groomed hair could indicate a straight-laced person, and red hair might be associated, again, with many of the curly haired stereotypes. And fair hair might be seen as innocent or angelic. Can anyone else think of other stereotypes? What would be the stereotypical style of an innocent person? An evil character? A temptress?

Also, while I`m playing twenty questions.. I`m thinking of incorporating a haircut-as-sensuality scene in the story, but I know that the standard population doesn`t have the tolerance for that like we hair enthusiasts. Any suggestions on level of depth or technique in a haircut scene?

Thanks for any input!

The innocent woman character should have long blond hair like Alice in Wonderland. The evil woman should have a short severe cut.

Highly amusing responses!
Well, my question is, why do you want to use stereotypical haircuts? yes, the angel would have blond, curly hair... but do you want to just give it away like that? How about a swarthy angel with arrow-straight black hair? A trickster/devil with the neatly tressed blond bob? The temptress could go just about any way, given that there`s a fetish about every haircut in the world! As for the haircut scene, how about a shampoo with whipped cream and strawberry sauce?

Oh, and, by the way, drolma, you are completely correct.

The angel, in the end, turns out to be the dark, antisocial one. The prophet is the man with the goatee and devilishly slanted unibrow. And the curlyhaired blonde is none other than the devil herself.

After all.. if the devil is such a deceptive character, why would he go around dressing all ugly anyway?

Why use stereotypes? As one writer to another, stereotypes of ANY kind are to be avoided. Why focus on hair any way? Hair is the last thing readers really think about unless you are planning on making an issue of it...

"I`m sorry, Alicia, but with short straight blonde hair, cut in a chin length bob, I cannot love you."
"Oh, Robert, if only I had bright red hair cut into a pixie style then I would have your heart!"
"No, Alicia, my heart belongs to Sally who has long wavy black hair with no bangs held in a tight bun."
"Oh, Robert, if only I didn`t have bangs!"

You see? It doesn`t really matter. If anything, red headed women WILL stand out and will be expected to be saucy or otherwise strong willed but that is art imitating life (*knows many red heads*)

Love luck and jelly fish!

StarRaven,

Depending on the story or writer, I could agree or disagree with you.

It`s true, if someone is writing on a pop fiction level, your example of hair discussion would be positively silly. And it`s true, I don`t really care if Mrs. X has a blonde pageboy or a long red braid, although something like a mohawk would certainly add something to the character.

However, a story isn`t entirely about the dialogue. A story is just as much about the "halo of blonde curls" and "ratty black locks like Medusa`s snakes", to use a few stereotypes, to perpetuate an perception of a character. As a writer, you must be aware of the "show, don`t tell" manner of writing. Hair, body types and body language, mannerisms, and the like, are the sort of descriptive components of the character that can be manipulated to allow the reader to form an opinion about a character, in addition to his or her actions and dialogue.

As I explained previously, the reason I`m trying to survey universal hair stereotypes is to build an apparent image of my characters which is later shattered in the novel. So, in that case, I think you might agree that stereotypes are beneficial, and even necessary. How can you mislead your reader to believe that a character is evil without building on stereotypes? Obviously, though, there is certainly a difference between writing "Evilline had black hair and wore all black and was always frowning and lived in a haunted house" and "Suzy glanced over at me in that loathsome way of hers, her eyes nearly buried behind a black veil of hair".

Also, the reason why I`ve focused on hair in particular (aside from this being a hair discussion forum) is because I have a scene in which a character gets his head shaved. Not as homage to all the hair enthusiasts out there, but because hair plays a role in identity, warmth etc etc, and all the metaphors involved. Thus, because the shaved character is portrayed as pure and innocent (again, not such a true description by the time the ending rolls around) I`m trying to get a census of what might be most broadly perceived as an "innocent" hairstyle. Shaving the head of an innocent is, in some way, stripping away of the innocence. And finally, because I am a strong supporter of unity in writing, I need to ground this scene to the rest of the story with continual reference to hair and its roles, including some subtle foreshadowing.

So I hope that helps you understand why I have a need to understand hair stereotypes. You are absolutely right about stereotypes being tacky and useless in general, and I will certainly remind myself to use stereotype only as much as possible, but in the certain case of this particular novel, where misleading & confusing the reader is integral to the plot, it is also a necessity.

BEWARE STOCK CHARACTERS DWELL HERE!!!!

What kind of story are you writing? If it is a dimestore romance, then such a use of stock characters is not only acceptable, it is almost a requirement.

Don`t mind me; this is where I am going to rant and lecture for a moment. Take the following with a grain of salt (or perhaps a tablespoon).

Even if you use hair to make readers see characters as something that they are not... the dark haired temptress is really a prude, the blonde headed bob-cut innocent is really the evil one, It`s been done to death!

