Red Hair and its Social Effects on High School Students
Introduction
Hair is one of the most profound forms of expression in today’s society because of its ability to be both a public and private form of expression (Druann Maria Heckert and Amy Best,1997. Synnott, A.. 1987). It can represent social deviance, the Bob in the nineteen twenties is an excellent example of women trying to express social change; it can represent political views, the afro in the nineteen sixties was thought to promote Black Pride (Vargas, 2009). In more recent years, especially among student populations, the color of one’s hair has granted more control over how one express themselves using their hair. In this new age of hairstyles and expression, hair color has
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Redheads are more likely to survive childbirth, absorb vitamin D more efficiently consequently, supporting the growth of thicker bones (Scutts, Joanna 2015). However, the social effects have scarcely been explored such as how social confidence and acceptance of others and one’s self seem to affect individuals with red hair. When stereotypes and discrimination are brought up, one might think back to the civil rights movement or the gay rights movement; however, few seem to think of hair color as being a discriminatory factor since so few sources exist on this topic. However, popular culture in the US has still created stereotypes associated with red hair, similar to how it created stereotypes associated with skin color or ethnicity. This study seeks to investigate the extent to which a student body’s social makeup is affected and how stereotypes and experiences associated with natural red hair affect high school students’ ability to interact socially and …show more content…
Druann Maria Herkert and Amy Best researched social effects of red hair in twenty redheads (Druann Maria Heckert and Amy Best p 5. 1997) that discusses how red hair creates a deviance from the social appearance norms. This study was the only one found that virtually set out to accomplish the same task as the one in this study. The authors conducted interviews each with ten redheads ranging from ages 11-37. They asked them open ended questions about the subjects’ personal life (Drann Maria Hekert and Amy Best p 3 1997). Other sources have looked at what symbology hair color, length, and style represent among college students (Jodi Manning 2011). This study took a sample from colleges and looked at how hair color fit into physical attractiveness (Berscheid, Ellen and Elaine Walster 1974). However her research was limited by the fact that she only looked at female subjects and seemed to disregard male symbolism. The author took a survey and focused on attributes such as: attractiveness (Carl B. Backman and Murray C. Adams 1991), likeability, confidence, and intelligence, and she asked the subjects to rate from strongly agree to strongly disagree then analyzed the
Everyday we experience stereotyping in one way or another. Over the years stereotyping has become such a large part of our society that it is a vital part of our everyday communication. It has caused many of us to not really think about who a person really is, or what they are about, but to accept instead a certain stereotype that has already been created by our society and given to an individual. Stephanie Ericsson makes an excellent point in her essay when she says “they take a single tree, and make it into a landscape.” The statement she was trying to make by saying this is that many times, a stereotype is made by an individual because of something done by one particular person in a certain group, but is then given to the whole group as a result. Our society has given a stereotype to practically every form of human being out there. Some examples of this are the blond that is said to be dumb, the kid with glasse...
The existing literature on ethnic and racial studies among African-Americans has focused on issues pertaining to beauty and body politics especially on natural hair. Spellers and Moffitt assert that the body politics that one assumes, guides how one relates to a particular political ideology in a particular society. Black natural hair is considered as a way by which the true identity of African women can be understood (Jacobs-Huey). It is a symbol of power among black women; it influences how people are treated by others.
Stereotyping redheads or Scottish people usually does little harm. It typically leads to friendly kidding and good-natured jokes. Simple-minded stereotyping can be dangerous. The danger lies in exaggeration of differences in color, nationality, religion and language. We exaggerate the differences, ignoring what we share as human beings and become prejudiced. Prejudice is nourished by fear as it grows out of exaggeration. It is a profoundly negative emotion bearing the fruit of hatred.
Because no research has been made regarding hair colour discrimination, the main aim of this research will be to collect and analyse the data, so future research will be possible. Without providing empirical evidence that discriminations against redheads exist, it is not possible to continue exploring the discrimination effects on psychological development among redheads. Most importantly, prejudice against redheads is the most neglected area of prejudice, and people should be more open about it than about political, racial, religious, and other forms of prejudice, so future research could perhaps provide insight into variables that influence the formation of prejudices which researchers in other forms of appearance-based prejudices have missed.
