Blood Symbolism: Thicker than water? (Special Topic 2)

It is quite common for newcomers to anthropology to believe that there is a scientific basis to their beliefs about blood. However, many of our beliefs about blood are not scientifically testable or provable through science. They belong to another domain of belief; a domain which we could call 'worldview' (following Sapir & Whorf), or 'religious' (following Geertz), or 'ideology' (following Marxists). Maybe I'll just call it 'symbolic' here.

So let's analyse our thinking about blood. Imagine I time travel back to the 1800s and meet a nobleman. He tells me that his blood is blue. I point out that in his last battle when he was struck by an arrow, red fluid splattered everywhere. He agrees that red blood was visible, but still contradicts me. The blue blood is an invisible quality. It might even be hidden within the red blood I saw. The blue blood is not a visible, scientific quality. It is what we might call word view, or religious belief, or ideology, or simply symbolic belief.

To take a contemporary example.  If I say I will stand up for and protect my mother, "because blood is thicker than water", I'm saying that we share the same blood and that blood is extremely important. However, scientifically speaking, her blood type is different to mine. So what is this blood we share? It is an imaginary substance which I care much more about than trivial issues like whether my mother is A and I'm AB. But this idea of sharing blood with my mother is culturally specific! As we will see below, the Alwad 'Ali Bedouins don't believe I share blood with my mother.


Indeed, blood has poignant symbolic meanings in many different cultures. In this advanced special topic, I start out be comparing a scientific and cultural understanding of blood in European, Bedouin, and Melanesian cultures. Then I look at the two kinds of blood among Awlad 'Ali Bedouins as providing a strong tie with male ancestors. This contrasts strong with Melanesian ideas which see blood as contaminating and feminine.  To make sense of this, I use a Geertzian analysis of symbols.

Blood symbolism in European cultures

Thicker than water

To analyse blood symbolism, we could start by considering "heart" and "blood" in European cultures. These body components have strong symbolic connotations. When we say, for example, "she plays piano with a lot of heart" we don't mean that she takes a lot of her cardiac muscle out of her chest and strikes the piano keys with it. Similarly, if I say "I have got bad blood with my teacher", I'm not literally referring to plasma and platelets. Yet some of us feel heartache and broken-hearted, literally, in the area of our cardiac muscle.

Scientifically speaking, of course, members of a family have different blood types--and that's just the start of it. And yet we feel as if, literally, our family members share the same blood.  This symbolic aspect of blood and heart is something we know and feel, strongly, but it's certainly not science rather it's culture. So when we say to our brother "blood is thicker than water" we are not talking about the blood  you can see using a microscope in a lab. Indeed, you'll never find the symbolic qualities of blood that way. And that's one thing that holds true of blood symbolism in all culture. So how is blood understood in different cultures?

Blood symbolism in Bedouin cultures

Blood symbolism among the Awlad 'Ali Bedouins

In Veiled Sentiments, Abu-Lughod describes life in a community of Awlad 'Ali  Bedouins. Her classic ethnography focuses on ghinnawas, deeply personal women's poems about love, longing, etc. If you're interested in more about the book please check out my summary of Chapter 1:

However, my interest lies in the book's description of symbolic aspects of blood. As Abu-Lughod explains it, the Alwad 'Ali Bedouins share some of European ideas about blood. Indeed, blood seems even more significant. Everything important aspect of identity and social life is tied up with blood:

key principles of social organization: geneaology and a tribal order based on the closeness of agnates (paternal relatives) and tied to a code of morality, that of honor and modesty...[These] principles define individuals' identities and the qualities of their relationships to others These principles are gathered up in the Alwad 'Ali notions of "blood" (40-41).

The Alwad 'Ali have two conceptions of blood. But before analyzing these two conceptions, we need to get a handle on how they understand family. This relates to the idea of patrilineality.

