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The Reasons Why Most Women Stop Covering

The Reasons Why Most Women Stop Covering

As the founder of the Head Covering Movement, I have the privilege of hearing from women (all around the world) as they begin following Paul’s instructions about head covering. Many times, I also hear as women abandon the practice. Starting and stopping, and re-starting then stopping — and then re-starting again — is sometimes common. Many others start covering for a time and later quit, never to return.

Throughout the years, I have noticed several characteristics of those who eventually abandon the practice of head covering. I’d like to share these trends with you so that you can evaluate whether any of them might be part of your life as well.

  1. Lack of Study. There are many women who begin the practice of head covering, but who don’t have a personal conviction based solidly on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. They started covering for the sake of modesty or because someone they respect does it, but not primarily because Scripture teaches it. Further, women who start covering may not be familiar with the reasoning used by those who reject head covering. They’ve never read thoughtful objections to the practice (such as the “cultural view” or the “long hair view”) — so when they are later confronted with those arguments, they are taken aback and start to doubt the practice. One way to help yourself is to study the biblical case for head covering. Also, become familiar with the reasons why people reject head covering and how their objections compare with Scripture.
  2. Mystical Reasons. There are many women who decide to begin head covering due to certain personal experiences — such as a dream, an answer to prayer, a sense of peace (or other emotion), or circumstances that seemed to be more than coincidental. But whenever our behavior is based on subjective experiences, it’s not likely that we’ll continue that behavior very long.  Feelings change and experiences can seem to lose their intensity (or even doubted entirely) later on. One way to ensure consistency is to ensure that your reasons for head covering are based on objective truth: the Word of God.
  3. Lacking Community.  Many women find themselves as the only one covering in their church and have few people encouraging them in their decision. One of the downsides to holding to a minority practice is that it can often feel very lonely. It can be easy to glance across the Christian landscape and feel like an outcast, even if that’s not how other people view you. I recommend intentionally finding supportive people — those who build you up in your decision and also those who practice head covering with you. If you can’t find them locally, try to find them online.
  4. Covering More Often Than Necessary. A woman’s long hair is her glory (1 Cor 11:15) and is meant to be enjoyed. It is a special gift that God has given to beautify a lady, which is not given to men. Similarly, Proverbs teaches that a man’s glory is his strength (Prov. 20:29). Can you imagine if a man felt obligated to hide his strength, rather than use it? Human glory is a gift which is meant to be on display except when we’re worshiping God (1 Cor 11:2-16). Many women “burn out” on head covering when their beautiful hair is covered more often than necessary. They rightfully miss it. Some cover their heads more often than I believe is Scripturally required (and for them, they should follow the conviction of their conscience). But if you don’t feel that conviction, then you should let your beautiful hair be visible and not cover more often than Scripture teaches.
  5. Not Being Yourself. Sometimes women begin head covering along with a bunch of other practices that were previously foreign to them. They see a woman that they admire and then they imitate her (or the group/culture she’s associated with). Believing in head covering does not mean you need to move to a homestead, wear plain hand-me-down clothes, or burn your jeans while switching to “dresses-only.” When you start covering, do so in a way that fits you as a unique individual. The styles you see others wearing might not be a good fit for you. Perhaps a woman who struggles with vanity decides to no longer use makeup. That’s fine, but new behaviors that might be helpful for some women are not always Scriptural obligations for all women, and might not make sense in your life. Instead, embrace head covering because it is biblical, not because someone you look up to does it.
  6. Legalism. This one is more common among newer Christians. New believers will often make some very radical changes in their lives (usually very good changes), but can also become overly strict in creating various “rules” for their new Christian walk. Those new practices sometimes get joined together (in their minds) with head covering. As they mature in the Christian life and understand their freedom in Christ, they begin to discard the various practices that were connected with their former “legalistic” stage — which can include, unfortunately, head covering.  So, it is important to understand what “Christian liberty” is and why head covering does not fall into that category.

Maybe you’ve stopped head covering and you can see yourself in one or more of these situations. If so, can I encourage you to re-start in a different way than before? Go through our guided study of headcovering with an open Bible, and be convinced by the Scriptures about why head covering is for you. Buy some beautiful head coverings that make you smile when you look in the mirror. Try covering for church and maybe a few other distinct times if you feel like it’s helpful (such as your quiet time with the Lord). Let your glorious hair be seen all other times — it is God’s gift to you. Finally, make friends with other women who cover and intentionally encourage one another. If those women aren’t available locally, meet some new friends through our recently-started HCM Community Group.

We’re planning a re-launch. We need a team!

