Hair for sale: drastic cuts to serve basic needs

Hair for sale: drastic cuts to serve basic needs

Published on Thursday, 10 October 2013 13:33

There's an old saying in Myanmar ("healthy hair is feminine grace") that speaks to our women's most glorious physical asset. Sadly though, many Myanmar women now find themselves cutting their lovely locks not for fashion—but for survival. With so many struggling to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, and safety, more working class women have found that their own hair is a valuable natural resource that, for the short term, can offset some of the costs of living.

Thanks to decades of corruption and human rights violations under successive military regimes, poverty and chronic unemployment remain the biggest barriers to economic recovery in Myanmar. Instead of studying at school wearing crisp, white-and-green uniforms, today's children work at teashops wearing worn-out clothes. Instead of planning their careers, today's women hawk in the streets and on the trains. While the quasi-civilian government of Thein Sein works to rebuild the country, Myanmar's poorest citizens have little choice but to become more resourceful in finding alternative sources of income.

Where supply meets demand

In a land of so few opportunities, it's no wonder that selling one's own hair has become another option for low-income women. On Yangon streets and on the outskirts of town, women young and old go to shops where they can have their hair cut and then sell it. In the outer Yangon regions such as North Okkalapa, Insein, Dagon Seikkan and Tharketa townships, many hair shops can be found.

"I earned Ks 4000 ($US 4) when I sold my hair for the very first time. It was before Cyclone Nargis hit," said Hla Win Yee, a 47-year-old mother of two who has sold her chopped hair three times.

Hla Win Yee, whose husband is a carpenter, works as a street vendor, selling boiled garden pea. Obviously, selling hair cannot generate much money. The earned amount is only a short-term solution for her family. So why try to solve their daily needs by selling hair?

"It's true that we don't get much money by selling hair," Hla Win Yee admits. "But we don't have much choice if we want to solve our daily problems. I need to reinvest money for my daily work to hawk. I can use that money only for two days."

In fact, hair selling isn't such a new business idea in Myanmar. Cut human hair has been traded in rural areas for ages.

From private aesthetics to sellable commodities

"Haircut prices have been increasing since 2012 due to increased demand from other countries. They (the hair sellers) can earn approximately Ks 15,000 if their hair is 20 inches long and 80 grams in weight," Daw Sein Htay, the owner of a small hair purchasing shop, told Eleven Media.

As Myanmar is a least developed country, it tends to export primary products while importing secondary products. In an unfortunate irony of the free market, says Daw Sein Htay, cut hair that is sold in Myanmar goes to countries like China, Thailand and South Korea, where wigs are made commercially and then sold back in Myanmar at high prices.

Despite globalization, Myanmar culture and style have remained relatively isolated from the West. Many Myanmar females are still passionate about their long hair. On the other hand, Myanmar women have always loved to donate their hair to pagodas to raise money.

But now, the hair they have always treasured for its aesthetic value and philanthropic possibilities has become a sellable commodity to feed the hungry.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/10/10/hair-for-sale-drastic-cuts-to-serve-basic-needs/