The ideal female beauty in American culture is predominately white (Bankhead & Johnson, 2014). Throughout U.S history, women’s mainstream beauty ideal has been historically based on white standards such as having blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, a thin ideal body, straight hair, and thin lips (West, 1995; Yamamiya, Cash, Melynk, Posavac, & Posavac, 2005; Leslie, 1995). Therefore, the features of African American women tend to be viewed as undesirable and unattractive compared to the European standards of beauty (Awad, Norwood, Taylor, Martinez, McClain, Jones, Holman, & Hilliard, 2014). According to Ashe (1995), “African beauty, body and hair have been racialized, with slim/”keen” European features being the accepted standard of beauty since enslaved Africans was forcefully brought to the Americas.” The physical characteristics of Black women such as having broad noses, brown skin, full lips, large buttocks and course hair has been looked down upon throughout United States history (Byrd & Tharps, 2001). In effect, the standard of beauty of European features that were forced on slaves are internalized and currently seen in the standard of beauty of African Americans (A.A) (Chapman, 2007). These standards include African Americans perceiving light-skinned as being more favorable than dark-skinned (Maddox & Gray, 2002; Perdue, Young, Balam,
1.)Stereotypes and racism have always been an issue in this and many other societies.Teenagers are commonly the most impacted by stereotypes, not unlike most teens at Point Loma High School. To further analyze this, my class read “How a Self-Fulfilling Stereotype Can Drag Down Performance” by Shankar Vedantam, a science correspondent for NPR. In his informative article, Vedantam discusses how research proves that self-fulfilling stereotypes can drag down many individuals’ performance. He supports his claim by presenting statistics such as “When black people and white people answered 10 vocabulary questions posed by a white interviewer, blacks on average answered 5.49 questions correctly and whites answered 6.33 correctly”, and talking about how black students tend to score better on tests that are administered by other blacks, and finally explaining how all students’ performance increases when they are not reminded of their race/gender before beginning a test. Vedantam’s purpose is to inform the audience about the negatives of reminding students of their race before a test in an effort to prevent poor performance and boost test scores. Upon reading this, my class has decided to carry out a research project about the stereotypes at our school, and how they affect a variety of students.
During this time, women were seen embracing their natural tresses with locks and twists, but that seemed to quickly change. In order to fit into this new European standard of beauty, women were required to alter their hair, thus stripping them of the little identity they possessed. The increased support for the natural hair movement alters the black woman’s perception of beauty while intentionally and unintentionally challenging the ideology of beauty within the western world. With more women wearing their hair natural, black women have begun to accept their unaltered appearances while redefining their perception of beauty.
According to 10 Weird and Wacky Beauty Facts by Andrea Lavinthal, in ancient Greece, the most sought-after hair color was blond. Not many Greeks were naturally blond, so light hair was probably perceived as beautiful because it was so exotic. Women would lighten their hair using plant extracts or arsenic. They also washed their locks with a mixture of ashes, olive oil, and water. She also explained how “it was a shame that extension weren’t available during the Heian period when a Japanese woman’s beauty was judges by the length of her hair, since the ideal was considered almost two feet longer than her waist. We’re assuming that ponytails were a popular hairstyle back then.” There are many other crazy facts about beauty facts like Vaseline makes your eyelashes grow and can take off makeup, or if your finger nails are discolored from using dark polish, use a slice of lemon on them and they will regain their color (The beauty magazine, Roselyn Miller, pg. 67). Going into the field of Cosmetology helps you express yourself and it brings out your inner creativity. That is one of the many reason I love this line of work, because when I do hair it lets me express myself while creating a hairstyle of my own. The first time I started doing hair was when I was about 10 or 11, I was a natural! I want to be able to know my clients and exactly what will look right on my clients and read people, so I would know what they do like just by talking to them. I need to learn to separate family from business. I do know some things about this field I before this assignment that cosmetology is not just about doing hair, it’s also about learning about the Skin; Doing make up, eye lashes, etc. You also learn about nails; doing a...
