About five to six years ago, I noticed a trend among my female family, friends, and peers regarding their hair. They were tired of constantly applying chemicals and heat to their hair to straighten it or create loose curls. Starting over was their go-to and by doing so, they cut off all of their hair. My initial reaction wasn’t really a positive one because I couldn’t imagine just cutting off hair that’s been growing since birth. Unbeknownst to me, I was doing the exact same thing, just in a different and more insidious fashion. Around this time, I began to wear hair extensions, which are commonly referred to as weave. My real hair was braided and a hair net was sewn onto these braids. Then, the weave would be sewn onto the net. Prior to …show more content…
Huffington Post has dubbed 2012 as the year the natural hair movement was conceived (Wilson, 2012). They gave a comprehensive timeline of events of actresses, singers, and social media gurus that have embraced the movement. Among the social media gurus was an African American woman named Nikki Walton who is better known as Curly Nikki (Wilson, 2013). She has developed a huge online following because of her blogs concerning natural hair. Her blogs and videos detail helpful tips for women who are transitioning, which is the act of cutting off hair and ceasing to use any type of heat or chemicals. She also details helpful hair care tips for maintaining and making the most of natural hair. There is also a connection with past movements such as the Black Power movement from the 1960s, which birthed the phrase “Black is Beautiful.” There are some similarities as well as differences between statements being made in that era versus currently. Even though the focus is on natural hair in the African American community, there are more broad implications that suggest the acceptance of one’s self as an individual who is not only naturally beautiful, but deserves the means to express that beauty without …show more content…
Bertram D. Ashe (1995) discusses the black women’s role in beauty in Toni Morrison’s “Song of Soloman” and Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. At the most climactic part in Song of Soloman, the black woman who has natural kinky hair asks her mother and grandmother why her love interests, who is an African American man, doesn’t like her hair. The response was another question on how he can like himself if he doesn’t like her hair. This is a common retort used to combat the negative implications made by African American men. First, the most important women in their life have hair similar to other African American women. Are they willing to go home to their mothers and grandmothers and tell them what to do with their hair? Not without a harsh reaction from the women who raised them. Secondly, they neglect to consider what grows from their scalp is the exact same as what grows from the scalp of their female counterparts. Yes, some do cut their hair but if you took away razors and products that make a wavy pattern in their hair, the results would be identical to African American women. Essentially, this can be seen as an expression of self-hatred. Furthermore, the domination over women comes in the form of physical attractiveness. The female lead character in “Song of Soloman” and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” were not concerned with how
“I’m black and I’m cursed! God cursed me with terrible hair!” I personally know that trying to manage African American hair can be very difficult because unlike Caucasians black people have a rougher grade of hair. No one really knows why God gave Caucasians fast growing soft hair and black people slow growing rough hair. As a African American female I can testify that my hair doesn’t grow fast and I am a proud “creamy crack “user so therefore the chemicals from relaxers I use makes my hair straight and bouncy. When my relaxer expires and I need to get another put in my hair, my hair gets stiff and the roots of my hair become harder to comb. Hair is one of every human’s main features, women care for their hair and desire to find hairstyles that they believe will be appealing on them and speak for the way they
By the twentieth century, slavery had damaged black pride, and made it known that black features were inferior. When it came to black women and their hair, black women desperately wanted to match the standard of “white” beauty. Walker’s solution to this was to create a look that was Afro-American without trying to imitate whites. Walker spoke about beauty emphasizing that to be beautiful does not refer to the complexion of your skin, or the texture of your hair, but having a beautiful mind, soul, and character.
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.
Man is a social product." Additionally, society is our comprehensive understanding of the reality that confronts us, externalization is the physical and mental outpouring of human beings into the world, and objectivation is the process by which the externalized products of human activity attain the product through internalization (Berger and Luckman 1967:61). This perception of beauty that everyone in America consumes either voluntarily or forcefully is described by many different definitions with common aspects. Jennifer Milland of Dove's Real Beauty Campaign categorizes beauty by: long, shiny hair; clear, soft skin; cosmetics; thin body; straight, white teeth; and trendy clothes." In the documentary "Good Hair", African American's describe the socially constructed image of 'good hair' as: white hair; the lighter, the brighter, the better; straight, flowy, and 'relaxed' (Rock 2009). Because of this, they face the pressure of measuring up to an impossible standard. In an effort to artificially display their commitment to this standard, they have formed a multi-billion dollar industry that relies on India's biggest export of hair to blend in with the white
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.
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...
The new face of Black feminine beauty comes with a price. It alienates nearly half of those in the culture that don’t fit the standard. While the hairstyle challenges the majority culture, the newfound search for thinness that comes with the hairstyles returns Black women to the confines of White beauty standards. The ideology that natural hairstyles bring enlightenment came from the Rastafarian tradition. However, what new ads and cultural myth discount is the religious dimension that the Rastafarians placed on their hair. Natural hair doesn’t mean immediate spiritual or intellectual wisdom. What at first seems to be the advancement of Black women, shows the backwards regression of Black beauty.
