How a Political Anthropologist Cuts and Styles Hair

I was about to lower my eyes to say a short prayer before the worship service began, when I felt my gaze shift to three ladies walking towards their seats diagonal of me. Of particular attention was the second girl. Unlike her companions, she had a distinction among them ---- she sported a dark brown super-short hairstyle which had short, dark caramel highlights on the barber's cut. No doubt she also used if not mousse, a certain brand of wax to accentuate the choppy strands --- it was really a nice touch. Not to exaggerate, but from my view, she had to an extent stood out amongst the rest of the church members beginning from her row up to the front. Its not that members are required to wear their hair long. What I have made of my observation is that my timing in having sat where I sat was a matter of probability, that I just happened to find that all of the ladies (except for an elderly woman or two) wore their hair in that fashion. 

With that introduction out of the way, I found my own observation interesting even though I prefer a super-short hairstyle myself. I do have super-short hair, I have in many instances made it fashionable for myself and I have managed to persuade others to want to get their glorious and not-so-glorious locks butchered (just didn't follow through because the cut wouldn't suit the shape of their face). Its different when you get to see it on someone else, and only then was I able to confirm what I usually said about hair, both in conversations with my mom as well as the answer I had provided in our discussion of 'sexiness' in one of my Anthropology classes. 

The first apparent thing which would ever come to mind would be that super-short hair signaled non-conformity. There's this sense of image being conveyed, variations ranging from implying 'punk rocker' to 'fashionista' depending on the culture of your nationality. The first has to do with deviance from what the traditional had to say about soft beauty. On the other hand, the fashionista image associated with short hair has really more to do with being able to show accessories better considering that hair isn't covering them. Also, believe it or not, there are certain outfits which do look better if the person wearing them has short hair. The fashionista image also insists a break from the traditional and into the modern. Having hair cut short is a signal of agency, most especially so if the woman has a significant other who tells her his preference for medium to long hairstyles.

Hair can also be a political statement. Man is by nature also a zoon politikon, and a style can say so much about the character and outlook the person has. Ever thought that side-parts are just a matter of combing and fashion? Wrong. A person who wears his or her hair parted in the middle says that he or she is neutral --- it's not impressive, especially if in a business meeting or any event that has to do with mingling. In diplomatic training, the rule is always to wear hair parted at the side -- doesn't matter if its a left-side part or a right. Side parts insist position and decidedness.

Further, the fact that short hair has little (material), having more of the person's head and neck exposed is more than a natural or expected effect. The fact that that person had the courage and will to get such style says to the world that she has nothing to hide. Long hair has been, for many decades, treated by many as a security blanket. Although part of this can be blamed by our socialization towards a false subscription to what I like to call 'Strand Sexiness' --- This would be the perspective that holds long hair sexy and feminine because of all those cartoons we have seen while growing up, most mentionable example of goddesses exemplifying strand sexiness are Ariel (Little Mermaid) and most especially Dolores (Roger Rabbit) who is infamous for strutting around and having half of her face covered with her red hair. Dolores and succeeding characters in history who sport the same style could be the ones responsible for the anger of most mothers upon seeing their daughters hidden behind waves of strands. These, just to name a few. Under the rubric of Strand Sexiness is using hair to flirt with guys, in instances it may be effective, but its the most shallow way to go. There are other things that could be used. Why kill with locks when you can go for personality --- its more permanent.

I am among the very few in the Philippine population that does not subscribe to the perspective that short hair is just for the men. I cast blame on the methods of socialization where we have been oriented to seeing women and gender roles as provided in fairy tales and in the Disneyfication of these. On my defense, having short hair does not make one masculine just as a guy having long hair doesn't make him any less of a man. It just so happens that men were the first to get their hair cut and it suited them more than short hair suited most women. 

Hair may be a woman's crowning glory. But in this day and age, so is Agency. 

