It’s not for Everyone Corn rows and afros, afro puffs and bantu knots, kinky twists and dreads… all familiar hairstyles in the black culture, but can you imagine your child going to school one morning just to be sent home because the hair was “distracting”? For years there has been an ongoing debate regarding natural hair in our school systems, and because more members of the black community are growing confident in wearing their natural hair, some schools feel like it is a distraction to others’ learning environment and should possibly be banned. Kenya vocalizes the unspoken, uncomfortable argument of many that natural hair looks unkempt, but even with the agreement of the mass on her side—Osburne’s use of pathos, diction, and the strategic placement of her article not only reads as the stronger text but calls her reader to break the silence on the targeting of the black community’s youth. Roxanna Kenya is a blogger who openly admits to natural hair being “ugly”. Many people agree with her statement and believe that the natural hair movement is just a passing phase, or current fad, that people refuse to admit. On the other hand, Osburne is a naturalista who takes part in the natural hair movement. She is familiar with the keeping of …show more content…
Popular artist such as Jill Scott, India Arie, and Erykah Badu are known for rocking their natural hair. Kenya states that they, unlike us, have stylist on hand to keep their natural hair “on point” therefore it is okay for them to sport it. Everyone is able to relate to celebrities in some form- but not to the extent of having “a team of hair stylists at her beck and call” (Kenya, 2016). Kenya’s use of celebrities makes the reader contemplate on how convenient is natural hair, or possibly it’s not convenient at all and society just wants to “jump into the bandwagon of natural hair”(Kenya,
Thus, being conveyed in the African American population as a cultural identifier, American Airlines had created a policy that restricted a group of people from fully expressing their culture, discriminatorily forcing them to “fade into the mainstream.” And still, there’s the matter that cultural beliefs and practices are often engraved into one’s identity, which is composed of immutable traits. While the court judged cornrows to be mutable due to the idea that they are simply a chosen hairstyle popularized by a white actress (even though the fact that a white actress uses a mainly African American attribute does not make such attribute a holistic, white, American attribute), cornrows had become an immutable trait for Rogers, explaining her concern and motive to sue for her rights. In such way it becomes noticeable how Yoshino and the courts make it seem as if there’s a standard, universal guideline as to what traits are immutable or mutable, and contrary to that opinion, Roger’s case fully proves that the classification of an attribute as immutable or mutable can only be relative, and that the one opinion that should surpass all classifications of the attribute is that belonging to the one identifying with such
This essay is concerned with issues of identity, body image and the politics of hair within African American culture. It discusses the lived experiences of a number of African American women and is no way generalizable to all African American women. Nonetheless, body image and hair politics are prominent features in African American culture because they have deep historical roots and still feature in present day. Body image is generally understood as a mental image of one’s body as it appears to others (Featherstone 2010). This mental image produces body consciousness, which Samantha Kwan describes as an amplified mindfulness that one’s body does not conform to hegemonic cultural standards (Kwan 2010). In today’s modern context, hegemonic cultural norms are reproduced and widely disseminated by the mass media with the help of new technologies. These new technologies Elliott’s discusses, with some in the form of satellite television and other widely utilized media, give viewers unprecedented opportunities to view and scrutinize their favorite celebrities in close proximity (Elliott 2010).
Some black women have taken it upon themselves to fight what they perceive as racial discrimination against black women maintaining natural hair. It is not uncommon to see many young women creating blogs to share insights about how natural hair can be maintained and the need for African women to accept this as part of their identity
Hair Care is another popular africanism present in America for African americans. For african american woman going for a natural hairstyle is quite common. Dating back to pre-colonial africa a natural afro hair style defined status and identity. Different styles indicated certain qualitie...
She states, “Individual preferences (whether rooted in self hate or not) cannot negate the reality that our collective obsession with straightening black hair reflects the psychology of oppression and the impact of racist colonization” (Hooks 540).
In African American culture we take pride in our hair, especially African American women. Due to the fact that the quality of your hair and your hair style pretty much represents you as a person, hair is taken very seriously. For example, in the song “Don’t touch my hair” Solange says “Don’t touch what’s there when it’s the feelings I wear.” What she means is don’t play or mess with her hair because in doing that you are playing around with or messing with her feelings. I believe she is implying hair is an imperative part of her culture which is black culture. Solange also says “Don 't touch my soul when it 's the rhythm I know. Don 't touch my crown they say the vision I 've found don 't touch what 's there when it 's the feelings I wear.” Solange subtly but heavily implies that a black woman’s hair is a form of an extension her being and also a declaration of her Black pride. Her hair is not for the judging, sideshow or entertaining of white people. When Solange says
In this paper I’m going to show how African Americans have used hip hop and black hair are two ways in which African Americans embrace their culture and fight oppression. However, as we have reviewed in many classes, oppression is not easily escaped. So in this paper, I’m going to show how cultural appropriation is used as a way of oppressing black culture. So this paper is an expansion of what we have learned in the class.
