Research Paper On Zendaya

Actress, dancer, singer, and model Zendaya Coleman has been instrumental in raising awareness of African Tradition. Half african and half caucasian, Zendaya identifies with both parts of her culture and enjoys wearing hairstyles and clothes from her African heritage. On Sunday, February 22nd, 2015, Zendaya made the daring and exotic decision to style her hair in dreadlocks at the Oscars. Predominantly spearheaded by Caucasians, the Oscars participants usually wear their hair in a more western “traditional” way. Unfortunately but not shockingly, Zendaya was met with resistance. Giuliana Rancic, host of E!’s Fashion Police, tweeted her sentiments on the model’s hairstyle stating that she felt that Zendaya “smelled of patchouli oil, or weed”. Worn throughout many cultures, dreadlocks are most commonly associated with Jamaicans,

particularly Rastafarians.

Many people in Jamaica identify as Rastafarian- a sect of Christianity. Mrs. Rancic’s stereotype of this group of people as lazy marijuana smokers caused substantial agitation. The stigmatization of Zendaya’s culture reveals the deep-rooted duplicity and contrasting principles of our society today.
Jamaica Kincaid delineates the hypocrisy cultural minorities often face in their day to day lives. “Everyday life could be quite tiring, more tiring than anything I was told not do but, but they (english) did all the time” (#). Though set in colonial era Antigua, her sentiments of hypocrisy still extend to minorities today. Today’s cultural marginalization often comes hand in hand with psychological oppression of fatal admiration. However, this type of Stockholm’s Syndrome began years ago in imperialistic times and continues to this day. To marginalize and break

down a community of people the colonial regime would first impose a series of edicts to impose their culture and way of life on the people they conquered. The natives had to “bow before it in deference”(Niong’o #) not just physically but in all facets of their life. “Economic and Political control could never be effective without mental control” (Niongo #) because it would not only ensure that the colonizers would gain power but also that they could maintain it. Everything from their personal culture would be taken away and replaced with the foreign oppressor’s way of life, “the exceptions being the sea, the sky and the air (they) breathed” (Kincaid, #). As time passed, the mental universe of the indigenous people would be altered. The “deliberate undervaluing of a people’s culture…and the conscious elevation of the coloninisers” (Niong’o) would perpetuate a psychological oppression reminiscent of Stockholm’s syndrome. Through constant imposition the native people were implicitly made to accept that the colonizer was to be “their source of reality and what was meaningful (Kincaid). How did the native people allow themselves to be voluntarily conquered?
This method was not always painless and gentle. Forceful strategies were often use to supplement the psychological oppression. The native people accepted the colonizers culture not because it was merely suggested or imposed on them but because they wanted to survive. The conquerors associated the native people’s culture with “humiliation, barbarism, stupidity and corporal punishment” (Niong’o). For example, while colonizing Kenya, England demeaned the use of the Kenyan language. “One of the most humiliating experiences was to be caught speaking Gikuyu in the vicinity of school. The culprit… was made to carry a metal plate…with the inscriptions such as I AM STUPID OR I AM DONKEY and sometimes they were fined money they could hardly afford” (Niong’o). Moreover, teachers in residential schools “would inspect us (the children) before they were allowed into the classroom. Use of the colonizers language, style, and customs was required for education. It was also required for success. Rejection of the native ways was “the official vehicle and the magic formula to colonial elitedom”.
Though not as widespread today, the effects of imperialistic still resonate. The caucasian culture is still viewed as the most elite and accepted throughout most of the world. Consequently, when Zendaya wore her hair in a way representative of her culture, the initial response was to condemn her for deviating from the traditional caucasian style of a curly up do or something of the sort. Moreover, Giuliana Rancic exacerbated the problem by undervaluing her african culture by stating that Zendaya’s dreadlocks were reminiscent of marijuana. By refusing to passively acquiesce, Zendaya made a small but impactful difference in how the western world views “ethnic” hairstyles. They are now beginning to be seen as beautiful, dignified, and elegant instead of primitive, uncivilized, or inferior.