Patrlineal

For a description of patrlineality in Bedouin kinship see this superb blog: https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/marriage/marriage_3.htm

Alternatively, I attempt to describe it here, but please get a pen and paper for yourself

Finally, another way to understand patrilineal blood, think of 'traditional' surnames (second names) in England. My name is Nicholas Herriman, so "Herriman" is my surname. My father's father is a Herriman. My father, me, my siblings, my children, my brother's children, for example, all belong the same patrline. They are Herrimans. However, my sister's children, my aunt's children belong to their husband's patriline. They do not take the Herriman name. And, if we were Bedouins, we would not think that they were part of my family.

(There is one big problem with my analogy. In many European cultures the woman takes her husband's surname, as if she now belongs to her husband's people. Amongst the Bedouins, my sister belongs to my people, once and for all).

If you're still unclear on the concept of "patrilineal descent", please refer to a book on kinship; the standard undergraduate work, Schutsky, Manual for Kinship Analysis. In its glossary "PATRLINEAL DESCENT" is defined as "a system which affiliates ego with a group of kinsmen, all of whom are related to him through males"(92). The author provides more detail on pages 24-28.

Once you're clear on patrilineal descent, we can move onto the two kinds of blood described by Abu-Lughod. 

Asl: Blood of pedigree

One is asl. Asl is the original blood that they share with the forebears who once lived in Arabia before moving to North Africa. All Awlad 'Ali Bedouins have this blood. It's their pedigree.

One analogy might be to the idea that all nobles and aristocrats in England have 'blue blood'. Their bodily substance was apparently distinct from that of commoners. If you say of a merchant community that "business is in their blood", that's a similar idea.

This "asl" is what makes the Bedouin men fearless and generous and Bedouin women modest and honourable. Lacking this asl, the Nile Egyptians, Christians and others will never attain the Bedouin's moral character.

Garaba: Blood of patrilineal kin

The other idea of blood is garaba. This is like the blood we talk of when we say "blood is thicker than water". It is the blood that we share with members of our family. One difference with Bedouins is that the the family or blood is understood to descend only down a male line. Put another way, this blood is patrlineal.

In this presentation, I summarize the sections of Veiled Sentiments, in which Abu-Lughod describes the two kinds of blood:

Blood symbolism in Melanesia

Melanesia has an astonishing variety of societies. If we consider just one part of Melanesia, the island of New Guinea, a great diversity presents itself. One general point of difference emerges: for the Bedouin blood is honourable (asl) and descends (garaba) down the male line; in New Guinea, blood is evil and contemptible and is passed down from the mother.

Poisonous Blood: Menstruating Men

 One theme that emerges in many of the New Guinea cultures is a fear or terror, among men, of blood as an evil, feminising force. The classic account of this comes from the island of Wogeo in Hogbin's, Island of Menstruating Men. I have summarised a few pages of this, in which Hogbin describes men cutting their penises in order to shed contaminating blood.

The Wogeo believe women have a deadly power over men. The touch of a menstruating woman can kill a man. So men blame women for all their problems, but women also blame men. Furthermore, Wogeo men and women wish remain separate as from each other as possible. The problem, as they see it, is that contact is unavoidable.

Sex should avoided before embarking on important ventures. Nevertheless, sex with spouses, not to mention adultery, is common. This is because, though enjoyable, sex is also dangerous

So cleansing from this contamination of contact is necessary. You cleanse yourselfe by menstruating. Menstruating is easy for women; men, by contrast, must periodically cut their penises. So, periodically, a Wogeo man:

goes to a lonely beach, and wades out till the water is up to his knees. He stands there with legs apart and...induces an erection. When ready he pushes back the foreskin and hacks the glans.

Blood and Semen

A chapter by Hauser-Schaublin on blood shows how in several mainland New Guinea societies blood is thought to be contaminating and associated with women. Semen (or sometimes grease) is associated with men. Both substances are necessary to create babies, but the semen provides the hard, durable elements of the body, like bones and teeth. Furthermore, this semen dates back to the ancestral father of the clan and is passed on down the male line. The blood of the women by contrast dies with her. Semen is perpetual; blood is temporal. This presentation provides an overview of the fist half of that chapter:

Summary

In various Melanesian, European, and Bedouin cultures blood is something that is passed down from one or both parents to children. Blood explains certain aspects or characteristics in children. But who passes down the blood, what characteristics are associated with this blood, and what implications result differ markedly between the cultures. 

