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In “Straightening Our Hair”, Bell Hooks articulates her opinion of black women straightening their hair. “Black women straightening their hair seemed more and more to be exclusively a signifier of white supremacist oppression and exploration” (Hooks 337). Hooks illustrates that racial discrimination of African-American women forced them to want to conform to societies unrealistic white supremacist beauty standards. I agree with Bell Hooks arguments because she supported it with historical and surface reasoning’s on why women straighten their hair. Bell Hooks demonstrates the unrealistic beauty standards for African-American women through the 1900’s. African-American women were conformed to change their appearance to imitate white people looks; which is to straighten their hair. Hooks states, “Individual preferences (whether rooted to self hate or not) cannot negate the reality that our collective …show more content…
obsession with straightening black Hair reflect the psychology of oppression and the racist colonization” (341). This quote states that African-American women who straighten their hair do it because of the psychological belief of having white characteristics to fit in society. She also says that the dyed, blond look was another aspect in the white supremacist oppression. Those set of beauty standards lead African-American women to become signifiers of low self-esteem.
Many people say that African-American women natural beauty isn’t the white supremacist look but fail to realize that when straightening your hair or looking a certain way minimizes their self-actualization to present themselves as an individual. By hiding your true beauty (meaning expressing yourself through the way you look) brings self-esteem issues because you are constantly putting yourself down when you find yourself looking more natural than different. For example Hook states, “within white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, the social and political context in which the custom of black folks straightening our hair emerges, it represents an imitation of the dominant white groups appearance and often indicates internalized racism, self-hatred, and/or low self-esteem” (336). That indicates that the illogical beauty standards of white supremacy brings women self-esteem to rock bottom and sooner or later make them hate the way they were born/created as an
individual. Not only white supremacy went through the 1900’s but still exists in today’s society. Women of all cultures suffer through beauty because we now deal with certain criteria’s of beauty through media, magazines, and society. Society seems to play a big role in why certain women feel insecure in the way they look. For example many people might say that thick (heavy) women aren’t attractive or aren’t considered the best body type to be a model, or fit in what you call petite clothing. Why should women be judge on the way they look? That’s the question I ask myself all the time. Women should be proud of how they look; whether it’s a natural look or not because it leads to low self-esteem and find themselves looking different to fit in society. So I totally agree with bell hooks arguments on why African American women fix (straighten) their hair. So why not go with a natural look and have self confidence in yourself.
In the article “Beating Anorexia and Ganing Feminism,” Marni Grossman shares her experiance of how she overcame her struggle with anorexia through understanding the feminist movement. Marni objectafies the ways in which society’s expectations and ideas of what it means to have “beauty” is having and negitaive impact. I had a very similar experiance to Marni, in fact the first time I hated my apperance was in the seventh grade. I have olive skin and bold brows, features which i was often complamented on, yet hated. Shawn and Lee argue that “there is no fixed idea of beauty”, suggesting how social ideals from society differs depending on the culture (183). I remember A male student was bullying all the females in the class by Inscribing Gender
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
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.
It is well known that slavery was a horrible event in the history of the United States. However, what isn't as well known is the actual severity of slavery. The experiences of slave women presented by Angela Davis and the theories of black women presented by Patricia Hill Collins are evident in the life of Harriet Jacobs and show the severity of slavery for black women.
In Josefina Lopez’s play Real Women Have Curves, a group of Hispanic women discuss their sex appeal in terms of their body image. They judge their psychological aspect of sex appeal based on how well their physiological aspect of body image agrees with society’s ideals. In Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, he explains that society is an amplified Panopticon that causes its members to observe one another and themselves. This theory explains these women’s compulsion to peruse their bodies to make sure that they fit within society’s standards of sexiness. Although these women are described in a collective manner, Lopez delineates each woman’s character distinctively. Their differing characters are greatly influenced by the opposing cultural values of Latinas working in sweatshops and that of White-American feminists. According to Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought, these conflicting cultural values develop oppositional knowledge in these women, which alters their perception of the female sex appeal. Hill Collins also explains that when individuals communicate their diverse ideas in a unified manner, it precipitates a unanimous definition to a society. This theory supports why the Latinas in Lopez’s play demonstrate a progression towards similar ideologies. In summary, using Foucault to explain the idea of self-surveillance, and Hill Collins to explain oppositional knowledge developed by contrasting the cultural values of White-American feminists and Latinas working in sweatshops, it is possible to describe the social phenomena of defining female sex appeal in terms of body image in Lopez’s play.
