A bowl cut is a simple
haircut
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut, or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although ...
where the front hair is cut with a straight fringe (see
bangs
Bang, bang!, or bangs may refer to:
Products
* M1922 Bang rifle, a US semi-automatic rifle designed by Søren Hansen Bang
* Bang, a List of model car brands, model car brand
* Bang (beverage), an energy drink
Geography
* Bang, Central African ...
) and the rest of the hair is left longer, the same length all the way around, or else the sides and back are cut to the same short length.
[
] It is named so because in medieval times, when it was popular in Europe, a bowl would be placed on the head and then used as a cutting guide to trim the hair.
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.
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
Dylann Storm Roof (born April 3, 1994) is an American mass murderer, white supremacist and neo-Nazi who perpetrated the Charleston church shooting. During a Bible study on June 17, 2015, at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charle ...
was considered mildly noteworthy. The
Anti-Defamation League has documented its
metonymic
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such as salespe ...
use by young
white supremacists
White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine o ...
, 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
''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
'', five years after Roof's Charleston church shooting.
See also
*
List of hairstyles
This is a non-exhaustive list of hairstyles, excluding List of facial hairstyles, facial hairstyles.
Short hairstyles
Long hairstyles
Long hairstyles may be considered those which reach beyond the shoulders on women, or require long hair to c ...
*
Czupryna
The czupryna (), also known as the Polish halfshaven head, is a traditional Polish noble haircut, associated mainly with Sarmatism, but worn by Poles in the Middle Ages too. It is marked by shaving hair above the ears and on the neck at the sam ...
*
Moe Howard
Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), better known by his stage name Moe Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader and straight man of the Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion ...
*
Bob cut
A bob cut, also known as a bob, is a short to medium length haircut, in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at approximately jaw level, and no longer than shoulder-length, often with a fringe at the front. The standard bob ...
*
Edgar cut
References
External links
*
{{Human hair
Hairstyles