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Curls, curls, curls. A curl can’t be alone. Curls excels among other curls.
Curls amplify beauty. Curls are sensuous, curls are cosmopolitan, curls add sophistication, curls are mysterious. But do curls exude class?
Ancient Greek civilization gave rise to most of modern western civilization. And ancient Romans had to prove their Greek lineage to have legitimacy to rule in Roman provinces. Symbols of beauty and standards of beauty began with Greek statues and their wonderful symmetry, which is long-held as a criteria of beauty. No wonder Europeans were obsessed with anything Greek, including Greek Philosophy, Greek gods, and Greek theater.
Now let’s explore how this fascination with the Greeks ties into the curly hair. Ancient Greeks, for the most part, had curly hair — their magnificent statues with curly hair are famous.
In an attempt to emulate not only the Greeks’ political and cultural styles, the Europeans — with their straight hair — adopted curly hair styles as well — their higher-echelon dignitaries, including judges and members of the royal family, began wearing culry wigs. The aristocrats, eager to show that they had class, knowledge, philosophy and sophistication, wanted to be Greek-like.
Curly hair became synomous with class and beauty in the western civilization.
Editor’s note: This is the first of a four-part essay written by Sal Rastegar — a male voice extolling the wonder of curls.