Friday, October 05, 2007

Is There a Jewess Hairstyle?

Yulia Tymoshenko may be the top politician in the Ukraine. The BBC suggets her hair style helped.

She has become instantly recognisable the world over for that hair : the artful arrangement of traditional braids - sometimes dubbed "the Yulia". The style evoking an idealised Ukrainian peasant girl chimes with her uncompromising nationalist views.

...Originally, he says, the hair was brunette and the image modest. Now, the hair is lighter - almost the colour of corn - and the clothes "far more sumptuous".

...In an interview with the Jersualem Post earlier this year, Ms Tymoshenko referred to the amount of interest her hair has attracted:

"Let me state for the record that I invented this hairstyle. And I do it by myself every day. It has been the subject of endless attention in my country. Everybody has something to say about it. But I've noticed that it's catching on in all kinds of fashion circles in Europe. That makes me happy - at least my hair is calling attention to Ukraine."

...Detractors have scathingly described her metamorphosis as pretentious: a near biblical transformation, her hair wrapped on top of her head like a halo, complemented by flowing white angelic dresses.

But it seems to have worked magic on Ukrainian voters. BYT's share of the vote - at nearly 31% according to incomplete results - was entirely unexpected, and gives her every chance of forming the next government.


So, what do you say?

2001:



2005 on:



What would a successful feminine Israeli political hairstyle be?

Geulah Cohen hasn't changed her hair is 60 years, ever since the British wanted poster noted that it was unkempt and uncombed.



and a bonus: Geulah and I:



Limor Livnat has made about half-a-dozen alterations in color and cut that I know of, having worked with her. Here are a few:







Yuli Tamir, current Education Minister, has made several alterations since being in politics:







Gila Finkelstein of the NRP does not cover her hair, although religious, but doesn't alter her color or style that I have noticed. [CORRECTION: It's a wig I've been informed. Just goes to show you.]



Other looks?

Here's Benazir Bhutto:



What's your favorite?

By the way, Treppenwitz previously blogged on female Israeli politicians' looks but he dealt with their faces, not their hair.

POSTSCRIPT
----------

On Gerturde Bell, creator of modern Iraq:

Her political instincts were uncertain: she underestimated the threat of insurgency, for example, and encouraged the British military commanders to go on holiday on the eve of the uprising in 1920. She conveniently forgot the advice of many who opposed bringing in an alien king, and brushed aside Basra's request for autonomy. Even her decision not to cover her head, though encouraging for Iraqi women, weakened her politically, since she was unable to talk with the senior Shia clerics, who would not meet an unveiled woman.

No comments: