My mother teaches 6th grade, and one of the first activities she does each year is a “tell me about yourself” list. One girl filled in two prompts as follows:
One thing few people know about me is: **that I have never and will never be able to cut my hair, because of my religion.
**
One thing I’d like the teacher to know about me right away is: I cannot wear pants ever, because it’s not allowed for women in my religion.
She was dressed fairly “normally”, with a long denim skirt and a t-shirt. No head covering. She’d be about 12 years old.
It sounds like a branch of the Pentecostal movement. There was a particular Pentecostal church in south central Indiana where the women wore long denim skirts, white socks, white tennis shoes (four or five divverent women always wore the same style shoes), a white blouse, long hair that wasn’t cut and no makeup. They were so much alike in appearance and different enough from the rest of the population that I could spot them from a ways off. The men, of course, could wear what they wanted.
It might helps us if you let us know what state or region of the US you live. At least in my region, RGV, that sounds like an non-denominational evangelist.
I agree with Vlad/Igor - It sounds like a Pentecostal sect. My grandmother attended a Pentecostal church and never wore pants, although she did cut her hair. It seemed that when the women got older and their hair started thinning it wasn’t considered bad to cut it, but it was really frowned upon for a young woman to cut her hair. I remember attending the funeral of the infant daughter of the daughter of the pastor of the church. It was the only time I ever saw her with her hair unbound, and it pooled on the floor in back of her seat.
Some observant Orthodox Jewish women will only wear long skirts, and not wear long pants. There is no general prohibition, however, agains hair cutting.
Generally, Christian Holiness Churches have strict dress codes. (Which, as usual, affect women far more than men.) Not necessarily Pentacostal. For some info, start with:
I am guessing now that based on your region and from doing some Googling on Pentecostalism, the yound lady may be a Pentecostal or a even a member of the UPCI.
"Why do Apostolic Pentecostal women always wear dresses and have long hair?
Another area of outward holiness involves the length of hair for men and women. The apostle Paul wrote, […] Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering" (I Corinthians 11:1-15)."
Map of the US showing distribution of Pentecostal population.
Now that’s funny!
Er, where’s the Jewish smiley???
Eddie, my friend the security guard who had an interesting story about a bar fight, an icepick in the neck and being carried to the ambulance on the bar stool and a Church of God in Christ (I think) preacher (!) remarked upon seeing some odd folks in our place of business, “I bet they are Penecostal. They think looking good is evil.”
Around here, the Pentecostal women expand the shirt choices to include sweaters which have pictures of bears or kittens. (Anything fluffy and non-threatening. Sparkles and bits of lace are permitted.) T-shirts seem to be permitted only if they carry a religious message.
The tennis shoes, however, must be part of doctrine because every Pentecostal woman I have ever known has worn them. Around here canvas tennis shoes seem to be the “in” thing.
Pentecostal men are harder to pick out of a crowd. In my area, at least, they wear whatever they please. It’s only the women who have the “uniform.”
[aside]
They also tend to decorate their homes using teddy bears and “kountry” items.
If you happen to be blissfully unaware of this decorating scheme, it will come in handy to know that “kountry” items can be purchased at either your local county fair or at any “craft mall.” It is most frequently bedecked with American flags or hearts-- sometimes both, though blue gingham is very popular. Attempts to be quaint with coy misspellings abound, and the lettering is carefully uneven. Extra points can be achieved in this style if this item includes a teddy bear.
I’ve attended mass at some traditional Catholic churches that have formal dress codes. On a sweltering hot Sunday in February these codes affect men (required to wear suits and ties) far more than they affect women.
My vote is Pentacostal, then. There are a lot of Pentacostal churches in that area. The Menonites cluster further east, in Indiana out past Porter county. The Anabaptists (Menonites, Amish) don’t seem to have a hair-cutting prohibition, and their wardrobes for both the men and women differ somewhat from the Pentacostal styles.
Not all Pentacostal churches follow those two rules, by the way - I’ve met Pentacostal women with short, styled hair who ocassionally wear pants, but of course it’s a different sort of Pentacostal.
I had a friend when I was oh, twelve or so (2 and 3/4 decades ago) and I visited her home to spend the night several times. She couldn’t wear pants or shorts and couldn’t cut her hair or wear makeup. She couldn’t even listen to the radio or TV. Which was funny because her dad sat in the family room watching TV. I assume he didn’t follow the faith; it was mostly her mom imposing these devotions. It was quite scandalous of her to secretly listen to the Top 40 when her mom wasn’t around. She also really enjoyed TV at other people houses, so I don’t think that she believed, just did it to shut her mom up prolly. Poor kid. I can’t imagine how it would feel to be so restricted.
I’d love to know what she’s up to now. Carla, where are you? I bet you’re really smart and makin’ lots of money. Do you still play with ponies?
I don’t know why you think that’s funny? Jewish Orthodox women haven’t got any restriction on cutting their hair. They just have to cover it around men who are not their husband.
