Gates remembers how being in the kitchen with his mother while she was straightening someone’s hair was memorable for him. He uses the term “straightening your kitchen” which refers to traditional hair. Gates believes having “good” hair means having straight hair with no kinks. As the opposite “bad” hair meant having nappy or course hair. According to Gates, the most popular style process belonged to Nat King Cole, a famous black musician. He talks about Cole having the perfect look with his established trademark hair style. Cole had it figured out when it came to his personal hair process. In Gates community, people looked up to celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King, and Malcolm X as people who can establish trends for the African American …show more content…
He was amazed that grease and fire transformed kink into magnificent head of wavy hair. The complexity and the difficulty to which Gates describes his experience of modifying his hair elucidates the cultural facets of African Americans. To fully understand what gates is discussing, one would need to share comparable background. He is detailed with the hair products that he used which I personally don’t know anything about. Gate is more or less informing us about the image Blacks were trying to portray. At the end of his essay he talks about the realization of the negative obsession with his hair. This made Gates shed a tear and he felt shame. He noticed as he became older, how black people’s obsession with hair was a negative inkling. This obsession ultimately caused feelings of jealousy and inferiority in the black community. This story can be perceived as a relationship between a man and his mother and the community. “In the kitchen” is an insight of the everyday lives of a particular African American community. It’s difficult at first to see Gate’s childhood memories with his mother as memorable but with added details the context becomes clear. Gates is remembering a time in which sticking together was very important in the
To further show the injustice African Americans experience, African Americans and several other minority groups were barred from buying houses in desirable neighborhoods because African Americans, single white women, and elderly couples did not fit the ideal white middle class suburban family image (Haralovich, 76). The Hendersons are nicely dressed up for dinner―Alice is wearing a fancy dress and Harry is in a suit― in the pleasantly decorated dining room. Meanwhile, Beulah and Bill are less put together and less perfect; they are depicted eating in the plain kitchen wearing ordinary clothes. In addition, this recreates the slave and slave owner relationship from the Antebellum period. Indirectly supporting segregation, this shows the discrimination African Americans faced despite the massive efforts by various organizations to fight for equality. Beulah will never be shown eating with the Hendersons because her role is to be the maid: she is their employee, not their friend. However, because she is the Mammy, she will never pose a threat to the father’s masculinity or the family’s authority over
Gate issues were with Mr. Wilson, white man in his neighborhood. Mr. Wilson would call Gates George because that’s what he called all black men. This limited Gates social standard. He felt as if he was no different than anyone else because he was black. He was seen as inferior to Mr. Wilson even though they both were similar in economic standings. He even went as far to say “He had white straight hair, like my Uncle Joe, whom he uncannily
She begins her book by giving a scenario of a high school cafeteria in which there is and “identifiable group of Black students sitting together” (para. 1) this scenario is a situation that is witnessed in almost every cafeteria of racially diverse schools across the country. Tatum’s use of the word “we” introduces a conversational and personable tone; this allows the reader to feel more involved in her writing. In addition to Tatum’s tone, she also uses emotionally charged words and repetition to also add to the effectiveness of her book. For example, her use of the words “stereotype” and “segregation”, which both have negative connotations, force the reader to think about the depth of the
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.
Although this central idea can be universal, it is imperative to the story. The story is set in Harlem, NY and is assumed to be in the 50’s due to the information that they both went to war, but is not specified the war in particular. The setting is an actual setting and a particular one as well; it is not vague. The background is important to the plot because it provides essential information on the framework of these characters and the period the story is set. The character’s in this story are both African American and have grown up in a widely rough known residentially segregated area. Throughout the setting, descriptions are very precise helping the reader understand the intensity of the environment. Discusses the women of color who have been beaten up that walk the street, to the houses and apartments that they have created adolescent memories in no longer present. In the article “The Perilous Journey to a Brother’s Country: James Baldwin and the Rigors of the Community” by Keith Clark, he explains the “encoded” acceptance of the reality of space the characters lived in and he outcomes they face in their neighborhood. An area that is dominantly occupied by African Americans this gives larger historical and societal information on racial
Throughout the semester we have studied the black vernacular tradition and its attributes of competition, group interaction, the in- group, and pattern of call and response and we have learned to take those attributes and apply then to the complex subject of Black Hair. Black Hair is a complex subject not only because so little is known about it but because of the aesthetic, political, and interpersonal context through which Black hair can be studied and interpreted. Hair is honestly in just about every text and it is used to not only add insight to characters identity but to also give context to time. Many of the black vernacular tenets are seen throughout Margo Jefferson’s chapter in Negroland, in particular the first section called “The
The Norton Anthology of AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE is filled with many awe inspiring writings that reveal the true literacy history of the African American struggle with their identification. Gwendolyn Brooks brought her own life experiences to paper, and showed the man different ways one can create their own identification through lives many difficult challenges. Gwendolyn Brooks made the purpose of her work clear, she wanted to give a voice to people who had no voice; to let all different types of black people feel united as one under one voice. In her writing of the Kitchenette Building Gwendolyn expressed her feelings of the small cramped apartment that was known to be overbearing which resulted in crushed dreams, and hopes. In the mother Gwendolyn Brooks takes a great political issue head on; she gives a unique perspective, giving a first person point of view that seems to be confusing by showing her pain through guilt and blame. The final writing of a song in the front yard, gives the audience an experience almost everyone can relate to; the struggle of a girl who was only allowed to play in the front yard eventually gets curious and wants to see what’s going on in the back alley. Through these different life experiences of the tough living situation in a kitchenette, the intense battle one has when going through an abortion in the mother, and the battle one has with herself when trying to not be jealous of others. A person creates their own unique identity once they have come out of their own struggle; they enter into the situation as a girl and come out a woman.
