Entanglement : The Secret Lives of Hair

When It's Not Attached To Your Head, Your Very Own Hair Takes On A Disconcerting Quality. Suddenly, It Is Strange. And Yet Hair Finds Its Way Into All Manner Of Unexpected Places, Far From Our Heads, Including Cosmetics, Clothes, Ropes, Personal And Public Collections, And Even Food. Whether Treated As Waste Or As Gift, Relic, Sacred Offering Or Commodity In A Billion-dollar Industry For Wigs And Hair Extensions, Hair Has Many Stories To Tell. Collected From Hindu Temples And Buddhist Nunneries And Salvaged By The Strand From Waste Heaps And The Combs Of Long-haired Women, Hair Flows Into The Industry From Many Sources. Entering This Strange World, Emma Tarlo Travels The Globe, Tracking Its Movement Across India, Myanmar, China, Africa, The United States, Britain And Europe, Where She Meets People Whose Livelihoods Depend On Hair. Viewed From Inside Chinese Wig Factories, Hindu Temples And The Villages Of Myanmar, Or From Afro Hair Fairs, Jewish Wig Parlours, Fashion Salons And Hair Loss Clinics In Britain And The United States, Hair Is Oddly Revealing Of The Lives Of All It Touches. From Fashion And Beauty To Religion, Politics And Cultural Identity, Emma Tarlo Explores Just How Much Our Locks And Curls Tell Us About Who We Are.--publisher. Strange Gifts -- Invisibility -- Harvest -- Tonsure -- Idolatry -- Sheitel -- Black Hair -- Race -- Wig Rush -- Combings -- Crime -- Closet Hair -- Loss -- Gift -- Animal -- Epilogue. Emma Tarlo. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "When it's not attached to your head, your very own hair takes on a disconcerting quality. Suddenly, it is strange. And yet hair finds its way into all manner of unexpected places, far from our heads, including cosmetics, clothes, ropes, personal and public collections, and even food. Whether treated as waste or as gift, relic, sacred offering or commodity in a billion-dollar industry for wigs and hair extensions, hair has many stories to tell. Collected from Hindu temples and Buddhist nunneries and salvaged by the strand from waste heaps and the combs of long-haired women, hair flows into the industry from many sources. Entering this strange world, Emma Tarlo travels the globe, tracking its movement across India, Myanmar, China, Africa, the United States, Britain and Europe, where she meets people whose livelihoods depend on hair. Viewed from inside Chinese wig factories, Hindu temples and the villages of Myanmar, or from Afro hair fairs, Jewish wig parlours, fashion salons and hair loss clinics in Britain and the United States, hair is oddly revealing of the lives of all it touches. From fashion and beauty to religion, politics and cultural identity, Emma Tarlo explores just how much our locks and curls tell us about who we are. Full of surprising revelations and penetrating insights, Entanglement will change the way you see hair for ever"--Publisher. "Brilliant." Elle Magazine "An engrossing investigation of hair that will engage readers who enjoyed Mary Roach's Stiffed ." Library Journal When its not attached to your head, your very own hair takes on a disconcerting quality. Suddenly, it is strange. And yet hair finds its way into all manner of unexpected places, far from our heads, including cosmetics, clothes, ropes, personal and public collections, and even food. Whether treated as waste or as gift, relic, sacred offering or commodity in a billion-dollar industry for wigs and hair extensions, hair has many stories to tell. Collected from Hindu temples and Buddhist nunneries and salvaged by the strand from waste heaps and the combs of long-haired women, hair flows into the industry from many sources. Entering this strange world, Emma Tarlo travels the globe, tracking its movement across India, Myanmar, China, Africa, the United States, Britain and Europe, where she meets people whose livelihoods depend on hair. Viewed from inside Chinese wig factories, Hindu temples and the villages of Myanmar, or from Afro hair fairs, Jewish wig parlours, fashion salons and hair loss clinics in Britain and the United States, hair is oddly revealing of the lives of all it touches. Winner of the Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing 2017 Journeying around the globe, through past and present, Emma Tarlo unravels the intriguing story of human hair and what it tells us about ourselves and society. When it's not attached to your head, your very own hair takes on a disconcerting quality. Suddenly, it is strange. And yet hair finds its way into all manner of unexpected places, far from our heads, including cosmetics, clothes, ropes, personal and public collections, and even food. Whether treated as waste or as gift, relic, sacred offering or product in a billion-dollar industry for wigs and hair extensions, hair has many stories to tell. Collected from Hindu temples and Buddhist nunneries and salvaged by the strand from waste heaps and the combs of long-haired women, hair flows into the industry from many sources. Entering this strange world, Emma Tarlo tracks hair's movement across India, Myanmar, China, Africa, the United States, Britain and Europe, meeting people whose livelihoods depend on this singular commodity. Whether its journey ends in an Afro hair fair, a Jewish wig parlour, fashion salon or hair loss clinic, hair is oddly revealing of the lives it touches.

When it’s not attached to your head, your very own hair takes on a disconcerting quality. Suddenly, it is strange. And yet hair finds its way into all manner of unexpected places, far from our heads, including cosmetics, clothes, ropes, personal and public collections, and even food. Whether treated as waste or as gift, relic, sacred offering or commodity in a billion-dollar industry for wigs and hair extensions, hair has many stories to tell.Collected from Hindu temples and Buddhist nunneries and salvaged by the strand from waste heaps and the combs of long-haired women, hair flows into the industry from many sources. Entering this strange world, Emma Tarlo travels the globe, tracking its movement across India, Myanmar, China, Africa, the United States, Britain and Europe, where she meets people whose livelihoods depend on hair. Viewed from inside Chinese wig factories, Hindu temples and the villages of Myanmar, or from Afro hair fairs, Jewish wig parlours, fashion salons and hair loss clinics in Britain and the United States, hair is oddly revealing of the lives of all it touches.

When no longer attached to the head, human hair is disconcerting. Whether it's being harvested in Indian temples, crafted into wigs in China or sold as extensions in the United States, hair is part of a hidden but expanding global trade most of us know nothing about. A commodity entangled in religion, politics and cultural identity, it finds second lives in wigs, toupees, rope, embroidery, paintbrushes, fertiliser and proteins. But what happens when different hair worlds collide? Entanglement is a fascinating look at the intimate stories that connect the lives of people with different aspirations and needs in distant parts of the world. Anthropologist Emma Tarlo unveils the secret global journeys of hair as she traces its paths through India, Myanmar, Africa, the United States and Europe and investigates the wide range of meanings hair has for us. A fascinating look inside a little-known industry, this book ensures you will never look at hair in quite the same way again When no longer attached to the head, human hair is disconcerting. Whether carefully preserved as a Victorian love token or displayed in museums as proof of mass atrocities, it can tells us stories about the individuals and groups to whom it was once attached. The stories aren't confined to the past either. Recycled into wigs, extensions, toupées, rope, embroidery, paintbrushes, fertilizer or protein, hair is a commodity in a legal yet largely covert trade. From scavengers who pick hair out of gutters and rubbish heaps to Hindu pilgrims who renounce their hair and dedicate it to gods in fulfillment vows, anthropologist Emma Tarlo unveils the secret global journeys of hair. Examining the preoccupations and requirements of different cultural groups, she investigates the wide range of meanings hair has for us and reveals the clashes that can occur when different hair worlds collide. A fascinating look inside an industry that most of us know nothing about,...