Geertzian Analysis

Anthropology furnishes us with many other fascinating examples of the symbolism associated with blood. Using different anthropological theories provides with different insights. Let's consider Geertz's theory.

Geertz would say that this blood symbolism is 'really real'. It has nothing to do with scientific knowledge of the world. Rather it something that lies behind appearances. In other words, you could go back to the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV, in 1700s France, and convince the nobility of our contemporary scientific understanding of blood types, plates, plasma, haemoglobin etc. But you would not be able to convince them that in a 'really real' sense (in the reality of the universe that lies behind the appearances of things) that their blood was really blue.

Similarly when I think of blood being thicker than water, I believe that in a true sense my kin (and I understand my kin in a typical Anglo-Australian way) share the same blood as me. Again, it's not the blood types, plates, plasma, haemoglobin understanding of blood. Instead it's something deeper, more profound.

Further Research

That's what Geertz might say. What about you? Which theory do you think would be most illuminating when considering the blood symbolism described above?

Bibliography

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1986. Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society. Berkeley, University of California Press.

Geertz, C 1966. 'Religion as a Cultural System', in M Banton (ed.), Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, Tavistock Publications, London, pp. 1-46.

Hauser Schaublin, 1993. "Blood: Cultural effectivenes of biological conditions," in Hauser-Schäublin, Brigitta Miller, Barbara Diane (Eds.). Blood. The cultural effectiveness of biological concepts, pp. 83-106.

Hogbin, I, 1996. The island of menstruating men: Religion in Wogeo, New Guinea, Waveland Press, Long Grove, IL.

Hair Symbolism: What does your hair say about you? (Special Topic 1)

Zappa being Zappa

What does your hair say about you?

What do you hope your hair says about you? I guess I want my hair to say, "I don't really care about hair, I'm above all that". In other words, I pretend that I don't care! But I would be embarrassed if an uptown barber gave me a fancy haircut for free, because it would undermine my carefully cultivated "I-don't-care" image.  So I use hair as a symbol, a vehicle to convey meaning. Again, what does your hair say about you? If you are a woman with long hair, should you tie it up? If you are a guy, how long do you let it grow? If you are a Jewish woman, should you wear a wig. If you are Afro-American, should you rock an afro?

New Directions in Hair Research

In the 2000s, the question of African-American hair in the United States became a focus of anthropological research. The Afro-American hair debate is something I am not fully across, but several observations seem to be central to it: 

Ice Cube in pre-gangsta days with beautiful jheri curls.

1. African-Americans were subjected to slavery. 
2. African–Americans still experience racism and disadvantage. 
3. Many African-Americans share a sense of kinship based on race (think of “brothers from different mothers”). If you are African-American, you might consider other “black” women as your sisters. 
4.  In many African-American cultures, hair care is crucial. For instance, if a child has 'bad' hair other people will assume the child is neglected. In other words, the state of your hair is believed to reflect your overall health.  For another example, see the jokes Eddie Murphy makes about a fictional hair curling product ("Soul Glo" and 'jheri curls') in his movie "Coming to America".
5. Hair in this context also has implications of politics and identity. For example, when Black Panthers wore 'afro' haircuts with pride; it was a statement of their radical politics and pride in their African identity. 
   
6.  African-American hair requires different treatment and care compare to other types of hair.

In her "White Parents, Black Care", Mariner discusses how haircreates problems for White parents who adopt African-looking children. Mariner's argument seems to go like this: For many Whites, the state of a child's hair is not a big issue. For African-Americans hair symbolizes a child's wellbeing--poorly kept hair means a poorly kept child. When a White mother takes her Black adopted child to the grocery store, Black people judge the White mother. It's not easy for the White mother to care for the Black child's hair, because Black hair requires a special set of skills. Mariner ties this hair into general questions of race, kinship, history, and racism. She also ties the question of White adoption of Black children  into a specific line of anthropological inquiry into the symbolism of Black hair:

Scholars are certainly aware of the importance of hair in transracial adoption, exploring interracial adoptive couples’ experiences of hair-care classes aimed at white adopters (Dalmadge 2006, 221), the use of hair as an idiom to discuss the social constructedness of race among adoptees (Patton 2000, 80), the way hair serves as both metaphor and method for “weaving” a Black child into a white family (Rothman 2005), and hair’s potential for connecting adoptive families to African American communities (Seligmann 2013, 160– 62). However, with the exception of Rothman (2005), hair has not received more than fleeting attention in most scholarly accounts of transracial adoption, despite its immense importance for understanding American Blackness.