However, little research has examined the role of hair into African Americans lives. Hair is just as important as skin color and body ideal type. The Black hair care market is estimated to be $2.5 billion as of 2016 with a market experiencing sales similar to mainstream hair care (Market research Firm, Mintel). Being that hair is intertwined Black women and girls identities (Johnson & Bankhead, 2014); it’s no surprise that so many Black women are spending money on hair care
Women, we have issues with our hair, [Black women's] hair represents the first thing anyone sees of them, or of ourselves, and so we identify with what our hair looks like.
Malcolm X wrote of his “conk”: “This was my first really big step toward self degradation: when I endured all of that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man’s hair. I had joined that multitude of Negro men and women in America who are brainwashed into believing that black people are ‘inferior’ –and white people ‘superior’ –that they will even violate and mutilate their God created bodies to try to look ‘pretty by white standards” (X 356). Many black men and the majority of black women have diverted themselves from the wearing of unprocessed (natural) hairstyles from the fear of losing approval from whites and fellow blacks as well.
The often pushed their male spouses into voting and standing up for their rights as citizens of the United States, and with the “Black is Beautiful” movement making headway through the late 1960s onward Black women were finally able to take control of their femaleness back to their African roots, most notably through their roots. In Hair Story, Ayana Byrd and Lori Tharps write “Blacks and Whites came to believe that the way Black people wore their hair said something about their politics. Hair came to symbolize either a continued move toward integration in in the American political system or a growing cry for Black power and nationalism.” Up until the “Black is Beautiful movement” black women wore their hair as straight as possible. With the advent of the hot comb and hair relaxer (aka “creamy crack”) Black women, and men alike would put themselves thorough rigorous processes to straighten, and make their hair look as white as possible by means of very literally burning their hair and scalps. Malcom X said “We hated our African characteristics. We hated our hair. We hated the shape of our nose, and the shape of our lips, the color of our skin. That is how [Whites] imprisoned us.” That is how white Americans normalized the popular
Each sex is treated differently for a naturally occurring body process. As discussed, body hair is viewed as masculine, leading to the assumption that women should be hairless and men should wear their body hair with pride. It is clear that society uses hair to label individuals as either male or female (Toerien and Wilkinson, 2003). In addition, male hair is associated with strength and power (Toerien and Wilkinson, 2003). So how come when women display body hair they are shamed, but men are encouraged to grow it? Hope (1982) elaborates that the term, “feminine, when applied to lack of body hair, implies a child-like status, as opposed to the adult status afforded men” (as cited in Toerien and Wilkinson, 2003). That being said, body hair is another way in which society ranks men as the superior gender by making women conform to the hairless normative. A study conducted by Tiggemann and Hodgson (2008), asked women why they practice hair removal. After completing a questionnaire with different statements to evaluate different factors such as normativity, sexual attractiveness, femininity and self-enhancement, they found significant support in all four types of factors for hair removal of the underarm, leg and pubic area. Additionally, they can found that one item pertaining to males preferring a hairless body, was the only one linked to two factors: normativity and sexual attractiveness. It is evident with their findings that women tend to follow the socially constructed normative for many reason, including to please men. The idea is that women have to change their bodies not only to be accepted by society, but they also do so to be accepted by men. Nonetheless, the must make is seem natural and effortless to uphold the beauty allure. In recent years, depletion of male body hair has become popular. In a study performed by Boroughs, et al. (2005), they found that men removed
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
The article Straightening My Hair by Bell Hooks makes her argument of finding the reason of why African American women straighten their hair. She first states that Black Americans straighten their hair because it is the stage of transformation; it closes the door of innocence and opens the door to adulthood. Slowly, she starts changing her views. She comes up with the statement that African Americans do not straighten their hair for reasonable reasons, but to imitate the characteristics of white women. She informs that black people repeat this process because they have low self-acceptance of their roots and background, and that they have lost beauty in themselves. My argument against this statement is that it is erroneous to claim that the straightening of African American hair is misinterpreted as their acceptance into the white community; straightening of hair is the symbolism of impending womanhood, closing the door of innocence, and sharing a time to meditate by relaxing your soul.
Don’t touch my hair: this should be a sentiment simple enough to understand. However, for many black women this establishment of boundaries can be broken repeatedly and without any regard for personal space. Solange Knowles’ song “Don’t Touch My Hair” and accompanying music video takes this declaration of self and creates an anthem for the empowerment of black women and dismissal of microagressions, white beauty standards, jealousy and appropriation. Her lyrics emphasize the emotional connection that black women have to their hair. But, beyond this pride is an act of self-love militant and radical against white standards of beauty; or is this self-love subscribing to the notion that black women’s hair is an object detached from their personhood- objectifying themselves to other’s gazes and not subverting them? In order to answer this question, theories from Helen