Radical Hairstyles to Reclaim Identity

I recently watched a video on Dazed about how young Turkish men are using radical hairstyles to reclaim their identity. The title alone was enough to get me hooked, from being half Turkish and growing up in the country and around the culture, I was curious as to see how this short documentary would portray young Turkish men. Filmed by Olgaç Bozalp, the documentary takes place in Adana, Adana has always been known to be a rougher area of Turkey, a lot of crime takes place there due to various things.

I really enjoyed the documentary and seeing how people from Adana are so unapologetically unique especially in an area where you think they would be more traditional. Throughout it showed a variety of young men using their hair to reclaim their identity back after being labelled as hoodlums or crooks. I also really enjoyed how beautifully it was shot, sometimes people tend to go to rough areas of countries and only show that said rough area but Olgac really did it justice. I think it’s really important for men to find a way to create an identity, I think as a woman I know that I’ve got so many things just a stone throw away that can help me create my identity such as make up, Fashion and of course my hair. Although men do have these at their fingertips as well, I feel like a stigma around being a bit more out there with your hairstyles all be a bit more adventurous with your fashion or maybe wearing make up as a man needs to be broken and needs to lose some of the labels that it has which aren’t appropriate labels.

For me, it was such an insight into their culture, although all of us may have grown up in the same country, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we're going to have identical cultures. Coming from Ankara, I wouldn’t have ever expected to see this in Adana, I would’ve expected somewhere like Istanbul to have people challenge these norms. I really like seeing people challenge tradition and I know that that can sound bad, but I don’t mean it as in completely disregarding their religion or beliefs, I mean it in people challenging what the traditional view of them maybe especially when it comes to Turkish men. It’s only really been in recent years that anything other than getting your haircut or your beard trimmed has been seen as the norm. Things such as dying your hair or maybe even just having a bit more of an unconventional haircut would’ve probably been looked down upon by elders and other people around you. Although this is still sadly what can happen, I think a lot more men in Turkey are realising that it’s okay for them to practice a bit more self-care for them, to do something that creates their identity

I was also quite surprised at the fact that when I was speaking to the older man in the documentary they spoke about having these crazy hairstyles as well, ,so it seems like it’s a very generational process in Adana to defy the norms and I suppose also as a part of the country that has such a strong label slapped on them that they aren’t worried about what other labels are going to receive so they’re completely willing to be themselves