In Hair Story (2002), the authors write about some of black hair style, include the West African manner of wearing their hair in braid or wrap to the current and most popular hair styles: weaves, natural hair and chemical hair straightening by black people- a style considered as imitating "white" hairstyles. Byrd and Tharps (2010)
In the recent past year or two, a woman’s natural hair has become a big thing. Before, African American women, to be specific, were so disgusted by their hair. They would do anything in their power to change the “nappy” aspect of their hair to “beautiful”. They would use relaxers very so often and hot combs.
The natural hair movement has provided a shift in history for black women to free themselves from the oppression of the dominant white society and increase their self-acceptance. This shift in the perception of black hair has allowed black women to appreciate the complexities of their identities, and their pride in being black. Although black women are often ridiculed for their puffs and locs, many women seem to be invincible to society’s negative connotation to the natural woman’s hair. With this negative perception comes the concept of cultural appropriation because non-black individuals have begun to appropriate themselves with black culture through tanning methods to achieve darker skin and obtaining natural hairstyles such as bantu knots, afros, cornrows, baby hair, and more because society views it as “high fashion.” Hairstyles that have been deeply rooted within African culture are now being deemed as highly attractive because of the white skin color of those who wear them and attempt to mimic these hairstyles as if they are the original creators.
“Hollywood is an industry that gravitates toward trends, but the natural hair movement has gone unnoticed and unaddressed on small screens all across the country” (Gordon, 2015, para. 4). Recently, the shows that are rated high, black women are wearing weaves and wigs instead of their natural, unprocessed hair. When analyzing Olivia Pope from scandal or Gabrielle Union from Being Mary Jane we all see that they obviously wear weaves and wigs. Even though natural hair is missing from hit TV shows, some stars, such as Lupita Nyong’o, the 12 Years a Slave star has strutted the red carpet with their natural hair on display. Only time will tell when more roles will feature women like Tracee Ellis Ross; starring in ABC’s new comedy Black–ish, sporting the big natural hairstyles that more and more Black women have been embracing. I believe actresses have fear of being limited by their natural hairstyles and that’s why weaves and wigs continue to dominate the
One of women’s constant struggles is upkeep with culture and society’s ever-changing definition of beauty. Although both genders have hair on their bodies, the views and acceptability of the amount or the location of body hair vary immensely. In fact, women are often thought to be hairless and men to be hairier (DeMello, 2014). Women must then put in effort to uphold a standard, in which the idea that being feminine is natural and effortless (Toerien and Wilkinson, 2003). That being the case, I will argue that the hairless female body has been transformed over time to represent beauty and youth. More importantly, I will argue that it has now become normative in Western society and deemed unacceptable if women do not conform to the hairless
Imagine having the flexibility of wearing your hair loose and flowing. . .maybe pulled back in a simple rubber band, or allowing your long locks to swing expressively in front of your face. It's a natural feeling and style, that epitomizes your love for individualism, they are your Dreadlocks. The art of dreadlocks can be traced back to the Ancient Caribbean islands such as Jamaica where they were fine tuned to perfection by Rastafarians. Here at Syracuse University, students give a new meaning to what it is like to be a part of the dreadlock society without having to be a Rastafarian, a black radicalist, or politically correct. In fact, being able to be different and sculpt the hair away from the average trends on campus creates this off beat group--The Dreadlocks Society.
During an interview with Channel 4, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said that “hair is a political thing”. Indeed, the way people wear their hair tell something about them. As the author said, if a black woman wears braids, people will have a certain image of her, as a radical, an artist, a traditional African woman and so on. It opens the debate on what society consider as beautiful. Most of the time, straight hair would be considered as beautiful and professional. In Americanah, Ifemelu has an
Describing the hair salon experience as “of something organic dying which should not have died,” Ifemelu expresses regret for this attempt at conforming to American standards. Therefore, Ifemelu grieves the loss of her identity as she leaves the hair salon. After “she breezed through the job interview,” Ifemelu wonders “if the [interviewer] would have felt the same way had she walked into that office wearing her thick, kinky, God-given halo of hair, the Afro” (252). By describing her hair as a “God-given halo,” Ifemelu captures the sanctity of her natural hair (252). Despite her success in the interview process, Ifemelu remains disgruntled about her new relaxed hair, which “is like being in a prison” (257). Desperate to resist caving into the pressure of assimilating into American culture and to reconnect with her Nigerian roots, Ifemelu allows Wambui to cut her hair, “leaving only two inches, the new growth since her last relaxer” (258). While Ifemelu initially cedes to American beauty standards to achieve success, she ultimately rejects them to stay aligned with her Nigerian