I would just feel wrong walking around with someone else's hair knowing where it came from and that the person was probably really upset to lose it. What do you think?Do you think that real human hair extensions exploit women in third world countries?
Probably. There was a TV documentary a while ago where a celebrity went to where her extensions may have come from.
There are three major sources: Russia, India and the USA.
The Russian girls are usually schoolgirls - the one they showed was 13 years old - where it is considered a mark of great beauty to have very long, very fine and unspoilt hair. Usually it is the way of earning a few extra roubles, and hair traders regularly trawl the villages for suitable girls and make an offer. The girls usually have no say about this. Often they don't care either way, because they are not yet of an age to worry about their beauty. Sometimes it is traumatic for them, but Russia is a brutal country, and Russians have long had to accept brutality with resignation and a shrug.
The Indian hair often comes from Hindu temples. In Hinduism too, long shining hair is regarded as a sign of great beauty, and a girl with very long hair is considered easily marriageable. In their religion though, if you want something really special from the Gods, you have to make a sacrifice. There is no greater sacrifice for a girl to give up her beauty by allowing her hair to be shaved bald. The hair is collected up and sold to raise funds for the temple. The women can be any age. If a grandmother is praying for a sick grandchild, then she might well shave her head. Often too, girls of about 5 or 6 years old are shaved in the belief that their hair will then grow thicker, stronger and more beautiful.
In the USA, there is a strong culture of puritanism and a shaming of those who are not sufficiently charitable. There is a charity which asks girls and women to donate at least 10 inches of their unspoilt hair for a charity which then sells to make wigs to young girls with cancer or alopaecia. They have grand campaigns where those who refuse to co-operate are made to feel bad. Sometimes the haircuts are televised, or videoed and the videos sold to specialist merchants. Some girls and women grow their hair specially in order to donate - rather like harvesting wool. Most of this hair is sold on commercially or thrown away (many women in the USA have ruined their hair through excessive colouring or styling, but it is easier to accept all donations and sort them later). Hairdressers like this campaign, since after the haircut they can acquire new customers who would never have gone to them if they had kept their long hair intact.
The celebrity did in fact track down the likely source of her extensions to a village in India. The lady had shaved her hair about 12 months earlier when her child was sick, and was actually quite pleased to see it again on the head of a celebrity.
As to whether any of these three examples is an exploitation, I'll leave up to you.Do you think that real human hair extensions exploit women in third world countries?
There is no exploitation involved in selling hair. Cutting hair does not hurt, and in no way degrades the individual who has them cut away.
Infact if you are buying that hair..I believe you are doing good to the person who donated them..since she obviously could do a lot with that instead of spending it on maintaining her long hair.
as long as the woman got paid for it it is a business and it is fine no big deal trust me no 1 cuts their hair without wanting to most of them just grow hair to cut it they dont even like long hair it is a business so dont feel so bad
If they're selling their hair for cash, then they're in desperate need of money. In that case, the money they got for it would mean a lot to them.
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