HCM Relaunch

The Head Covering Movement is planning to re-launch at the beginning of the new year!

However, there’s one caveat. We can’t launch without a team of content creators and curators behind us.

From 2013-2017, I (Jeremy Gardiner) was the primary author and curator of content. However, I am now in Bible school and have additional responsibilities which prohibit me from being relied upon to do as much as I did before.

As our name indicates, this website represents a growing movement of people coming together to encourage each other and spread a shared belief. So today, I am reaching out to everyone who considers themselves a part of this movement, asking you to consider helping with our re-launch.

We are assembling a team of content creators, managers and editors to help continue the work undertaken over the last few years. We believe that a greater diversity in voices will not only unite us in belief and practice, but serve to better share our beliefs with the wider church.  Do you think you might be able to help? A list of possible tasks we need help with is set out below.

At the bottom of this page, you will find a form to fill out. This will tell us how you envision helping and why you’d be a good fit. If we can fill most roles in the next month or so, we will re-launch in early 2019 with consistent posting and all new content.

If you can’t help with your time, but want to give financially you can donate here. 100% of the funds will go towards the costs associated with re-launching and promoting this movement.

Here is a list of jobs we need help with:

  • Editorial Board (Male and Female): These people will be responsible for determining which submitted posts get published on this site. They will edit all posts as a team, checking for grammar, consistency, tone, and accuracy.
    Qualifications:  Must demonstrate theological aptitude as well as experience in writing and/or editing (online or print).
  • Regular Contributors (Male and Female): These people will contribute their own original content on head covering (as well as related topics taught in 1 Cor 11:2-16) in the form of articles and/or videos for posting on the HCM page. Frequency should be about once per month (though we’re flexible).
    Qualifications: Demonstrated ability writing articles and/or producing video content (ex. vlogs). A regular contributor must show that they’ve published lots of content online. If you do not meet that qualification we do accept single submissions (and will consider you for a regular contributor position after we’ve published three of your writings).
  • Social Media Manager (Female preferred): This person will manage our social media pages with a focus on community engagement. We desire to have an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and potentially Pinterest. Though we prefer one person to manage all of them, we are open to multiple people being in charge of one (or more) network(s) each.
     Qualifications: Must be active on social media and demonstrate the ability to craft compelling posts while engaging your audience.
  • Testimony Coordinator (Female only): This person will conduct interviews with those who indicate a desire to share their testimony. Ideally, they will also conduct some video interviews as well (though not a requirement). [POSITION FILLED]
     Qualifications: Demonstrated writing and/or editing skills. Familiarity with WordPress preferred.
  • Sermon Coordinator (Male or Female): This person will be in charge of regularly listening to sermons on 1 Corinthians 11 and then identifying ones that will be helpful to share with our community. [POSITION FILLED]
    Qualifications: Demonstrated theological aptitude. A desire to listen to lots of sermons on the same topic.
  • Web Content Coordinator (Male or Female): One or two people will be in charge of scouring the internet to find relevant content on head covering and 1 Cor 11:2-16. Helpful content will be identified to share with our community through our social media pages.
    Qualifications: Demonstrated ability at doing advanced Google searches (such as negative keywords, search by date, exact phrase match).
  • Graphic Designer (Male or Female): We are in need of one graphic designer who can design quote images as well as other content for our blog and social media posts.
    Qualifications: Demonstrated ability to make high-quality beautiful designs. Understands brand identity and consistency.
  • Video Editor (Male or Female): This person will edit all videos for our YouTube channel & Facebook page. Additionally, If they have production skills, they would also create short explainer videos.
    Qualifications: Demonstrated ability to edit and produce high-quality engaging videos.
  • Publicity Manager (Male or Female): This person will form relationships with like-minded bloggers as well as publishers and media outlets. They will arrange publication of our writers work on other blogs and magazines to expand our reach. This position will also include the management of Jeremy Gardiner. Tasks related to that role might include arranging podcast interviews, speaking engagements, and the publicity related to his second (forthcoming) book.
    Qualifications: Must have previous publicity experience (either for yourself or another). Can demonstrate past success in working with the press or media.
  • Marketing Manager (Male or Female): This person will handle all the marketing for HCM. This will include strategizing and executing on both free and paid promotions. It will also include arranging giveaways for our readers.
    Qualifications: Must have demonstrated experience in digital marketing. This will include launching promotions at strategic times and measuring the effectiveness through analaytics.
  • Administrative Assistant (Male or Female): – This person will be tasked with preparing and publishing posts in WordPress. They may also schedule and publish social media content (if the Social Media Manager position is not filled). Additional tasks may include responding to reader e-mails, communicating with staff, and basic tasks such adding subtitles to videos.
    Qualifications: Must have previously managed a blog/website or worked in administration before. WordPress experience is required.
  • Book Translators (Male or Female): We are seeking someone to finish the Spanish and Portuguese translations of our Head Covering book. We would also love to see it translated into additional languages.
    Qualifications: Must have excellent written English as well as fluency in the desired translation language.

