Adekunmi Olatunji

Yesterday I read Sede Alonge’s article in The Guardian. While she makes some interesting points, many of which I agree with, there are a couple that I don’t.

Minami Minegishi shaved her head and offered a filmed apology after breaking her management firm’s rules

Firstly, firstly, firstly… hair IS political. Please. It always has been, and I’m not just talking about afro hair. Sociologist have discussed this academically starting with this journal article. There’s a lot of meaning and symbolism attached to hair: monks shave theirs off, hippies grow theirs long, punks, skinheads, rastas, those in mourning, and those disgraced all demonstrate how hair can, is and indeed should be used politically. Alonge saying ‘politicising hair is wrong’ doesn’t go deep enough. What exactly is wrong with demonstrating your opposition to a status-quo, your allegiance to a particular ideology or an open demonstration of remorse?

Interestingly the journal article says “hair…