As the partition of Africa and the marginalization of its descendants continues, survival and socioeconomic ascension remain diasporic priorities. In America, there are oft unspoken yet resounding parameters for the phenotypically Black. It is understood that a Black person “shrinks” themselves in the presence of a police officer to avoid an untimely death, dilutes their opinions about race in White spaces to “keep their nice liberal friends comfortable” (Adichie, 359), and penultimately avoids wearing their natural hair in public so that they may appear “professional”, “pretty”, “non-threatening”, and “clean-cut”. It is paramount that the upwardly mobile Black person adheres to Eurocentric beauty standards because they reflect the morality …show more content…
Just as their male counterparts often do in a barber shop, American and non American black women utilize the hair salon as a sounding board for mundane woes, social and political opinions, and of course, relationship problems. her hair natural among other things. Ifemelu’s Auntie Uju states that “[when] in a country that is not your own, you do what you have to do.” By further persuading Ifemelu to relax her hair, she is stressing the empirical importance of “economic security and assimilation” (Barnett 73). Straight hair does not threaten affluent whites and is professional enough under Eurocentric standards; It is the ultimate representation of fitting into the “mainstream”. As Ifemelu alludes to in her blog, black women who have mainstream support (to a certain extent) like Michelle Obama and Beyonce Knowles are never seen wearing their hair as it most likely grows out of the scalps. Black women have co-opted European ideology to the point that “going” natural is perceived as having something (negative) “done” to your hair, when it is simply leaving your hair unaltered. It is the process of straightening or “forcing your [natural] hair to do what it was not made to do” (Adichie )that is more labor intensive. Ifemelu felt that by relaxing her hair she had …show more content…
On the plantation, having hair that was more loosely curled or straight was indicative of being the slave master’s offspring and resulted in a slightly easier life enslaved. Unfortunately, giving your child hair that more closely resembles that of a white or non black person is still thought to make their lives easier, and arguably it still does in American society. The present respite from the societal burden of “natural hair”for those who have the aforementioned “good hair’ is alluded to on pages three and four of Americanah, “The few Black students Ifemelu saw at Princeton were so light skinned and lank haired she could not imagine them wearing braids, but she could not see why she had to travel twelve miles to get her hair braided. By having more ‘mainstream hair’ the “lank haired’ students are relieved of the social anxiety and financial burden of having to inconvenience themselves for the appearance of ‘groomed hair’. Relaxed hair remains a sign of upward mobility in the Black community, natural hair is to be abandoned when one can afford to do so. The novel also uses the symbol of hair to explore the tropes of the “delicate” White woman and the “animal” Black woman. Ifemelu’s White boyfriend Curt thinks her afro is “cool”and their sexual escapades include him sucking her finger and wanting her to pretend to be Foxy Brown. It is hinted earlier in the
Yang, G. & Ryser, T. A. (2008). Whiting up and Blacking Out: White Privlege, Race, and White Chicks. African American Review, 42(3/4), 731-746. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40301264
Back in the early 1800’s, the color of one’s skin mattered amongst African Americans and Caucasian people. There was infidelity between the Caucasian slave owners and the African American slaves. Of course, the outcome of that produced a fairer toned child. In most cases the child could pass as white. The mixed toned kids got to be inside doing housework, while the dark Negroes worked in the fields, under extraneous work conditions,”their dark-toned peers toiled in the fields”(Maxwell). From the early 1800’s to modern day, there is controversy that light or bi-racial African Americans are better than dark colored African Americans. African Americans had to go through tests to see if they were able to receive priviledges that white people received,”light-skinned African Amerians receive special priviledges based off of their skin shade”(Maxwell). If an African American did not receive the priviledges similar to white people then they would try to change themselves to fit in,”African Americans are using bleaching creams so that they can make their skin lighter , just to achieve the standard beauty”(Brooke). As much as one will not one to discuss this topic, statistics shows how people are more lenient towards light and fair skin tones.Light oor fair coloredAmericans that poseess Caucasian features are prefiebly preffered.
