Bowl cut

History

Historically, the bowl cut was popular among common European and Asian men, being an easy, neat cut done by a non-professional. Indeed, it was done by putting a cooking pot of a fit size to the level of ears, and all hair below the rim was cut or shaved off. In some cultures it was a normal type of haircut. In other cultures the bowl cut was viewed as an attribute of poverty, signifying that the wearer could not afford to visit a barber.

Characteristic of the late Middle Ages in Europe, the bowl cut was particularly popular among men during the first half of the 15th century.

In February 1429, Joan of Arc had her hair cut in accordance with this masculine fashion; she also wore men's clothing from that date onwards. In 1431, the records of her trial maliciously mention that her hair was "shaved round like... a fashionable young man."

File:Duke of Bedford.JPG|Detail from the Bedford Hours (1410–30). File:Jan van Eyck - The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin (detail) - WGA7603.jpg|Detail from the Madonna of Chancellor Rolin (detail) (1435). File:Jean Fouquet - Etienne Chevalier with St. Stephen - detail 01.jpg|Detail from the Melun Diptych (1452). File:Cathédrale de Strasbourg chapelle Ste Catherine statue de Jeanne d’Arc-5.jpg|Joan of Arc sporting the characteristic bowl cut of the first half of the 15th century. Sculpture created in 1937, Strasbourg Cathedral. File:Aleksander Gierymski - Peasant from Bronowice - MNK II-a-600 - National Museum Kraków.jpg|A 19th century Polish peasant with a bowl cut. File:Ukposter.jpg|A 1920s Soviet Ukrainian poster; the man on the left sports a bowl cut.

In the United States, the bowl cut was never particularly popular. At least as far back as the 1980s, the cut has been ridiculed by many. It is often mocked via internet memes.

By 2015, the hairstyle was uncommon enough that its use by mass murderer Dylann Roof was considered mildly noteworthy. The Anti-Defamation League has documented its metonymic use by young white supremacists, among whom it represents Roof and his crimes in particular, and white supremacist ideology in general. For example, a neo-Nazi group named itself the "Bowl Patrol" after Roof's bowl cut hairstyle; that group remained active as of a July 2020 exposé in the Huffington Post, five years after Roof's Charleston church shooting.

References

Sources

References

1. Hill, Daniel Delis. (January 13, 2022). "History of World Dress and Fashion, Second Edition". GeminiDragon Publishing.
2. Bouzy, Olivier. (2013). "Jeanne d'Arc en son siècle". [[Fayard]].
3. Michaud-Fréjaville, Françoise. (2007). "Un habit "déshonnête": réflexions sur Jeanne d'Arc et l'habit d'homme à la lumière de l'histoire du genre". Francia.
4. Deabler, Alexandra. (September 4, 2019). "Charlize Theron among celebs bringing back the bowl cut".
5. Singh-Kurtz, Sangeeta. (September 25, 2019). "Charlize Theron's Bowl Cut Speaks".
6. "The Bowl Cut Your Mom Gave You Is Back".
7. "Bowlcut/Dylann Roof".
8. (July 24, 2020). "Exclusive: Leader Of Dylann Roof-Worshipping Neo-Nazi Group Exposed".