
Let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle - jacques_chester
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_trim_our_hair_in_accordance_with_the_socialist_lifestyle
======
0xcde4c3db
It's sort of funny that this was an actual TV program, but the association of
hairstyle with personal virtue and shared political views is a much broader
phenomenon. As a current example, online political activists/commentators have
been known in recent years to disparagingly refer to people as having "fashy"
or "feminist" hair.

~~~
caiocaiocaio
In the late 60s, people took long hair very seriously, up to the point of
writing angsty, tormented songs like "Almost Cut My Hair" by CSNY. Five or six
years before that, "long hair" meant someone who knew a lot about classical
music and fine art.

~~~
happytoexplain
I'd argue that the people who assaulted and forcibly cut the long hair of men
or banned men with long hair from (non-professional) establishments were
taking it far more seriously.

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tanin
> The program claimed that hair length can affect human intelligence

This was, and (maybe) still is, a wisdom in Thailand, but for different
reasons.

I was in high school in ~2002. My knowledge could be outdated. I hope they
have changed this dogma.

Thailand enforced certain hairstyles on students until the end of highschool.
For male, it looked similar what is shown in the post. Probably even uglier.

(Not all schools enforced it strictly. Some, especially private schools, let
their students to have a better hairstyle.)

Anyway, we believed that these superficial decorations would make students
being distracted from studying. Students would focus purely on look and etc.
It's a "tradition".

Obviously, self-esteem was not a thing to consider back then.

This hairstyle rule turned good teachers into hair polices. Teachers were
obsessed with whether your hair was too long. Long hair became the sign of
disrespect.

When the movie, Speed, came out, Keanu Reeves had the buzzcut hairstyle which
was shorter than what Thailand enforced. Many students thought "well, it's
shorter and looks cooler. It should be fine". It turned out that cutting your
hair shorter than what was enforced was also wrong.

One funny tidbit: I've learned a valuable lesson that Buzzcut in US is called
Skinhead in Thailand. I told several people at work that I would get a
skinhead. People looked freaked out a bit because skinhead was associated with
something really really bad; I don't remember what. Then, one friend kindly
pointed out that what I wanted was a buzzcut.

Edit: This article ([https://www.wsj.com/articles/shear-follicle-thai-
students-re...](https://www.wsj.com/articles/shear-follicle-thai-students-
rebel-against-mandatory-haircuts-1466711841)) captures the situation pretty
well. And there's a photo inside which is accurate

~~~
CondensedBrain
Skinheads were a punk-adjacent subculture that got overrun with neonazis. They
never did shake the association.

~~~
walshemj
Skinheads predate Punk

~~~
CondensedBrain
I didn't put them on a timeline.

The neonazi invasion happened around when both tended to show up in the same
discussions. More people know about punks than skinheads, so I used one to
give context to the other. The recent movie about the late '90s punk scene,
Bomb City, even had a skinhead with an anti-Nazi jacket.

------
GuiA
I’ve always been intrigued by the heavy use of “let’s” in texts translated
from Japanese and Korean in the past. I didn’t understand if it was a
stylistic choice by translators, or if those languages did actually use it
that much? It sounds so stilted in English, what linguistic mechanics make it
not so in those languages?

Turns out it’s its own verb tense! It’s called the “volitional” and you use it
when you want to emphasize that you want to do something, typically with the
person you’re speaking to. The best way to render it in English is by using
“let’s” (“let’s go eat”).

[http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/desire_volitio...](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/desire_volition#Volitional_Form)

~~~
OJFord
> ['let's'] sounds so stilted in English

It sounds perfectly normal and commonplace to me (British).

\- Let's see...

\- Oh yes, let's!

\- Uh, no, let's not.

\- Let's think of another example...

\- Let's stop there.

Google Ngram Viewer does put it at about 8x more common (contemporarily) in
British English than American English though, and with a shorter history in
the latter.

~~~
ben509
I think GP is referring to the usage in translated material, not its usage by
native speakers.