Ciara with cornrows. Not an easy hairsytle for white parents to give to their black adopted children 

Mariner and these scholars have opened a new and fascinating direction in research on hair. Most of the earlier anthropological writing contributed to a great debate.

Debates in Anthropology

Before this issue of African American hair emerged, the symbolism of hair was debated. Periodically, a debate breaks out in anthropology. Sometimes everybody is civil and all ill-feelings are carefully subdued; Redfield vs Oscar Lewis was rather tame. Fortunately, for those who like a good fight, things often get very nasty, very quickly. Freeman vs Mead; Chagnon vs everyone; showed this. Their spitefulness added entertainment and luster to already fascinating differences of opinion.

The Great Hair Debate

This brings us to the Great Hair Debate. No, not a debate about what hair looks great on me. But rather anthropologists debating about the significance of hair. One such debate--mostly subdued regrettably--relates to the symbolic significance of hair. Hair might seem like a random topic around which to form a debate. However, it turns out to be surprisingly fruitful and rich. There are many possible reasons for this including:

1990s Glamor boy,
David Beckham

• we all have hair.
• it seems to be more maleable, alterable etc. than, for example, noses or legs (I cant easily tie my nose up, or put it in piggy tails).
• it constantly grows

Hair cutting often features in rites-of-passage (rituals which transform your status), in particular, in initiations. Consider, for example, the first haircut of a newborn where I do fieldwork, on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This helps initiate them into the community.

Different Theories

For an overview of different theories of hair symbolism, please see my presentation:

Please feel free to use my slides. Below are some of the authors I cover in the presentation.

Frazer: hair is magically connected with the person / safe place for keeping soul

For Frazer, hair is a symbol of the person by being part of the person. We make a magical connection between the two:

For the savage believes that the sympathetic connexion which exists between himself and every part of his body continues to exist even after the physical connexion has been broken

 This is what Frazer called the contagious (not homeopathic) type of sympathetic magic. Read Golden Bough, Chapters 21, Sections 6, 7, & 8.

Also, using Frazer we can argue that in many cultures there is a belief that the life force or the soul resides in the hair:

the idea that the soul may be deposited for a longer or shorter time in some place of security outside the body, or...in the hair, is found in the popular tales of many races. 

Frazer calls this "the external soul in inanimate things".

Berg: Hair unconscious expression of the phallus

In The Unconscious Significance of Hair, Berg argues that hair unconsciously symbolizes a penis. Cutting your hair is associated with sexual restraint; think of monks, nuns, widows in India shave their head (or so my student Durandara tells me). By contrast growing hair is all about sexual freedom: think hippy, biker, 'cock rock' heavy metal bands. Berg says this is because we unconsciously equate our hair with a penis:

We are repeating the unsolved struggle between instinct drives...and the castrating efforts of the repressing forces, at the instigation...of the superego. The whole conflict has been displaced upwards to the socially visible hair of the head and the face.

Matted hair, dreadlocks, is a symbol, for my devious unconscious (in particular, the 'id' the seat of desire to love and kill), of the penis. Cutting hair is a symbol (for my saintly unconscious superego) of castration.



This is a widely discredited book. Could we say that Berg's approach is Freudian? Like Freud, Berg asserts that there is an unconscious mind which expresses itself through symbols. The unconscious mind gives the symbols meanings the conscious mind is unaware of. But Freud was opposed to this general or even universal view of symbols. For Freud, each person's unconscious mind creates symbols in its own way. I think Freud was far more subtle and adaptable in his thinking than Berg. And as Freud never asserted Berg's argument, I'm not sure if it's fair to say Berg represent a solid representation of Freud's views. Rather, my feeling is that his representation of Freud's views is shonky.