Harriet Jacobs, Frances E. W. Harper, and Anna Julia Cooper are three African American female writers who have greatly impacted the progress of "black womanhood." Through their works, they have successfully dispelled the myths created about black women. These myths include two major ideas, the first being that all African American women are perceived as more promiscuous than the average white woman. The second myth is that black women are virtually useless, containing only the capabilities of working in white homes and raising white children. These myths caused these women to be degraded in the eyes of others as well as themselves. In Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harper's Iola Leroy, and Cooper's A Voice From the South, womanhood is defined in ways that have destroyed these myths. As seen through these literary works, womanhood is defined according to one's sexuality, spirituality, beauty, identity, relationships, and motherhood.
“I tried to demonstrate how both the cross cultural literature and the history of African American women gave the lie to the nation that gender inequality can be attributed to biological differences” (Mullings, page xvii)
Deborah White configures the preeminent perception that Southern white women had of colored slave women. The initial impression was that all black women slaves were sexual deviants that were not fully equipped to fulfill their roles as slaves as they imposed a sort of “dangerous” sexual pressure in the community. The following vison of the common slave woman was that of a motherly nature in the way that the women were subject to have children for the sole purpose of renewing the source for slaves. No matter the outlook, it is clear that the slave women of the south were being forced to be flexible with their roles in order to please the slave
bell hooks states “Racist stereotypes of the strong, superhuman black woman are operative myths in the minds of many white women, allowing them to ignore the extent to which black women may play in the maintenance and perpetuation of that victimization” This quote is significant because commonly, people in minority races/cultures can experience injustice or micro aggressions, which often enact them conscious of their minority position within a dominant, majority culture/race. The minority may be aware that they are “outside the norm,” and perpetually speculate whether their segregation is or is not because of their race or culture. An individual of the majority, thus the prevailing “norm,” creates the privilege of not
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
Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” is a distressing tale of human struggle as it relates to women. The story commences with a hardworking black washwoman named Delia contently and peacefully folds laundry in her quiet home. Her placidity doesn’t last long when her abusive husband, Sykes, emerges just in time to put her back in her ill-treated place. Delia has been taken by this abuse for some fifteen years. She has lived with relentless beatings, adultery, even six-foot long venomous snakes put in places she requires to get to. Her husband’s vindictive acts of torment and the way he has selfishly utilized her can only be defined as malignant. In the end of this leaves the hardworking woman no choice but to make the most arduous decision of her life. That is, to either stand up for herself and let her husband expire or to continue to serve as a victim. "Sweat,” reflects the plight of women during the 1920s through 30s, as the African American culture was undergoing a shift in domestic dynamics. In times of slavery, women generally led African American families and assumed the role as the adherent of the family, taking up domestic responsibilities. On the other hand, the males, slaves at the time, were emasculated by their obligations and treatment by white masters. Emancipation and Reconstruction brought change to these dynamics as African American men commenced working at paying jobs and women were abandoned at home. African American women were assimilated only on the most superficial of calibers into a subcategory of human existence defined by gender-predicated discrimination. (Chambliss) In accordance to this story, Delia was the bread victor fortifying herself and Sykes. Zora Neale Hurston’s 1926 “Sweat” demonstrates the vigor as wel...
Historically, black woman have been characterized as "other", where a black women 's hair has been seen as unappealing, and directly contradicts the dominant American hair beauty standard that glorifies white women 's hair as most beautiful. With regards to this, I point to Patricia Hill Collins 's ' Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Collins states in regards to Black women 's
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.
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.
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