~~~
OJFord
But if it's in common usage by native speakers, surely it makes it a _good_
translation; not 'stilted'?

~~~
GuiA
Some additional examples if you’re interested in getting into it:

[https://legendsoflocalization.com/japans-mysterious-love-
of-...](https://legendsoflocalization.com/japans-mysterious-love-of-the-word-
lets/)

~~~
OJFord
Oh wow, I didn't realise you meant embedded into Japanese, I thought we were
talking about <some Japanese word> being translated to 'let's'.

That really is weird/interesting!

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dontbenebby
>The program claimed that hair length can affect human intelligence, in part
because of the deprivation to the rest of the body of nutrients required for
hair to grow.

What I took away from this is some high up NK official is bald ;)

------
gumby
Reminds me of the signs everywhere in Singapore when I was a kid: "Males with
long hair will be served last", including example artwork.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_hair_in_Singapore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_hair_in_Singapore)

[https://boingboing.net/2013/04/26/males-with-long-hair-
will-...](https://boingboing.net/2013/04/26/males-with-long-hair-will-
be-a.html)

------
0815test
Well, that explains it. We knew that the North Korean embassy in the UK
weren't happy about the suggestion that a certain high-profile person from NK
should take better care of his hair:

[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-
london-27038723](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-27038723)

Turns out there was quite the backstory behind it. Do as I say, not as I do,
and all that.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
I'm pretty sure Kim Jong Un has one of the approved hairstyles, isn't it the
middle one here
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2018/08/17/TELE...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2018/08/17/TELEMMGLPICT000171847265_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqutubNGxeqbD0m2XylzINLiOoem_3qpp9C-iKHR23jxY.jpeg?imwidth=1240)
?

------
swebs
>The program claimed that hair length can affect human intelligence, in part
because of the deprivation to the rest of the body of nutrients required for
hair to grow.

Heh, reminds me of Lysenkoism. What is it with socialists and their outright
denial of science?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism)

~~~
zacherates
Consider that possibly the stated reason is not the true reason.

Maybe the authoritarian regime that run NK wants to control the way people
look for various reasons: So the people don't culturally identify with other
societies, so they don't spend time messing with more complicated styles (hair
and other) because they consider it a waste of resources, so the people don't
realize that the mere fact that outsiders can spend resources on more
elaborate styles is a product of those societies being better off, that they
want the people to internalize a shared society through uniformity, etc, etc,
etc.

... and that in order to achieve those means, they will say anything
regardless of truth, evidence, etc, and will punish dissent so that the truth
doesn't matter (mostly).

~~~
Nasrudith
Authoritarians of all sort want to impose control and conformity. It doesn't
have to be a rational reason - just that they go against "the authority" even
if it fits every last jot and minuate of the written rules angers them.

------
walshemj
_cough_ I wonder what the view in North Korea is on Marx and Bakunin or even
Keith Flet :-)

------
dontbenebby
> _In the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang, Western news articles
> reported that a hidden camera was placed to catch citizens with improper
> hairstyles. This was part of a television programme broadcast at the same
> time as Let 's Trim Our Hair in Accordance with the Socialist Lifestyle. The
> offenders would then be interviewed by the presenter and asked to explain
> themselves. Their name, address and workplace would be announced to deter
> others from being embarrassed and ostracized._

This could be a Black Mirror episode.

~~~
IAmEveryone
Is “Cops” much different? It’s similar voyeurism, I. e. the enjoyment to watch
lesser people suffer the hard hand of the police state. Most of the cases on
that show also need social work more than policing.

------
RickJWagner
I thought this was going to be about Bernie's no-comb 'do.

------
sys_64738
I'm bald...

------
NikkiA
No worse than the billions of 'how to dress to look successful' and other
bullshit books, courses, videos and seminars that capitalism spews every year.

