 The only physical attribute of interest was a woman's hair, which had to be thick and longer than she was tall.The fascination with long hair was one reason why a woman's becoming a nun was regarded with such seriousness — it could never again grow to its full length.This explains why Genji refuses to let Murasaki (his de facto wife in the classical Japanese novel "The Tale of Genji") take the tonsure when she is ill.