As for the head shaving thing: Cutting of hair when it is mentioned at length in a story is very important, very cathartic and almost religious, depending on the characters and the setting. For instance, let us say we have a novel in which the female protagonist is captured by the antagonist. now our hero has long black hair which we mention during the course of the novel is fixed very beautifully on several occasions by a certain assistant who is a slave to the antagonist, but who is set free later by the protagonist. This is important, because when the hero and the servant are captured again, the servant is forced to cut the protagonist`s mid-back length hair into a "pixie."

The antagonist tells our hero that he can do what ever he wants and that her hair was a source of vanity on the part of the hero. The hero replies "Hair is transient, it is always changing. Other things are more solid... yadda yadda yadda!"

The servant, meanwhile is so distressed over having cut her mistresses hair, she kills herself by leaping off of a castle turret.

In such a case as seen here, the hair is an accesory to one of the sub-plots, not central to forming the character, nor to forming an image of the character. The job of the writer is to create dynamic characters without resorting to the use of stock traits (one of my characters in my novel has blue and green wavy or curly hair, this only serves to identify her in one small section of the novel and is not really neccesary to her character other than completing the picture of her in the readers mind. She is not a wild person, on the contrary she is a high level priestess &c.)

Stock traits are about as bad as stock characters. The avrage reader will not form his/her opinion based on the description (good descriptions are too spread out--not just shoved into a little slot just as the character steps into the story). I myself watch how the character acts. This in itself lays down the groundwork for the "rules" of writing. (If you do not understand the "rules" see Scream I, II, or III, where they explain the rules of horror films.) A good student of television can usually tell 15 min or so into a program who lives, who dies and the basic plot structure including the resolution.

The point (lost somewhere in my rant) is this: Stop taking characters, character traits, and plots out of the stock pile.

***End teacher lecture here, forgive me if I have offended anyone, it was meant to better the world of writing in general***

Forgive me if I sounded rude in my last post, I did not mean to offend.

I understand that "the good stories are timeless" and "all the good ideas and writing cliches have already been done," but my point was that most readers will not focus on hair stereotypes, such as colour, ect, more than they will focus on actions and manner.

I am sorry if I am restating something that you see as obvious, I fear that some people do not see it so. I am not only a writer, but I am also a college level writing tutor, and stock traits and characters are one of my pet peeves. The loyal butler, the maid/mistress, ect... I suppose I am used to lectuing students about it.

"If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended, that you were but sleeping here, while these visons did appear, else the Puck a liar call, and so goodnight unto you all. Give me your hands if we be friends, and Robing shall restor amends."
--Midsummer Night`s Dream, William Shakespeare

Hi Jennifer,

Amen. I could not agree with you more.

In the early 1980s I was paid to write a monthly column for a Teen Magazine called EQ (they went out of biz eventually) and during the time I wrote the column I worried incessantly about the thoughts of others and their opinions of my column. It really cramped my style and looking back at those columns my writing was stiff and my normal humor was nowhere to be seen.

Now that I am older (and hopefully a little wiser) I write totally from my heart and it flows so much better. :-) I also let my humor out.

Ironically I rarely received feedback on my EQ columns but I get so much email and response from the writings I do now for various publications that it is confirmation that writing from the heart is the only way to go.

You are a very insightful lady. Thank you for sharing.

Best wishes,
Karen

Bess,

I think you have a great idea. It is classic deconstruction. (Sorry. I am starting to spill over into lit theory...) For those still wondering: Deconstruction is where a text sets up binary oppositions or stereotypes (light and dark, black and white, good and evil, etc.) and collapses the oppositions. In Woody Allen`s "The Purple Rose of Cairo" the world of the movie the heroine watches and the real world bleed into one another, with characters crossing over to participate in one another`s worlds.


Here are the hair/color stereotypes I can think of off the bat:

Red hair: passion, fire, short temper, temptress

Blonde hair: shallow personality OR extreme innocence and purity

Brown hair: plain, stable, ordinary

Black hair: evil, temptress

Blue eyes: innocence

Of course, judging a character by his or her hair (as you are planning to point out) is as silly as always casting a soprano in the heroine`s role in an opera. Silly, but it is done out of convention.

One avenue of pursuit that may help in your hair stereotypes quest would be old movies. Some quite clearly violate stereotypes, but many play happily along with them. Also, if you`re up to the heavy reading, Shakespeare`s dark sonnets and more traditional examples of the Petrarchan sonnet will help set up some traditional stereotypes. (Try Sonnets 127 and 130 for starters.)

Have you seen Bedazzled? It could also be quite eye-opening about appearance stereotypes, both perpetuating and deconstructing them.