Tanishites traditionally wear their hair long, both men and women. Hair is usually styled with oil into long ringlets and nice hair is an important aspect of beauty. Hair maybe trimmed to remove split ends and tidy it up, but they would never cut off more than a centimetre.
There is only one reason a Tanishite would cut their hair: as a display of mourning. When a loved one dies, grief is displayed by cutting off hair. How short you cut it depends on how deep your grief is.
- For a spouse, it is normal to shave the head completely.
- For a parent or a child over 6, cut your hair so that only an inch of hair covers your head.
- For a grandparent, child 5 or under, or a sibling, cut your hair to a chin-length bob
- For aunts, uncles, or cousins, shoulder length
- For other relatives and friends, cut it to an inch or so past your shoulders.
These general guidelines can be modified depending on the relationships. Someone who lost a very close friend might cut their hair as short as for a child. Someone with a strained or distant relationship with a parent might only cut it a little bit. Refusing to cut your hair at all -
such as a woman with an abusive husband she is grateful to be rid of - is a major statement and can lead to social ostracization, depending on how well-liked the dead person was by the rest of the community.
Hair can be cut for non-personal mourning as well. When a king in waiting dies, the entire kingdom is expected to show some mourning. Most will only cut a little bit out of obligation, but particularly committed individuals might shave their heads. Whenever a notable or highly-regarded member of a community dies, people cut some of their hair depending on how deeply the death affects them.
If multiple people die at once, or someone dies before your hair has a chance to grow out since the last death, hair should be cut to at least the length for the most significant death and then extra inches taken off for each subsequent death.
People with short hair are treated with sympathy and kindness throughout the community. It serves as a visual short-hand that they have recently suffered a loss. They may be given small gifts of food by sympathetic strangers, or given priority treatment or discounts at shops. Unfortunately, when a notable community member dies and everyone cuts their hair, those that have cut it for a personal reason blend in with the rest and go unnoticed.