HOW AN ANTHROPOLOGIST PLAYS A VIDEO GAME I: American Mcgee's Alice

Unlike the other entries I have posted here in Minerva's, this is more of a laid-back, commentary type. These were my thoughts upon having played the game.

DOWN THE RABBIT'S HOLE, GAZING INTO A BROKEN MIRROR

It has been many years since she had last fallen down some not-so-random rabbit hole, sought advice from a caterpillar, and taken tea as the fresh company of the Hatter, hare, and dormouse. Long ago was there a defense council comprising of more than 52 --- playing cards armed with weapons in relation to their suit: hearts, spades, clubs, or diamonds --- with loyalty to the Queen of Hearts,  the woman who is known for her passion for decapitation.

These were only very few anthropomorphic entities named in the introduction of this entry --- It is not of my attempt to recite them all, but the intention to deconstruct what had been formulated by the so-called Lewis Caroll. A deconstruction, twisted, the literal 'bringing into life', a translation from text to virtual representation, 135 years later --- American Mcgee's Alice.

A meticulous macabre craft designed to take players on the wildest adventure in computer gaming, EA Games and Rogue Entertainment team with American James [the wicked disney] Mcgee in bringing the adored Alice to the computer screen. Alice is thirty-seven levels of three-dimensional madness, puzzles, and dexterity-testing controls running under a philosophical plotline. Audiences find Alice at the peak of approaching ladyhood. This aspect however, does not interfere with her frequent interaction with those of Wonderland. While in the dreamstate, in the middle of taking tea with her friends, she recieves warning of a current danger in the 'real world'. She is told that the room smells of smoke, implicating a raging fire. She awakes to find the words of caution of her friends as accurate, and rushes upstairs to her parents' bedroom with intentions of assisting them. To her mortification, she finds that the door would not budge. The fire rages, and Alice had no other choice but to leap from the corridor window under the instructions of her father who shouted from the other side of the door. Alice lands on a bed of snow, losing consciousness.

The death of her parents and the inability to rescue them had left Alice in a state of guilt, the reason behind her attempt at suicide --- evident through the slashes on the character's wrist and blood stains found on her apron, consistent with the self-inflicted wounds. This attempt was enough to place her in the custody of Rutlege Asylum. She remained there seated on the floor of her empty room, her rocking back and forth only to be interrupted by the appearance of the White Rabbit with disdain, plea of help from Alice to return to Wonderland.

SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL MAKEUP OF ALICE

Beginning with Alice back in the days of the series’ infancy purely under Lewis Carroll (where American Mcgee’s postmodernized visual interpretation of Alice along with the twisted plotline has not yet been perceived), Alice begins as a portrayal of young girls in Victorian England. This premise is partially founded on visual clues concerning the manner that Alice is dressed. The cut of the ensemble is the puff‐sleeved, peticoated dress. Blue is a particular color of preference during that period, a medium to dark shade of blue is preferred over the light tone. The white apron is to keep the blue clean.

Society had placed these children under amounts of social pressure so as to make the transition into adulthood in the soonest time possible. This is the explanation behind the proliferation of varied Finishing Schools whose objectives were to accept girls who would ‘graduate’ later as ladies. Inclusive of lessons taught by this socializing institution vary from ethics, table manners, intellectual activities ‐‐‐ in essence anything which may assist in the development of a lady’s culture. It is this expectation which had caused great acute mental and emotional stress upon many children of this age.

Returning to the character of Alice, it may be entertained that this is one of the reasons behind Alice’s mental creation of Wonderland, so as to provide a temporary escape from the psychological demands of society. Ladies like Alice
experience a great sense of hopelessness and identity issues. Although it may be said that a little imagination may refresh a tired spirit, Alice seems to be more participative in her crafted world than in the real‐world setting. She has preferred to be withdrawn, thus discouraging her from interaction with other people within her age range ‐‐‐ something of course which is tremendously unhealthy. In the game, Alice is confronted with the situation where she is somehow compelled to ‘grow up faster’ due to the untimely death of her parents.