Leach: Hair is what you want people to think you are feeling, not what you are actually feeling 

Leach tries to establish the significance of hair (or any other symbol) in anthropology is opposed to psychology.

If a monk shaves his hair, he is demonstrating and showing to others that he has faith, regardless of his actual feelings. He might actually desire women and act on that desire. So hair is about public significance, not unconscious (private) significance. Leach argues that hair might have unconscious or private significance; however, this is not for anthropologists to worry about.


Put another way, Leach wouldn't think that a monk with shaved hair is deprived of sex. Leach thinks that the monk is trying to show the world he is celibate; but the monk may in fact be the village stud, with a long history of saucy and sordid sexual encounters! For Leach, the  monk is consciously trying to send a message. It might be the exact opposite of how he maintains his private of personal life. 


Leach agrees with Berg that hair in the West hair might have an unconscious significance to individuals; it might mean the penis. In might thus be that when Westerners trim their hair they are expressing castration anxieties. But Berg's (matted hair is a neglected penis) is ethnocentric. It could would only apply to a neurotic European pseudo-ascetic who has matted locks of hair. His hair is could be seen as a symptom of psychological malady. But, Leach insists, this would not work in India, where hair has a conscious, overt, manifest meaning; it is explicitly associated with a penis. In India, Berg's theory cannot work. 

In summary, Leach argues that (public) symbols are about expressing what you SHOULD feel. Private symbols may relate what you ACTUALLY of unconsciously feel, but what an individual feels should not be the concern of anthropologists.

For more detail read this section from the original Leach; for a summary, you might also like to look at my blog on Leach. 

Gluckman

Gluckman, in "Witchcraft and Gossip", makes a similar point; namely, we anthropologists should not confuse what Gluckman calls the "psychical" (our true emotions and feelings) with the "psychological" (actions and stated feelings).

Obeyeskere: Hair has both private and public meaning of hair (& and can be a rejection of phallus)

For Obeyesekere, hair can have both private and public meaning. If I cut my hair when I found out my brother has cancer, and refuse to cut it again at least until he's cured, then it is probably a personal meaning (no one else knows about it unless I tell them). If I cut my hair because I become a Buddhist monk, then it also has a public meaning. 

Obeysekere discusses female ascetics who grow what we would call dreadlocks. They call their dreadlocks "penises". So it's definitely not an unconscious meaning; it's very conscious. But, Obeyesekere says, said that when female ascetics cut their hair then it is public expression of devotion to a goddess; a private expression of the rejection of her husband.

Hallpike: Hair expresses discipline & authority

Hallpike moves away from the private-public meaning debate and instead considers hair in a more strongly social context. For Hallpike, long hair symbolizes freedom from constraints of society (think of hippies, bikers and hermits) cutting hair symbolizes submitting to rules and authority (think of pilgrims at Mecca, soldiers, monks, and initiates):

 "long hair symbolizes being outside of society and... the cutting of hair  symbolizes re-entering society, or living under a particular disciplinary regime within society" (262)

For instance, shaving the hair of a new prisoner, army conscript, or monks and nuns symbolises their entry into a world of discipline and submission to authority.

Mageo: Hair expresses active sexuality

Mageo argues that in Samoa hair expressed active sexuality. This Word file contains a selection from Mageo, JM 1994 'Hairdos and Don'ts: Hair Symbolism and Sexual History in Samoa', Man, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 407-432v. If it's hard to read just go to the original at pp 408, 410-411

Douglas: cut hair is not whole/holy

Using Douglas we can also develop a theory of hair. Nails and hair when attached to the body are fine but when cut are polluting. Douglas also relies on the idea that the hair is a part of the self. Holiness comes from wholeness. Cut hair is is filthy.

Synott: hair belongs to different zones

In passing, only on pages 104, 123-124, Synott's book The Body Social provides a radically different approach. Synott suggests we need to look further than just at head hair and whether it's cut. We need to look at the different hair zones (head, face, and body) and different ways altering hair (cutting, styling, coloring, and adding). From these different types of deviation and zones, you can use hair to express identity. If you can't access this book, you might look at my summary.

