Why I don't want to cut my hair, A theoretical argument based on Postmodernism Or Intellectual Procrastination During Finals Week

As Pierre Bourdieu argues, a person's place in society can be seen as an interaction of certain groups. A traditional Marxist argument would be to say that a person has a distinct social class that is determined by his or her economic situation. The Postmodern approach is to take this one step further, showing that social status in the grater society is much more complex, and a person's role in said society is determined by the overlapping of what Pierre Bourdieu calls "fields". A field can be seen on a basic level as a particular cultural group. So I am a part of a field devoted to music appreciation, I am a part of an american field, I am a part of (on some level) an anti-establishment field, etc. etc.

A person is completely influenced by these fields, and behavior, mannerisms, how we view ourselves, how we view others, our role in reality, our view of reality, everything, is influenced by the intersections of these fields. We can exit and enter different cultural fields, and we do so all the time as we age and move and change as people, but much of what we think and how we act is controlled by a large part by these fields. These fields change and diversify as different individuals enter and exit the fields, bringing in new ideas, mannerisms, etc., from different fields. 

And so, at the moment, I think I am being influenced by certain fields to not cut my hair. I want to stress that I am not looking to shove off personal responsibility, mind you. I'm not saying that I am unable to cut my hair because of the fields I am a part of, rather I don't want to cut my hair simply because I am happy with it the way it is. My contentment with my hair reflects the sentiment of some of my more dominant cultural fields. To put it simply, in the social settings I am currently in, most people don't care that I have long hair, and in fact, many of the men in my current social settings have similar long hair. 

Now, I will say that I have started combing it a different way, in order to keep it out of my eyes for practical reasons, but I will continue to grow it until I choose to cut it. If you've read this far, congratulations with my procrastinatory rant…