Julia Severn, ma’am! And why has she, or any other, curled hair? Why, in defiance of every precept and principle of this house, does she conform to the world so openly – here in an evangelical, charitable establishment – as to wear her hair one mass of curls?…I wish these girls to be the children of Grace: and why that abundance? I have again and again intimated that I desire the hair to be arranged closely, modestly, plainly. Miss Temple, that girl’s hair must be cut off entirely; I will send a barber to-morrow.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 7. Lowood supervisor Mr. Brocklehurst objects to the girls in the school having curly hair, implying that it is ungodly to wear anything other than straight hair. Singling out one girl who has naturally curly red hair, he orders that it should all be cut off in the interests of modesty.