~~~
docdeek
There's a pretty significant difference between a bullshit book that someone
chooses to buy and a government sponsored TV broadcasts.

~~~
flukus
It's not just a bullshit book though, books like that attempt to codify
existing entrenched standards. Ignoring those standards, like not wearing a
suit to an interview, wearing a suit to an interview in some contexts or
having an unconventional haircut can see you ostracized from society. At least
when it's government mandated there is hopefully a clear and uniform set of
rules.

Ideally we could move beyond a world of judging people based on their haircut
and dress code but I don't think the western world is much better than North
Korea.

------
mises
Jesus Christ, more disturbing and evil socialist propaganda from the
disturbing and evil North Korean government. I am perpetually disappointed
that we haven't found a resolution to the horrible violations of individual
liberty happening there, and am disappointed the Chinese will not quit playing
protector of N Korea.

~~~
IAmEveryone
Isn’t the need to produce a TV program actually a sign that they weren’t
successful with more draconian measures?

And let’s not pretend there isn’t a lot of pressure to look a certain way to
be successful in at least some careers in democratic countries.

~~~
bin0
"In the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang, Western news articles reported
that a hidden camera was placed to catch citizens with improper hairstyles.
This was part of a television programme broadcast at the same time as Let's
Trim Our Hair in Accordance with the Socialist Lifestyle. The offenders would
then be interviewed by the presenter and asked to explain themselves. Their
name, address and workplace would be announced to deter others from being
embarrassed and ostracized."

From the article. Also, this comparison is like saying that Soviet Russia
producing propaganda was a sign that the gulags didn't work.

------
blfr
_recommended haircuts for men every 15 days_

reminds me of the GSElevator tweet[1]

 _#1: Haircuts are the ultimate economic indicator. In bad times, it 's every
8 weeks. In good, it's every 6. #2: I go every 3 weeks._

thus once again proving that communist countries are more prosperous than
rotten capitalist economies where even top bankers only cut their hair once a
month.

[1]
[https://twitter.com/gselevator/status/255383764027457536](https://twitter.com/gselevator/status/255383764027457536)

~~~
jeanlucas
Wow, I was rich when I was in the military! Every 15 days as well

~~~
blfr
Of course. You were benefiting from collective, centrally planned use of
resources. Wartime economy is the inspiration behind many communist policies.

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fibers
This seems better than how the ad industry and tech workers in it help
facilitate the most warped beauty standards that women are expected to achieve
which might lead to eating disorders on the long run.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
Perhaps "Let's wear our hair and clothes in accordance with the Capitalist
Lifestyle" is too on-the-nose in the West.

Much better to call it something inspiring and cosmopolitan like "Vogue".

Or even "Cosmopolitan."

~~~
kennywinker
Ah yes the government mandated cosmo subscriptions we all are forced to have
are quite a burden. ;P

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Office mandated hair, suit and tie, or skirt and heels policies just to work a
non-public office can be. Thankfully not as common as they were.

~~~
mrandish
I am deeply grateful that working in tech startups my entire life from college
to retirement, I never worked anywhere that had a dress code.

------
derefr
There might be an interesting correlation between hair length and [some
aspects of] human intelligence—but in the other direction than the one North
Korea would like to imply.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, a chemical that is produced by the brain to
modulate plasticity during learning, seems to potentiate the effects of
androgens on hair loss
([https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21729031](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21729031)),
i.e. accelerating balding in people who will eventually go bald. (This isn’t
just theoretical, either—drugs which increase BDNF are reported to cause hair
loss/balding in some people, presumably the ones who would eventually bald.)

So, in a very hand-wavy way, you could hypothesize that people who go bald
earlier in life, are producing a lot of BDNF, and therefore are doing a lot of
cognitive restructuring, and _maybe therefore_ are getting “smarter” in some
sense.

~~~
RandomInteger4
Balding and hair length are unrelated.