These jobs should not be seen as exhaustive. If you have a great idea for how you can help in a way that we haven’t thought of, let us know. We’re open to promoting head covering in any way as long as it is done with excellence.

  • Explain why you believe you'd be a good fit for this role. Include links to your work if applicable.
  • Give us a sense of what you believe. Tell us where you go to church and the convictions you hold. Feel free to associate yourself with denominations, movements, seminaries, or authors/pastors. Anything that helps us understand what you believe would be appreciated.

A New Season for HCM

[UPDATE: Dec 6/18: This post has been superseded by this post. We are no longer looking for someone to take over HCM.]

A New Season for HCM

Hello everyone,

I wanted to provide a short update on why the Head Covering Movement has been quiet lately. I (Jeremy) started the four-year Biblical Studies program at Moody Bible Institute in March. I am doing this because I desire to enter pastoral ministry. Taking a full course load along with my business, family, and church responsibilities have left little time for HCM and other projects. On top of that, in two weeks I’ll begin the eldership training and testing process at my church.

Since I won’t have the same time I had in earlier days for HCM, it will need to enter a new season. It will either be periodically updated by me with a handful of articles and videos a year (as I still have more to say on this topic) or it may be the time to pass the torch and let someone else who is ambitious take over. This movement was never about me so I’d be glad to pass the leadership responsibility on. I’ll be praying for the latter (and I’d encourage you to as well) but if that person does not come then I’ll continue updating it here and there.

As far as my future plans with HCM, I have another full book I want to write. It’s dealing in-depth with the cultural view of head covering. I have already outlined it and started the first chapter. Another reason why I believe someone else would be better served running HCM is so I can devote my time to the book. There’s also a few in-depth articles I’d like to write that haven’t been dealt with yet on this site including the “testicle” view, the “covering” is your husband view, and I’d like to dive deeper into first-century Corinthian prostitution. I also have a handful of videos I’d like to make in addition to answering your questions.

So that’s where we’re at right now. If you believe you’re the right person to take over HCM feel free to send me a message. We’ll be looking for someone who has been convictional about head covering for some time (not a recent belief), has similar theology (Complementarian, Evangelical), excellent computer/internet skills, a good writer, along with the time to devote to HCM and passion for the topic. Men and women will both be considered.

Well, that’s it for now. Keep us in your prayers! I have a month off in July so hopefully, I’ll be able to get a new article or video up at that time.

The Biology of Hair Lengths: Why it’s Natural for Women to Have Longer Hair

The Biology of Hair Lengths: Why it’s Natural for Women to Have Longer Hair
In 1 Cor 11:14-15, Paul declares that “nature” teaches us that men are to have short hair and women are to have long hair. Is there a biological function that makes women have longer hair?

Yes, there does seem to be a built-in biological process that causes women to have longer hair than men (generally speaking, of course). This process is due to our hormones. First, I need to explain how our hair grows. Men and women’s hair grow at pretty much the same rate of about 1cm per month. So the difference is not that women’s hair grows faster. 1) Castro, J. (2014). How Fast Does Hair Grow?. [online] Live Science. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/42868-how-fast-does-hair-grow.html [Accessed 12 Feb. 2018].

Our hair grows and sheds in a three-stage process which keeps repeating itself. So we keep cycling through the phases and each of the hairs on our head are in a different phase at any given time (with about 90% being in the growing phase). 2) Geggel, L. (2017). Hair Loss and Balding: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments. [online] Live Science. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/34731-hair-loss-alopecia-treatment.html [Accessed 12 Feb. 2018]. However, our hormones are a major factor which can determine how long we stay in a particular phase.

These three phases are:

Anagen – Hair growth phase (lasts 2-7 years)
Catagen – Transition phase (lasts about 10 days)
Telogen – Resting or shedding phase (lasts about 3 months)

I recommend you watch this short video to help you visualize and understand these three phases better:

As mentioned our hormones play a significant role in how long we stay in a particular phase. Obviously if one stays in the anagen (hair growth phase) for a longer time, they will have longer hair. And this is exactly the case: women tend to stay in this phase longer than men.