Some existing Literature on Natural Hair 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.
Black women have been the essence of style, originality all while receiving nothing but bad response from critics who secretly envy them. Natural hair tends to be another widespread trend. I think that some do the natural so they can connect with their African roots while I think others just like the look, or maybe it’s easier. No matter what grade of hair society has one marked term for black hair which is “nappy”. Besides pertaining to actions, the word ghetto is used to describe just about every aspect of a black girl's life. "Girl your hair look ghetto" and "You talk/sound ghetto" are two common phrases used around school. Colored hair, weaves, extensions, dyes and relaxers/perms are all things black girls have encountered. If your hair looks "too" nice, it's assumed that you're wearing weave or that you've gotten a fresh
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...
She set the theme of the article of expressing that straightening of black people hair is the denial of self acceptance in having the confidence of their individual features. She states “Heterosexual black women talked about the extent to which black men respond more favorably to women with straight or straighten hair” (Hooks 538). She explains how they try to please other people in trying to make themselves more beautiful to others they want to attract. This is a personal opinion. She makes a broad generalization that all black men are attracted to women that have straight hair. This statistic is not efficient because there are different men that are attracted to different styles. The majority of people do not change themselves because they want to appeal to others, but to make themselves feel better about their personal beauty.
The book is not just about history of black hair. It contains quotes and information from a huge wealth of black hair resources, as well as political context of black hair styles and textures and why black hair comes in so many different textures. On styling of black hair: In Hair Story (2002), the authors write about some of black hair styles, including the West African manner of wearing their hair in braid or wrap to the current and most popular hair styles: weaves, natural hair and chemical hair straightening by black people- a style considered as imitating "white" hairstyles. Byrd and Tharps (2010) ".. the goal of grooming the hair had morphed from the elaborate and symbolic designs of Africa into an imitation of White styles adapted to Black kinks and curls. Both women and men were interested in straightening their hair because straight European hair was held up as the beauty ideal.
A main theme in this novel is the influence of family relationships in the quest for individual identity. Our family or lack thereof, as children, ultimately influences the way we feel as adults, about ourselves and about others. The effects on us mold our personalities and as a result influence our identities. This story shows us the efforts of struggling black families who transmit patterns and problems that have a negative impact on their family relationships. These patterns continue to go unresolved and are eventually inherited by their children who will also accept this way of life as this vicious circle continues.
Also the efforts they went to too fit in with the whole community and experiences and what the struggles of having kink hair mean for him and the community. Blacks liked doing their hair and the effort they went to get it perfect, but there was negative comments due to the Blacks having different hair styles to the whites. Gates also talks about times with growing up in the period of Black Civil Rights and learning how to deal with not being treated the same as whites. In the text Gates states, “because daddy had straight hair I would do anything to have straight hair, and I used to try everything to make it straight, short of getting a process, which only riffraff were dumb enough to do” (Gates, 45). In other words, this means that they would do anything possible they could just to get straight hair so they were not picked on by the white people for being different. Another attitude that the community portrayed was that they were ashamed of their hair and how they looked. For instance, Gates stated “Mr Charlie would conceal his Frederick Douglass mane under a big white Stetson hat which I never saw him take off. Except when he came to our house, late at night, to have his hair pressed” (Gates 43). As a result, it shows that he was too embarrassed to be seen in public because he did not want to be personally invaded or harassed for
“Americanah”, a novel written by the Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, tells the story of Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman who departs to the United States to study. She remains in the country for 13 years before deciding to go back to Nigeria. It is also a story of romance between Ifemelu and men. Obinze, her first high school lover, Curt, the white rich American or Blaine, the academic African American. But this book reveals also the love of the author for… hair. Hair is a recurring theme in Americanah, every character Ifemelu met has his hairstyle described in the book. Cornrows, afros, dreadlocks, straight hair, braids, relaxer, hair butter, oil, all the hairstyle lexical field is mentioned in the book. This novel is also about