The Lunatic Fringe: When Bangs Were Considered Crazy
We can thank Theodore Roosevelt for applying the term “lunatic fringe” to political extremists but don’t be too quick to credit him for coining the term. He merely borrowed it and applied it to a different situation. Long before Roosevelt took office, a “lunatic fringe” was a popular hairstyle for young ladies.
Parents, indeed all members of the older generation, often criticize the newest styles and trends that their teenage children find appealing. This was just as true 150 years ago as it is today. So, when young ladies in the late 1800s experimented with a radical new hairstyle – bangs! – criticizing adults were quick to label it the “lunatic fringe.” Let’s examine this hairstyle to see why it was considered so crazy.
Women’s Hairstyles of the 1800s
For centuries, women in many cultures wore their hair long and uncut. Long hair on women symbolized femininity and prosperity and even good health. But let’s be real. In patriarchal societies, women’s hairstyles were centered around the standard of beauty that men established. And since men of the past were threatened by a woman with short hair, they conditioned women and girls to believe that cutting one’s hair would be akin to denouncing their gender – a major taboo in the past. So, women continued to wear their hair long without question, even if it was cumbersome, hot, heavy, and in the way.
In the late 1800s, when the “lunatic fringe” became popular, women wore their long hair parted in the middle, slicked back, and wound into tightly knotted buns. It was a harsh, severe look, but it kept a woman’s hair neat, tidy, and out of the way.