Pastor John MacArthur explains,

“Men and women have distinctive physiologies. One obvious difference is the process of hair growth. Head hair develops in three stages: formation and growth, resting, and fallout. The male hormone testosterone speeds up the cycle so that men reach the third stage earlier than women. The female hormone estrogen causes the cycle to remain in stage one for a longer period, causing women’s hair to grow longer than men’s.” 3) MacArthur, John (2011). Divine design. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, p.49.

Now that is a theologian’s perspective, but is that backed up scientifically? Since dermatology is not a field I’m an expert in, I had to do some digging and I found out that MacArthur is absolutely correct in his assessment.

Here’s what some authorities specializing in hair biology say:

“The cause of pattern thinning in men is primarily related to two sex hormones, testosterone and DHT. The body converts testosterone into the hormone DHT by way of an enzyme found in various tissues throughout the body…In men…DHT increases the resting (telogen) phase and decreases the growing (anagen) phase of hair.” 4) Rassman, W. and Bernstein, R. (2009). Hair loss & replacement for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, p.61.

“DHT affects hair follicles and seems to prolong the telogen (resting) phase.” 5) Sherrow, V. (2006). Encyclopedia of hair. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press, p.173.

“In women, hair loss or noticeable thinning of the hair often occurs when levels of the female hormone estrogen decline after menopause. Prior to that time estrogen helps to counteract testosterone, which can be converted into the hormone DHT, which can cause hair follicles to…enter the resting stage of the hair growth cycle earlier than normal.” 6) Sherrow, V. (2006). Encyclopedia of hair. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press, p.173.

“There is some limited trichogram data to suggest that estrogens decrease the resting phase and prolong the growing phase of the hair cycle, hence estrogens are used in the treatment of female pattern hair loss in some countries.” 7) Thornton, J. and Stevenson, S. (2007). Effect of estrogens on skin aging and the potential role of SERMs. Clinical Interventions in Aging, Volume 2, pp.283-297.

In these sources, we see that the hormone DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) keeps a person in the resting/shedding phase longer and in the growing phase for a shorter period of time. While both genders can produce DHT, the female hormone estrogen counteracts testosterone (which is what gets converted to DHT). So that’s why DHT has more of effect on men unless a woman has low amounts of estrogen. We also see that estrogen decreases the resting phase and keeps a woman in the growing phase of the hair cycle for longer. When your hair is in the growing phase for longer, it obviously has more time to get longer.

So despite men and women’s hair growing at the same speed, there are natural biological functions which keep women’s hair growing longer than men’s. Of course, there will always be exceptions to the rule, but this is the normative pattern which shows God’s original design. After studying hair for over 30 years at an academic level, Dr. Kurt Stenn (author, Hair: A Human History) noted that “[It is] almost universally culturally found that women have longer hair than men.” 8) Fabry, M. (2016). Now You Know: How Did Long Hair Become a Thing for Women?. [online] Time. Available at: http://time.com/4348252/history-long-hair/ [Accessed 12 Feb. 2018]. This is what we should expect to see, that despite the time or culture, there has been a normative pattern because there is a natural process guiding it.

References

1.
↑ Castro, J. (2014). How Fast Does Hair Grow?. [online] Live Science. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/42868-how-fast-does-hair-grow.html [Accessed 12 Feb. 2018].
2.
↑ Geggel, L. (2017). Hair Loss and Balding: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments. [online] Live Science. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/34731-hair-loss-alopecia-treatment.html [Accessed 12 Feb. 2018].
3.
↑ MacArthur, John (2011). Divine design. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, p.49.
4.
↑ Rassman, W. and Bernstein, R. (2009). Hair loss & replacement for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, p.61.
5.
↑ Sherrow, V. (2006). Encyclopedia of hair. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press, p.173.
6.
↑ Sherrow, V. (2006). Encyclopedia of hair. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press, p.173.
7.
↑ Thornton, J. and Stevenson, S. (2007). Effect of estrogens on skin aging and the potential role of SERMs. Clinical Interventions in Aging, Volume 2, pp.283-297.
8.
↑ Fabry, M. (2016). Now You Know: How Did Long Hair Become a Thing for Women?. [online] Time. Available at: http://time.com/4348252/history-long-hair/ [Accessed 12 Feb. 2018].

The Biology of Hair Lengths (Video Question)

In this video, I answer Jessica’s question. She asks “How does nature teach us that it’s shameful for a man to have long hair but a glory for women to have the same? Is there an inclination for men to cut their hair or is there a biological function?”. I answer her question and share some surprising scientific facts.

Click here for info on how to submit your own question and be featured in our next video.

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