We shall skip the introductory hullabaloo on me having long hair, how long I have had it for etc. We all know I have long hair. We all know, some would wish I cut it. Others have a fetish for it. Others are jealous. Mostly girls. 🙂 I will skip directly to why I keep it and hopefully lay all those questions I have had to answer to rest. I will use a template as I did in my last blog post. I found it simple to follow and it does tone down my ADD. So here goes:
WHY: I will pretend that it had something to do with Samson and having the Bible read to me at an early age but his ending was not so good now was it? I also sometimes mention one Frank Morgan from the old Home and Away, yes the 90s one. The one who was in love with Bobby. (I am that old) Him.
But those are all purported reasons. The real reason as I have told many before and was telling one Wanja this morning is that I have a fascination with hair. I like..wait love is the word.. love hair. I find it funny that this weirdly stringy and sometimes kinky tufts pierce through your skin for sometimes no reason at all. Point to note (toe and finger hair plus almost invisible arm hair). They say a man is supposed to keep his hair short. But then why does it grow? I have always asked. If I was meant to have short hair, should it just not grow? And I guess all the ladies would have hair flowing to their calves. And no horses would have to lose their manes lol. Fact of the matter is. As long as you’re not busy modifying who God made you to be by bleaching, tattooing etc. (not judging by the way). You can let your God given body parts stay as they are. Is hair a body part? I digress.
Since the argument above does not seem to hold water with most people (notwithstanding the fact that my African hair is allergic to water too 😀 ). I have decided to list some other benefits of long hair except the reins ability (If you get this, I like you already). I am going to go all scientific and evolutionary for the next few paragraphs.
Humans (and horses) are among the few species that may grow their head hair very long. Humans are believed to have lost their fur 2.5-3 million years ago when transiting from a forest habitat to the open savanna, as an effect of natural selection, since this development made it possible to run fast and hunt animals close to the equator without getting overheated. An exception was however head hair, which was kept to provide thermal insulation of the scalp from the sun, to protect against ultra-violet radiation exposure, and also to provide cooling (when sweat evaporates from soaked hair).
The ability to grow long straight hair, has been observed among Homo sapiens sub-groups in less sunny regions further away from the equator. Relative to kinky Afro-textured hair, straight hair allows more UV light to pass to the scalp (which is essential for the production of vitamin D, that is important for bone development).
Scientists also view the ability to grow very long hair as a result of sexual selection, since long and healthy hair is a sign of fertility and youth. Long lustrous female hair is rated attractive by both men and women across cultures. An evolutionary biology explanation for this attraction is that hair length and quality can act as a cue to youth and health, signifying a woman’s reproductive potential.
As hair grows slowly, long hair may reveal 2–3 years of a person’s health status, nutrition, age and reproductive fitness. Malnutrition and deficiencies in minerals and vitamins due to starvation causes loss of hair or changes in hair color (e.g. dark hair turning reddish). The prevalence of trichophilia (hair partialism or fetishism) is 7% in the population, and very long hair is a common subject of devotion in this group.
We are done here no?? It just goes to show that I am a sexy hors..I mean beast who needs no umbrella for UV protection. 😀
TILL WHEN: This is an easy one. I don’t plan to shave my hair. Ever! That is unless I get a head injury and have to be stitched or something. This might seem unlikely but when you had a big brother using you head as a javelin target when growing up. You can see how that might happen. (He is the original YouTube athlete. 😛 ) . I will wait till all of it falls off. I will have a grey ponytail if need be.
WHY NOT DREADLOCKS: This is a no-brainer. Girls would say styling. They need to look different once in a while. But no, my answer as my character is as weird. I like combing hair. So I have to be able to have it open once in a while for this. I however discovered some other benefits of having hair you can comb. See below:
The various benefits of combing of hair and scalp daily are:
- This activity cleanses your hair better than using any artificial shampoo
- It eliminates waste materials from your hair including uric acid crystal deposits, catarrh and other acids and other impurities that gather and stick to the scalp
- It helps in stimulating the blood capillaries, thereby increasing the blood circulation and transportation of nutrients and oxygen to the stem, root and bulb of the hair.
- It helps in stimulating various oil and hormone producing glands. This helps in keeping the pores of the hair and scalp open, thereby activating breathing. It also helps hair in retaining their natural oils.
- By combing your hair properly you add life, shine and volume to your hair.
Now that I am done with this simple post that no one asked me to do. I just realised I had planned to have various photos of my hair in between various explanations but for now I’ll just place them haphazardly for your liking, envy, fetishes etc. 😀
The Divine Bandit™ 