# "covers her hair for religious reasons, occasionally with a wig" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 7, 2010, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606 "2010-05-07T05:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/1 "2010-05-07T05:31:18Z")
Will someone explain the logic of this to me? 😕 > [@Wigging out: A Question About Wigs for Men](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wigging-out-a-question-about-wigs-for-men/538305/20): > > As someone who covers her hair for religious reasons, occasionally with a wig, and lives in a community of other women who do so, Meaning no harm, but… what precisely is the value of covering your hair with something that makes it look like you’re not covering your hair? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/2 "2010-05-07T05:40:26Z")
To clarify, I understand that this is an Orthodox Jewish thing (halakha). I’m asking about the logic of this particular approach. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/3 "2010-05-07T06:00:13Z")
Obeying the letter of the law, if not the spirit? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/4 "2010-05-07T06:15:14Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > Obeying the letter of the law, if not the spirit? That would be assuming the spirit of the law was that no one should see hairlike things or think your head was uncovered. I don’t know about Orthodox Judaism, but the Christian denominations I know cover their head because their hair is their “glory.” It would make sense to me that a wig would not be someone’s glory and perfectly okay to show. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/5 "2010-05-07T06:28:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That would be assuming the spirit of the law was that no one should see hairlike things or think your head was uncovered. I don’t know about Orthodox Judaism, but the Christian denominations I know cover their head because their hair is their “glory.” It would make sense to me that a wig would not be someone’s glory and perfectly okay to show. I was going off of the idea that the law is: “Cover your head while in public.” If that’s the case, then a wig would be covering her head per the letter of the law, even while it replicates her hair. But yeah, might be a Hair as Glory thing. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/6 "2010-05-07T06:47:53Z")
[It’s from Paul’s letter to the Corintians.](http://www.abound-in-faith.com/Teaching%20Topics/Paul%20and%20women%201%20Co%2011.htm). But that particular Bible verse is, indeed, among the ones most lacking in obvious logic. Makes you wonder if it contains an translation error. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/7 "2010-05-07T07:54:24Z")
I remember a NYT article on this issue, specifically about Orthodox Jews. 1. Covering your hair is a “modesty” thing, you do it to avoid drawing attention to said hair. 2. But wearing a hat or a veil where other women don’t, draws attention. 3. So, wear a modest, boring wig. It is not your hair and it is specifically designed to avoid drawing attention. Try the mental exercise of picturing a spectacular redhead (say, Maureen O’Hara) with clothes that aren’t particularly flattering and mousy-brown, straight hair avoiding eye contact. It ain’t quite the same as the same woman with a tight-fitting tailored suit, copper curls and shooting those green eyebeams into your eyes, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/8 "2010-05-07T08:01:47Z")
I have a friend who was Orthodox enough to have an arranged marriage and two dishwashers (not anymore, but she was once). According to her, the theory was that your hair was your glory, and it was not for the world to see, but only for your family–people you were intimate with. So upon her marriage, she procured at great expense a wig that looked exactly like her own natural\* hair, and that was the hair the world got to see. She cut her hair very, very short so it wouldn’t be a hassle under the wig so her husband got to see a bald chick. Two divorces later, she’s given all that up. \*She still wears a wig sometimes, but that’s because she got addicted to not having to have her hair colored every three weeks. She wears the wig to stretch out the time between touch-ups. In all the time I’ve known her, her hair has never been all that natural. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/9 "2010-05-07T08:07:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Try the mental exercise of picturing a spectacular redhead (say, Maureen O’Hara) with clothes that aren’t particularly flattering and mousy-brown, straight hair avoiding eye contact. It ain’t quite the same as the same woman with a tight-fitting tailored suit, copper curls and shooting those green eyebeams into your eyes, is it? Boy, men throughout history have made up just any kind of rules on the basis of their fear of women, haven’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/10 "2010-05-07T08:31:44Z")
If you’re going to get on that horse, don’t forget the one about old women being afraid of losing their man to a younger model or their baby boy to someone stronger than the mother. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/11 "2010-05-07T08:37:42Z")
OK, _everybody’s_ afraid of young women in the prime of their pulchritude. Yowza! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/12 "2010-05-07T09:09:16Z")