MARXIST PHILOSOPHICAL OVERTONES PRESENT IN THE GAME

The game’s visual and traditional literary plotline touches varied philosophical themes, but for the sake of brevity and coherence, this commentary will focus on Marxism.

Two provinces exemplify the central premise of Marxism: Looking Glass Land and Behind the Looking Glass.

Marxism is a catch‐all referring to treatises written by communist proponent Karl Marx, on his perspectives of the relationship and interactions between the working class (proletariat) and the capitalists (bourgeoisie).

It is easily deduced that it is the Mad Hatter who is the portrayal of the capitalist identity. His main limbs are connected to his body through gears, suggestive that the Hatter is not man, but machine. Complementing this feature is his mechanized head filled with gadgetry. The Hatter is the adult authority and personality, wherein being an adult also includes the necessity to be at work or find some useful employment. The Marxist conception of work is equated with toil, a negative connotation of labor wherein the worker is not seen as human, but seen as a machine, operating on a three‐step cycle of sleep‐eat‐work and bound to repeat the cycle on the next day. This is what scholars such as Manuel Dy like to refer to as the ‘corporate slave world’. Hatter’s obsession with time is a similar feature with capitalists wherein that old adage falls in ‐‐‐ ‘time is gold (money)’. It must be clarified that the situation that the Dorm Mouse and the Hare were in, contrary to most LPs or guides done and written, does not insist torture, but mere experimentation. If it was indeed for the purpose of torture, the Hatter would not have the courtesy to use an anesthetic. Players are reminded of the line spoken by the Dorm Mouse, who commented ‘his medicine makes me tired’. 

The Hatter was attempting to develop the first and the ideal man‐machine ‐‐‐ a machine capable of working non‐stop since body parts which easily tire from labor are replaced with metal/mechanical parts. This is also seen in the machine located behind the plate glass where children are taken, smelted with large fragments of bronze or copper, and come from the machine as Robot foes.

The part where the camera pans to view the robot foe-creating machine is an innovative critique which illustrates the transition from innocent child to a grown up conformist who has lost all sense of individuality. Its form insists that it would work for the system, the reinforcement of a cog-like mentality.

I'VE FINISHED MY CUP OF TEA..

Those who have some mastery of the original Alice in Wonderland series are sure to appreciate the postmodernization American Mcgee's Alice had to offer. From its renditions of the characters, morphing of scenes, intellect and will. All of Wonderland is dependent on the player to bring the story to see HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

Introductory Questions Usually Raised in Physical Anthropology Classes

1. How do humans differ from animals?

          Aside from possessing rationality and intellect, humans are the only species to ponder their own existence and situatedness or position in the spectrum of life on earth. Humans are also the only species to develop language and culture as means of buffering nature's challenges.

2. How is predisposition a common feature between humans and animals?

        Culture isn't genetically determined, but predisposition to assimilate and function in culture is influenced by biological factors. In this light, non-humans can be said to have (some) culture. 

3. It is said that only 2% separates man from chimps. What is this 2%?

        Value and use for Semiotics --- Only humans can use symbols. 

The Habagat Rant Part II

Another HABAGAT related post, this time brought to my page by Fitness Philosopher, my fiance Abner:

A Moment of Sympathy: Let's Pray For The Flood Victims 

REALITY BEGINS WITH IMAGINATION: Vermeer in the Corporate World

There is little to no difficulty in saying what an artist is or what isn't the making of an artist. Then again, the question should be rephrased as 'who is an artist?'

Johannes Vermeer was born and raised in Delft, working with his own original
set of paints and with the most crucial element called time. For the artist... time in plenty and an abundance of ideas are the necessary basics of creativity [138:3]. Through the entire course of his career, he was driven purely by soul. The house help praised him on his patience and ambition for the perfect effects of a well-thought-about stroke. His wife on the other hand, with another child on the way, had thought of his tact quite differently. ...if you can't sell your work regularly and quickly, you can either starve or do something else [138:3]. For Vermeer, his priority was not just the craft, but the craft in the making.
 

