The Cultural Significance of Hair in Egypt

Whether an expression of self, reclamation of identity or purely aesthetic, Ramy Aly, assistant professor in AUC’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Egyptology, looks to contemporary Egyptian hair culture to give insight into how race functions on a social level in Egypt.

Soon after Aly came to Egypt in 2013, he had his hair loc’d. Locs, an African hair style that involves coiling, braiding, interlocking and palm-rolling hair to create larger strands that merge together over time, have a long history across Africa and particularly in Ancient Egypt. However, as a contemporary Egyptian, Aly’s relationship with loc’d hair was not straightforward. His soon-to-be loctician in London Mellissa Blake wasn’t sure what to make of him at first. “‘You’re quite Caucasian, but what’s going on with your hair?’ Her surprise brought my attention to the notion that hair care is raced, very explicitly.”

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