Application: Samson & Delilah

OK now I want you to try to apply the different theories of hair (and from the unit) to the Bible story of Samson & Delilah (as told in Judges 16 NIV). Delilah succeeds in getting Samson to admit the secret of his strength lies in his long hair. We learn that Samson:

he fell in love with a woman... whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great

strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.. With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it. So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man"... After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”... Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,“Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands,the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.” While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. When they stood him among the pillars, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” Now the temple was crowded with

men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other,  Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

Medusa

Another story I want you to analyze comes from the Greek myth of Perseus and Andromeda. I've edited a version I found in the Ancient History Encyclopedia:

 Perseus was the son of Danae and Zeus. It was foretold to Perseus's grandfather, Acrisius, that he would be killed by his grandchild. Acrisius hurled his daughter (Danae) and grandson (Perseus) in a wooden chest into the sea. The mother and son were rescued by Dictys. Dictys raised Perseus to manhood. However, Dictys' brother Polydectes fell in love with Perseus' mother and wished to marry her.  But Perseus was protective of his mother. Polydectes decided to trick Perseus; he held a large banquet and asked that his guests bring horses for their gifts. But Perseus did not have a horse to give, so he offered any gift the king would name. Polydectes seized his opportunity to disgrace and even get rid of Perseus. Polydectes asked for the head of the only mortal Gorgon: Medusa. Medusa was a formidable foe, since her hideous appearance was able to render any onlooker into stone. Most authors assert that Perseus was able to behead Medusa with a reflective bronze shield.

 ... In later myths (mainly in Ovid) Medusa was the only Gorgon to possess snake locks, because they were a punishment from Athena. Accordingly, Ovid relates that the once beautiful mortal was punished by Athena with a hideous appearance and loathsome snakes for hair for having been raped in Athena's temple by Poseidon. Perseus, with the aid of divine gifts, found the Gorgons' cave and slayed Medusa by beheading her. 

 Application 

Which theories would you use to understand Samson & Delilah? Which theories for Medusa?

Manscaping

Another phenomenon that emerged in the 2010s or earlier was 'manscaping'. This is a joking term that refers to men shaving body hair--under the arms, on the arms, on the back, the legs and, of course, around the pubic region! This advertisement contains some intriguing symbolism and humour to address an issue that seems uncomfortable:

At the same time head hair and facial hair seems to have got longer. We could analyse this using Synott, but what do you think it says about cultural change? 

Hair extension

If you're interested, you might like to extend your study of hair by looking at these sources:

     Boroughs, M, Cafri, G & Thompson, JK 2005, ‘Male body depilation: Prevalence and associated features of body hair removal’, Sex Roles, vol. 52, no’s. 9-10, pp. 637-644.

     Delaney C, 1994, ‘Untangling the meaning of hair in Turkish society’, Anthropological Quarterly, vol.67, no.4, pp. 159-172
     Firth, Raymond. "Hair as Private Asset and Public Symbol." In Symbols. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1973, pp. 262-298.

     Hershman, P 1974, ‘Hair, Sex and Dirt’, Man, New Series, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 274-298
     Hiltebeitel, Alf & Miller, Barbara D., 1998, Hair : its power and meaning in Asian cultures, State University of New York Press, Albany.

     Horseman 1974 "Hair, sex and dirt" Man, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Jun., 1974), pp. 274-298

      Strathern A, 1989,  ‘Flute, birds, and hair in the Hagen’, Anthropos institute, Vol. 84, No. 1/3   

      Anthony Synnott, "Shame and Glory: A Sociology of Hair" The British Journal of Sociology Vol. 38, No. 3 (Sep., 1987), pp. 381-413

     Terry, G & Braun, V 2016, ‘“I think gorilla-like back effusions of hair are rather a turn-off”: ‘Excessive hair’ and male body hair (removal) discourse’, Body Image, vol. 17, pp. 14-24.

Psychoanalytical Antrhropology

The hair topic in Anthropology was focused on psychology/psychoanalysis. For more on psychological anthropology, see To see a psychoanalytical approach to the image of the witch, see my blog on cannibal mother.