Does touching hair detached from a living person bother you. If so, why?

Depends on what area of the body it came from.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. But really.

I’ve noticed this.
Detached hair certainly does not bother me at all, but I’ve encountered several people that have freaked out at the very idea of a foreign strand of hair on their body.

I know my little sister has long hair and it looks really good on her head. When i use her bathroom to shower sometimes it don’t drain good. When that happens i pull out a clump of long hair that has been dyed red. Those clumps are really nasty. And i found a black curly hair on my pizza one time. I freaked out raised hell and got another pizza for free. And one time I was with my ex-gf at the hospital when her mom died. She cut off a lock of her hair and put it in a zip-lock bag. That didn’t sit well with me either.

I have two small curls tied with ribbons. They are from each of my childrens’ first hair cut. I love looking at them from time to time. The hair has stayed soft and not dried…little ringlets that wrap around my pinkie.

There are many Victorian lockets designed for small locks of the beloved’s hair. (And read Jane Austin. A man who is allowed to snip off a small tendril from his lady’s locks was akin to getting to third base, or whatever the current expression is.)

There were also, apparently, Victorian Mourning Brooches that were either designed to hold a small lock of the deceased, or had some of the hair actually as part of the decoration. Google if you want to know more…

Yeah, once it’s fallen off it’s gross. Just like everyone loves to touch their significant others’ skin but if that skin peels off and is on the ground it’s suddenly not so attractive.

I think it’s because it’s no longer a part of that person, it’s an inanimate thing after it falls off.

There are beautiful wigs made from human hair – for cancer patients, in particular. The hair is cut, of course, and remains ungross. Skin flakes are different, I would say.

http://www.locksoflove.org/

@gailcalled: Check out some Victorian mourning jewelry. Yes, it’s real hair from the deceassed.

@Brian; can you imagine the patience required? Of course, the Victorian women who were part of the upper-crust took pride in doing irritatingly picky and time-consuming needlework. Tatting, 20 stitches/inch hand-quilting, lace making, petit point, & the high point…Victorian Crazy Quilts.

This isn’t confined to hair. People swallow their own saliva all day, and swallow others when they kiss. Yet, most people are repulsed by the idea of spitting into a glass and then drinking it.

It’s part of the sense of selves. The hair, while attached, is part of someone. Once it loses that connection, it seems to be more foreign. Same with saliva.

Hair. Not everyone is grossed out, or there would not be wig sales. People who are grossed out: If the hair was on someone’s head looking lifelike, would it bother you to touch it?

Recently cut my hair and was thrilled when they told me there was enough for Locks of Love, a wonderful cause!

I think people also braided the dead loved one’s hair into mourning jewelry, did they not? Ah, the neurotic Victorians. Gotta love ‘em.

@Marina: Look up, three responses from your last.

I like human artifacts. Hair, teeth, bones, pickled brains. Concerning sexiness, I think I prefer to touch any hair of someone I am attracted to in any form before the rooted head hair of someone I am not.

I agree with buster…

I can’t stand going into a public restroom and seeing hairs on the toilet or sink…

However, I used to help my sister at her beauty salon and sweep up the hair, and it didn’t bother me a bit.

One of my best friend’s died in a car accident a long time ago and her mother braided her very long thick red hair and cut it off and put it on the altar at her memorial… that was very sad for me… I remember seeing and knowing that it was cut from her head when she was dead.

Hair in food——absolutely YUCKY!!

I did have an old boyfriend who saved some of my hair and I saw it on his dresser, it was actually flattering… in a way.

@margeryred Unles he still has it—long after you broke up. Creepy :)

Hair in unexpected places (like food) is gross. Especially i it’s really curly or wiry, because then you wonder what kind of hair it is . . .

When I was 8, I had very long thick golden hair that my father braided every morning. Then the lady with the scissors arrived and cut off each braid -snip, snip. Apparently without mentioning it, my father rescued one braid, which my mother was going to throw out. He put the braid in a tie box, and hid the box in our stuffed attic.

After he died, my mother, sister and I were cleaning out the attic and found the braid. Considering that it was almost 40 years old, it looked pretty good. I had a little cry for my undemonstrative father, now gone, and then tossed the hair.

Threadjack: Hate the smell of burning hair!

Oooo yeah, burning hair is the pits. Back in my old young teenage smoking days I was good at giving the bangs a good singe!

@Marina: I sure hope he doesn’t still have it… YUCK! Creepy.

Not an answer exactly, but on a somewhat related note:

I was at this Taco Bell once. (Do you see where this is going?) And the girl in front of me was showing the lady who worked there a hair in her food. The lady pulled out the hair and took a look at it. It was dark, short and kinky. (Yeah.) Her reply? “Oh! That’s not one of ours. None of our employees have short and curly hair!” Dude, lady. EVERYONE has short and curly hair.