101. Dr Babu Rajan PP

Abstract 100
Dr Babu Rajan PP

Language of Conformity and Collusion, the Dyed Hair Speaks

Abstract

Can the hair speak? Yes of course, the dyed hair speaks volumes. Dyed hair is a significant visual sign of the present day zeitgeist .It is a ubiquitous presence on an international scale in this post liberalized post globalised world. This paper is a an attempt to read the ritual of dyeing the hair in a multivocal mode situating it in the cultural milieu of Kerala. Firstly it is seen as representative of the crass commercialism with unquestioning queasiness by the uncritical heads in their eagerness for black masks. Those heads are particularly of the depoliticized middle class and upwards. Leave alone their androcentric stand point. This aesthetics of kitsch reverses the paradigm in favour of untruth as beauty. It is also an egregious ageism in a veiled form. Our preference for white skin and whiteness is an established fact. In coloring it gets an extension; white skin with black hair is the norm. Thus the theme of the paper is the undemocratic uniformity enforced by the ritual of hair dyeing through many ways. It substantiates it through some literary and cultural anecdotes.