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
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
" This brings us to ‘Good Hair’, a 2009 documentary by Chris Rock that examines what the ongoing pursuit of ‘good’ hair says about African-American cultural identity and the hair-care industry. It investigated and revealed why black people across the ages have subjected themselves to sometimes dangerous, often painful practices in the pursuit of beautiful hair. It also looks into the dangers of many common hair-straightening treatments and reveals the alarmingly high cost of having ‘good’ hair. The social and psychological aspect of hair was delved in by the authors of Hair Story (2010), Tharps and Byrd note, since the beginning of African civilizations "hairstyles have been used to indicate a person's marital status, age, religion, ethnic identity, wealth, and rank within the community..... ...
In the narrative “My First Conk” influential black rights activist, Malcolm X, tells of the first time he straightened his hair when he moved to Boston. Malcolm uses the experience to convince blacks that they must embrace their own identity rather than changing to be like whites, because it reinforces the idea of white superiority. At this time, black men would often go through the harmful process of “conking” their hair in order to have a straight hairstyle like the white majority. Malcolm states, “Look around today… and you'll see conks on black men… It makes me wonder if the Negro has completely lost his sense of identity, lost touch with himself”(156-157). Malcolm draws to the attention of black men that conking their hair results in complete loss
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 his essay, “On Being Black and Middle Class” (1988), writer and middle-class black American, Shelby Steele adopts a concerned tone in order to argue that because of the social conflicts that arise pertaining to black heritage and middle class wealth, individuals that fit under both of these statuses are ostracized. Steele proposes that the solution to this ostracization is for people to individualize themselves, and to ‘“move beyond the victim-focused black identity” (611). Steele supports his assertion by using evidence from his own life and incorporating social patterns to his text. To reach his intended audience of middle-class, black people, Steele’s utilizes casual yet, imperative diction.
In this narrative essay, Brent Staples provides a personal account of his experiences as a black man in modern society. “Black Men and Public Space” acts as a journey for the readers to follow as Staples discovers the many societal biases against him, simply because of his skin color. The essay begins when Staples was twenty-two years old, walking the streets of Chicago late in the evening, and a woman responds to his presence with fear. Being a larger black man, he learned that he would be stereotyped by others around him as a “mugger, rapist, or worse” (135).
It must be noted that for the purpose of avoiding redundancy, the author has chosen to use the terms African-American and black synonymously to reference the culture, which...
“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
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
They all were from Africa. For Ifemelu the salon was a place that bring back memories. Adichie shows cultural criticism in this moment in depth because these women are all from different parts of africa and are now struggling in America. It also proves that America is not the dream as many people describe it to be. Cultural criticism is also seen when ifemelu says “It’s so hot,” and Marima replies “Sorry the air conditioner broke yesterday” along with ifemelu choosing “Color four.” and “Not good color,” Aisha said promptly this shows that ifemelu wants to choose a natural color of fake hair than pure black. This connects to cultural criticism because adichie shows us that ifemelu notices the small cultural observations of maria having to lie about the air conditioner because in the american view all higher class people usually have air conditioners and Marima wants to have that fantasy of her status in america. Also with the hair because Alisha think that pure black is a better color for ifemelu. Cultural criticism, identity, and race and racism is shown when Aisha asked Ifemelu “Why you don’t have relaxer?” and she replied “I like my hair the way God made it.” “But how you comb it? Hard to comb,” then Ifemelu pulls out her own com and handed to
Throughout history, Black women in the U.S have been challenged with the Western standards of beauty that negated any natural beauty of blackness. During slavery, blacks with Caucasian features such as light skin and straight hair often received preferable treatment (Neal & Wilson, 1989). This behavior continued after slavery within the African American community. Light skinned black men continue to obtain higher status positions, receive better opportunities and higher educational advantages (Neal & Wilson, 1989). This experience reinforced the importance of the White standard that sadly still exists today. Individuals are being evaluated based on physical characteristics in a society that assigned whiteness with intelligence, beauty and higher status, whereas dark skin and Afrocentric features became associated with lower status.