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Essays on race in fashion
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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, …show more content…
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
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.
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
Beauty is often described as being in the eye of the beholder. However in modern western culture, the old adage really should be beauty is in the eye of the white makeup artist, hair stylist, photographer, photo shop editor, and advertiser. Beauty and body ideals are packaged and sold to the average American so that we can achieve vocational, financial, social, and recreational successes. Mass media and advertising has affected the way that women perceive and treat their own bodies as well as their self-concept. Women are constantly bombarded with unrealistic images and hold themselves to the impossible beauty standards. First, we will explore the role of media in the lives of women and then the biggest body image issue from a diversity stand point, media whitewashing.
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...
Colorism in the United States is a result of the history of people being discriminated based upon one’s skin tone. For many years, the European standard of beauty has been set forth and pushed upon mainly young men and women of many backgrounds
...nd attractive. It creates a double consciousness that is difficult to reconcile. Carla Williams argues that “given the legacy of images created of black women… it is an especially complex task for contemporary black women to define their own image, one that necessarily both incorporates and subverts the stereotypes, myths, facts and fantasies that have preceded them. (Wallace-Sanders et.al, 196) The root of the problem lies within our society. While very culpable, mainstream music and advertisements are not the only promoters of female objectification; the key is unwinding the inner tensions between these two groups. There is a need for the promotion of female solidarity, regardless of their skin color. We need to rid society of the evil of racism—only then will conceptions surrounding African Americans parallel and be as positive as those surrounding white women.
There have been musicals, documentaries, researches, panel discussions and even talk shows about hair, hair qualities and hairstyles, even Oprah Gail Winfrey chose hair for the magazine's September 2013 theme. According to Adlman (2013), Oprah Winfrey in a video interview said, 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. The History of Black Hair: Hair Story by Ayana Byrd and Lori Tharps (2002) is an entertaining, concise survey that follows a mostly sequential path which begins in Africa and ends in America. It details the roots of black hair care in America, from centuries ago to the modern day, outlining how much hair truly signifies much of African culture. “Ever since African civilisations bloomed, hairstyles have been used to indicate a person’s marital status, age, religion, ethnic identity, wealth and rank within the community” (2002:3)
With African Americans being apart of the fashion industry, they faced many hardships. However, they created a distinctive voice in the history of fashion. Throughout the early twentieth century, Blacks designers influenced the fashion industry in America, having, “a system and structure for maintaining their particular type of fashion.” African American fashion was very popular and caught the attention from the media. Department stores held successful fashion shows, screened fashion movies, and staged fashion pageants. Fortunately, African Americans were allowed to attend these events, yet they were not welcomed. Fast-forward to today, the fashion industry has opened up several doors for African American designers, stylist, and models. However,
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
Ofuso, H., Lafreniere, K., Senn, C., (1998) Body image And perception among young women of african descent: A normative context? Feminism and Psychology, 8, 303-323.
Is the issue of colorism still relevant in the 21st Century? Is there a significant relationship between woman's skin complexion and her self-esteem? To what extent do African-American women distinguish between light and dark complexions? Is skin tone predictive factor for African-American women's social outcomes? The reader should ask themselves these questions when going about their daily
Growing up, I would look at the magazines where all the models in them were picture perfect: perfect skin, perfect breast, perfect legs, everything. But I started to realize how society looked at white and black women bodies differently. White women were plastered as tall, slim, and toned. While when it came to black women, they were shown as heavy chested with a coke-bottle shape. After a while, it did start weighing
Wolf, he states, argues that the media perpetuates an unattainable standard of beauty. Further, he states that Michael Kimmel refers to the latter as the “male gaze,” because the media is dominated by males, white males to be precise. As such, this standard of beauty reflects Eurocentric patriarchal ideals of beauty. This idealized image of beauty consists of straight long, most likely than not blond, hair, white skin, and a tall slender build. This idea of femininity has become an obsessive quest that white women attempt to attain. Black women are further confined within this perfect idea of white beauty, in which black men are sometimes willing actors. Due to this idea of perfect white femininity, black women find themselves bound by both racial and gender
Within the media, it was very common for my race to be portrayed as not only the standard, but as the beautiful standard. Even when women of color (WOC) are being praised for their beauty, there seems to be a different vernacular in describing them. Words such as “fierce” and “slay” are used which, while empowering, seems to place WOC into a more savage category than white women, such as myself, who are praised for their apparent daintiness and fragility. This is only furthered by the notion that society as a whole views femininity in a very