In the modern era, stereotypes seem to be the ways people justify and simplify the society. Actually, “[s]tereotypes are one way in which we ‘define’ the world in order to see it” (Heilbroner 373). People often prejudge people or objects with grouping them into the categories or styles they know, and then treat the types with their experiences or just follow what other people usually do, without truly understand what and why. Thus, all that caused miscommunication, argument or losing opportunities to broaden the life experience. Stereotypes are usually formed based on an individual’s appearance, race, and gender that would put labels on people.
Revolutionary fashions made it acceptable to show more skin, develop different styles, and be able for women to express themselves. Women began to liberate themselves from the traditional long hairstyles and turn to the new and shorter masculine hairdos. “The bob appeared in the US shortly. Women with bobs needed more frequent haircuts, and wanted permanent waves” (Monet). Women began to cut their hair shorter, cringing their hair, and finger waving it.
18) Heckert, Best (1997); Weir, Fine- Davis (1989) the reason why participants perceived red hairs as aggressive was welded from the temperamental red hair stereotype. As cited in Beddow, Hymes and McAuslan (2011, p. 18) in a similar way as to lots of stereotypes which are about unfavourable sides related to having a red hair according to Heckert and Best (1997) are the reason why they found under achiever in dating ambiance. As cited in Takeda, Helms and Romanova (2006, p. 91) according to “likes and dislike” study done by Feinman and Gill (1978) about physical characteristics, in excess of 80% do not like the red hairs. As cited in Takeda, Helms and Romanova (2006, p. 91) Clayson and Maughan (1986) instead of women who have a red hair were perceived like they are unpleasant except that they are qualified, unappealing and failure were associated with men with red hair. As cited in Takeda, Helms and Romanova (2006, p. 91) stereotyping the red hairs might be welded from the less frequentness of this hair colour which was extrapolated by Clayson and Maughann
Almost 250 years of slavery and anti-blackness within the United States has created a divide in what type of hair is acceptable. According to Cynthia L. Robinson, “Black hair texture is graded” (Robinson 2011). Precisely, this means that a Black woman has either good hair or bad hair. Good hair has a resemblance of European hair texture, meaning straight and wavy curls. Good hair also diminishes the look of African ancestry. Bad is the complete opposite. The texture is kinky, coiled, and thick, giving the appearance of short hair (Robinson 2011). Hair that bears a resemblance to Eurocentric beauty standards is more beautiful and makes the individual with that hair type more beautiful as well (Robinson
Hair is not just a part of you, hair is also a way for people to judge you. When Ifemelu cut her hair, people asked her if it “meant anything, like something political” (p211), or if she became “a lesbian” (p211). The way of wearing one’s hair has influence on people, good or bad. In Americanah, wearing an Afro may probably not make it easier to get a job. In a conference, Adichie said: “If Michelle Obama had natural hair, Obama would not have won [the presidency of the United States]”. Indeed, the image people would have had of Michelle Obama and thus of Barack Obama could have been different, as if something might have been “wrong” with
Most people find stereotypes to be obnoxious, especially when they have to do with sensitive subjects like gender or race. “Stereotyping is a generalization about a group or category of people that can have a powerful influence on how we perceive others and their communication behaviors” (Floyd, 61). Because they underestimate the differences among individuals in a group, stereotyping can lead to inaccurate and offensive perceptions of other people. Although stereotypes are prevalent in almost every society, becoming aware of our perceptions of others, as well as differentiating between both positive and negative stereotypes can help us overcome those stereotypes.
For much of my life, my hair and I were diametrically opposed in appearance, personality, and temperament. On my head is a thick mane of jet-black coarse curly hair. Each hair is muscular, with enough heft and hutzpah to hold a 5-pound dumbbell. I, in contrast, am a very petite girl with the arm strength of a gnat. My hair is wild. I am demure. My hair is boisterous, I, except occasionally, am composed. My hair is an extrovert, gaining energy from those around her. I am an introvert, preferring to curl up with a good book.