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Yesterday CJCS Gen Milley contradicted SECDEF Esper on the all important question of military hair regulations during a pandemic. This led to a social media furor. For those of you new to the military hair debate, welcome. So what's the deal with hair???
Short hair took on a strong cultural salience during the Vietnam War when long haired hippies led anti-war protest movements. As the post-Vietnam force moved to all volunteer, hair became an important visual separation btwn conscripted forces & the new professional military.
This movement towards short hair as a proxy for discipline in the all volunteer force did not come without a debate. Enter "wig wars" where reservists sued for the right to wear wigs & retain long hair they argued was vital to their civilian identity.
https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/duqu12&div=24&id=&page=
https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/duqu12&div=24&id=&page=
Hair has also siloed racial & ethnic identities in the military. Sikh beards, dreadlocks, & African-American facial hair regulations have all at one point made military hair regulations exclusionary or onerous for many minorities.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/us/army-ban-on-dreadlocks-black-servicewomen.html https://www.stripes.com/news/army-allows-sikhs-permanent-exemptions-to-wear-beards-and-turbans-muslims-to-wear-hijab-1.447533
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/us/army-ban-on-dreadlocks-black-servicewomen.html https://www.stripes.com/news/army-allows-sikhs-permanent-exemptions-to-wear-beards-and-turbans-muslims-to-wear-hijab-1.447533
Finally, hair regulations have always revealed how the military views the role of women in combat--whether it be regulations about length, the girth of a bun, the appropriate color, or whether to allow ponytails. Check out Emerald Archer's amazing book:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/women-warfare-and-representation-9781474238045/
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/women-warfare-and-representation-9781474238045/
How did I learn so much about military culture & hair? A few years ago I published a piece called blue hair in the gray zone in which I argued our beliefs about what a warrior should look like would keep us from developing the best force of the future. https://warontherocks.com/2018/01/blue-hair-gray-zone/
I have never received so much reaction from an opinion piece. When I put up a display about the future force at the Naval War College w/blue haired sailors & man-bunned soldiers, I was asked by public affairs to remove the dolls. They didn't want to condone loose grooming stds.
Interested in how hair serves as a proxy for identity? Check out some of these pieces:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/590695?casa_token=7-VzbhRikk8AAAAA:wKqV3aneq4gUpgyuly7hv7ZiVPXY1gw_OOdfrft8R-mUoCj4xgx1PA0upnqWq9nOPSAsrSQHSEuiGRC5OaG9EIbJ58O4aw-l4PXWlKbaFYdwKk3MWg&seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://jpanafrican.org/docs/vol12no8/12.8-3-Smith.pdf
https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/buflr20&div=49&id=&page=
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20091203?casa_token=pjAQxQYeeuoAAAAA:Wk41MtUNmfd7SYMEtjlfk5uZniGTl97kkY1_PFaCLOrCGa1rQ-LMVvva0DVpnCEY3o2EqEKaeZnyfIKGiSfnVveaXzkIj2ZsYiuskInHdghqN6HjpQ&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://www.jstor.org/stable/590695?casa_token=7-VzbhRikk8AAAAA:wKqV3aneq4gUpgyuly7hv7ZiVPXY1gw_OOdfrft8R-mUoCj4xgx1PA0upnqWq9nOPSAsrSQHSEuiGRC5OaG9EIbJ58O4aw-l4PXWlKbaFYdwKk3MWg&seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://jpanafrican.org/docs/vol12no8/12.8-3-Smith.pdf
https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/buflr20&div=49&id=&page=
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20091203?casa_token=pjAQxQYeeuoAAAAA:Wk41MtUNmfd7SYMEtjlfk5uZniGTl97kkY1_PFaCLOrCGa1rQ-LMVvva0DVpnCEY3o2EqEKaeZnyfIKGiSfnVveaXzkIj2ZsYiuskInHdghqN6HjpQ&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