His perspective of the living he makes out of painting is but a reward for his duty to the canvas. It is more on money follows from passion, and not passion follows from money. He is a lesson to the lot of us. When was there ever a time that we were paid for doing something we really loved?

One of the things I love about Vermeer is his many "colours". Indian yellow of
bile. Lead white from the cupboard. Ruby shellac, gum arabic and wine skin -- drizzled with oil and ground to a smooth paste for his classic shade of verdigris. Linseed oil and bone black (a sudden fascination for coal). Invention is the shaping spirit that re-forms fragments into new wholes, so that even what has been familiar can be seen fresh... [146:1]. And his search for more colors did not stop. My respect for him came through his many processes. Just the way he prepares his palettes already have much to say about him.

To understand what art is, the artist must commune with it. Ours is a world where convenience is king. What we need is up for grabs at the local store. Most of them have now become synthetic, and so along with our preferences. A certain art has died after. Vermeer's paint is already art: it is an abstraction of nature. He paints the whole that it is, the whole that is lost to us as we pass it, eat it, chop it down. It is through the painter, writer, composer, who lives more intensely than the rest of us, that we can rediscover the intensity of the physical world [151:1]. What we easily dismiss as the 'objects of the ordinary' he takes, as he sees the essence and the potential of what they are. What makes them special to his eye is their proneness of being stripped down by our thoughts and opinions for dismissal. He takes them, and through his pieces unveils to the public these objects in their true character. Whatever we missed out on through the times we thought of them as 'just basic'.
 

And if it is a question of knowing how to live, it would be in being an artist. There is a difference in 'seeing' and to actually see. And it is not enough to just 'know', but to strive to 'understand'. Artists seek to view a perspective in all 360 of its degrees, when we on the other hand barely even have the patience to see things 180.
 

Reference: Winterson, Jeanette, Imagination and Reality.

There was HABAGAT, and it was intense enough to have everyone thinking...

I felt like talking about something less formal today. Its suitable to be called an overdue post, but considering the emotional darkness shared by most of society these past few days, indeed it was appropriate for it to have waited.

Note to my readers: I threw in a little Tagalog in there for the flavor. Rest assured, there are translations every time I do. Enjoy, and please do pass a copy of this entry around. Thank you. 

Some People Just Don't Learn

 

Sometime July 2010 I found myself riding an Espana-UST jeepney back from SM San Lazaro to my condo unit on Lacson street in Sampaloc, Manila. When it left its line (you know how there's this long column of jeepneys on the other side of the walk, waiting to be filled with passengers..) and it was on the road, for some reason I instinctively looked at this family of three who were sitting across me. 

The kid who was about six to seven years old had just finished his slice from Pizza Hut, and he gave the plastic wrap to his mom because he didn't know where to put it. It so happened that that jeep didn't have a waste basket. I was expecting the woman to put the wrapper in her purse or pocket or something, but the next thing she did was she threw it out the window behind her! The jeep was moving too --- Imagine there are two effects from this very irresponsible action:  (1) That woman is one contributor to all these flood-related calamities, and (2) Her action makes her a public nuisance in the second sense considering that the wrapper which may have had sauce in it, may have been litter on another car (if that thing got caught on a windshield).

I was so pissed. Ondoy just happened the previous year ---- Was it all so easy to forget? Or was that woman so absorbed and selfish to not think of others. Some people just don't learn! And there are other people like her, and others who take an extra mile to blame the government for their waterpark-misery.

It would've been such a pleasure to have taken that wrapper and shove it into the very back of her mouth. Bitchy ba? Mas bitch ang (Mother Nature) pag siya ang nagalit. [Trans. Am I bitchy? Well, Mother Nature would be more of a bitch when she gets pissed.] 

I AM PROUD TO BE FILIPINO [a.k.a.] On Observations and Wishes 

Facebook is a Filipino subculture, and I've seen series of memes and inspirational photographs which have immortalized this historic meteorologic calamity as well as shown to the rest of the world what blood can do. From resilience to helping each other. And honestly, We are the real Mcgyvers! 

