Q: Are men supposed to comb their hair to the left or to the right? I have been told that men should comb their hair over to the right and women to the left. Is this true?
A: The left-right question stems from long traditions that called for certain differences in men’s and women’s fashions and fashionability. For a long time, certain men’s and women’s garments were made
differently. Women’s blouses were made with the buttons on the left, with the buttonholes on right. Men’s were constructed in reverse fashion. It was the same with trousers, jackets and other forms of
clothing that were designed with men’s and women’s varieties.
Whether the fashion traditions inspired the grooming or it developed independently as a coincidence, it became customary that men’s hair would be parted on the
left (combing it toward the right side), and women’s (where appropriate) would be parted on the right.
However, with the advent of unisex styles in both hair and clothing fashions, the question of left and right dominance has become more arbitrary. In some cases, there is
still a difference, but in many cases the dominance of right over left has no bearing whatsoever.
I would argue that if you are wearing a traditional men’s haircut, you can follow the convention of parting your hair on the left side, but you needn’t feel confined to this convention.