Is there any historical linkage between this Orthodox Jewish practice and the Islamic veil - even though the interpretation is somewhat different? It seems a bit of a coincidence that both of these Abrahamic religions should have such a prohibition on female locks. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/13 "2010-05-07T09:13:20Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > [It’s from Paul’s letter to the Corintians.](http://www.abound-in-faith.com/Teaching%20Topics/Paul%20and%20women%201%20Co%2011.htm). But that particular Bible verse is, indeed, among the ones most lacking in obvious logic. Makes you wonder if it contains an translation error. I’m sure that’s just where the Orthodox community gets it from. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/14 "2010-05-07T09:33:20Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > OK, _everybody’s_ afraid of young women in the prime of their pulchritude. Yowza! You win the initial alliteration prize of the month. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/15 "2010-05-07T14:03:15Z")
I think it’s partly for the woman herself, as a reminder that she’s… I guess that she’s married, and now has a private aspect to herself that can only be shared by her husband. _She_ knows whether she’s wearing a wig or not. For what it’s worth, [men cover their hair, too](http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/sirrobhitch.suffolk/synagogue/images/objects/kippah.jpg). (The girls at my school, meanwhile, wear gorgeous colorful snoods. You can look around the classroom and know who’s married). ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/16 "2010-05-07T14:14:27Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > I guess that she’s married, and now has a private aspect to herself that can only be shared by her husband. My wife has something similar. Our nickname for it is Felix. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/17 "2010-05-07T14:22:31Z")
Men aren’t covering their hair - there’s plenty of hair showing. They are covering the top of their head. On many men, that is a bald spot. Inspiring the joke: If God is so afraid of bald spots, then why did he make them? ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/18 "2010-05-07T14:38:51Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Is there any historical linkage between this Orthodox Jewish practice and the Islamic veil - even though the interpretation is somewhat different? > > It seems a bit of a coincidence that both of these Abrahamic religions should have such a prohibition on female locks. It seems to me that both religions are associated with patriarchal societies in which women functioned largely as chattel to be traded from fathers to husbands and to be used to produce heirs. Since they didn’t have any way to determine who a baby’s father was, the men controlling the societies were desperate to control female sexual behavior. That is, the only way to make sure your wife’s baby was yours was to make her live by oppressive rules that prevented her from fooling around on you. Making sure that women do not display any attractive features in public is part of this system. (Which is why I personally consider [Boobquake](http://www.blaghag.com/2010/04/in-name-of-science-i-offer-my-boobs.html)to be perfectly compatible with feminism.) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/19 "2010-05-07T15:23:59Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > what precisely is the value of covering your hair with something that makes it look like you’re not covering your hair? Because God Said So. God told a group of people that women in a certain category must keep their heads covered, but didn’t specify with what. So, instead of a scarf or hat some elect to use a head covering composed of other peoples’ hair. It’s no more silly and no more logical than any other religious rule. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606/20 "2010-05-07T23:13:39Z")
I actually did a research paper on wigs as headcoverings in my Halacha class in college. Basically, according to Orthodox rabbis, women are supposed to keep their heads covered. However, many women feel like hair is necessary to be attractive. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to look nice, and it eventually became de rigeur in certain Eastern European Jewish communities to wear wigs so they could have it both ways and fit in better with the surrounding community. (Which is probably not considered a valid reason, but culturally speaking, it’s understandable. Halacha is inherently changeable\* so it can be adapted in different ways in different situations.) There turned out to be very little written about the religious logic for headscarves, so it basically comes down to: women want to cover their hair but look pretty at the same time and there’s no halachic reason why they can’t do this. It’s not at all done by religious Middle Eastern Jews, who just use headscarves if they want to cover their heads. \*The word halacha comes from the root H-L-CH, which is also the root of the word _lalechet_, or “to walk” or “to go”. The word itself implies movement and change. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-her-hair-for-religious-reasons-occasionally-with-a-wig/538606.md?page=2)