Magaling ang Pilipino, the Filipinos are intelligent with the street smarts to match! My sincere wish for the Philippines is that we will get more opportunities to exercise our skills and show our abilities (as much as possible, in our own country, i dream. We must represent her!), and I wish these would be seen or should I say recognized aside from the world of sports, the labor market, and the music industry.

We are not just waterproof, we are amazing ---- and I hope there are others who share the same sentiment as I do, or even more.

Here is to the lot of us! 

Encore! George Carlin's Modern Man a.k.a. UNDERSTANDING THE POLITICS OF PRESS BRIEFINGS [Part V Last]

E N C O R E ! : George Carlin’s Modern Man (I Am a Man of the Millenium)

"I’m a modern man, a man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A diversified multi-cultural, post-modern deconstruction that is anatomically and ecologically incorrect. I’ve been up linked and downloaded, I’ve been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I’m a high-tech low-life. A cutting edge, state-of-the-art bi-coastal multi-tasker and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond!

I’m new wave, but I’m old school and my inner child is outward bound. I’m a hot-wired, heat seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice activated and bio-degradable. I interface with my database, my database is in cyberspace, so I’m interactive, I’m hyperactive and from time to time I’m radioactive.
Behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, ridin the wave, dodgin the bullet and pushin the envelope. I’m on-point, on-task, on-message and off drugs. I’ve got no need for coke and speed. I've got no urge to binge and purge. I’m in-the-moment, on-the-edge, over-the-top and under-the-radar. A high-concept, low-profile, medium-range ballistic missionary. A street-wise smart bomb. A top-gun bottom feeder. I wear power ties, I tell power lies, I take power naps and run victory laps. I’m a totally ongoing big-foot, slam-dunk, rainmaker with a pro-active outreach. A raging workaholic. A working rageaholic. Out of rehab and in denial!

I’ve got a personal trainer, a personal shopper, a personal assistant and a personal agenda. You can’t shut me up. You can’t dumb me down because I’m tireless and I’m wireless, I’m an alpha male on beta-blockers.
I’m a non-believer and an over-achiever, laid-back but fashion-forward. Up-front, down-home, low-rent, high-maintenance. Super-sized, long-lasting, high-definition, fast-acting, oven-ready and built-to-last!

I’m a hands-on, foot-loose, knee-jerk head case pretty maturely post-traumatic and I’ve got a love-child that sends me hate mail.
But, I’m feeling, I’m caring, I’m healing, I’m sharing-- a supportive, bonding, nurturing primary care-giver. My output is down, but my income is up. I took a short position on the long bond and my revenue stream has its own cash-flow. I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds and I watch trash sports! I’m gender specific, capital intensive, user-friendly and lactose intolerant.
I like rough sex. I like tough love. I use the “F” word in my emails and the software on my hard-drive is hardcore--no soft porn.

I bought a microwave at a mini-mall; I bought a mini-van at a mega-store. I eat fast-food in the slow lane. I’m toll-free, bite-sized, ready-to-wear and I come in all sizes. A fully-equipped, factory-authorized, hospital-tested, clinically-proven, scientifically- formulated medical miracle. I’ve been pre-wash, pre-cooked, pre-heated, pre-screened, pre-approved, pre-packaged, post-dated, freeze-dried, double-wrapped, vacuum-packed and, I have an unlimited broadband capacity.

I’m a rude dude, but I’m the real deal. Lean and mean! Cocked, locked and ready-to-rock. Rough, tough and hard to bluff. I take it slow, I go with the flow, I ride with the tide. I’ve got glide in my stride. Drivin and movin, sailin and spinin, jiving and groovin, wailin and winnin. I don’t snooze, so I don’t lose. I keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road. I party hearty and lunch time is crunch time. I’m hangin in, there ain’t no doubt and I’m hangin tough, over and out!"





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