Simple silhouettes of women with a variety of hairstyles, textures and types.

Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession

by Elizabeth Benedict Author

Whew, is there a more loaded topic than hair? Race, gender, class, history, body image, sexuality, religion... it's all tied up in hair one way or another.

This book tackles the hard—and interesting—stuff about hair head-on (just a little hair pun there), with a series of smart, sometimes funny, always insightful, and often very wise and unexpected essays about the meaning of hair in different women's lives and cultures and situations. This is an interesting read to put an important but often-taken-for-granted aspect of our daily lives into global and cross-cultural perspective. And it's always good to just listen to people talk about their experiences. And hairdos. Because let's face it, this stuff is more interesting than the patriarchy wants us to admit.