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The negative effects of beauty standards
Essays on black hair history
Essays on black hair history
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Why is it that the Black community consider hair that closely resembles that of a white person’s hair or a white person’s hair as good hair and other types bad hair?
Where did the ideology come from that if one’s hair is soft with looser curls that it is “good hair” in the Black community. People were made different and imperfect. That is why we all don’t have the same texture of hair and types. So what if we all don’t have the same hair, it’s perfectly normal. It’s what makes that individual different from someone else. The saying you have “good hair” is quite disrespectful actually. Why? Well to those who don’t have that soft hair with loose curls your implying that their hair texture is bad. This all on a whole is thinking of each other
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It’s hair that has those loose and pretty curls with thickness, volume, and softness. This is the type of hair that it just bounces back perfectly well after any hairstyle. Men love it and women go head over heels to get this whole “good hair” Why can’t women embrace their natural hair and start to realize that their hair will never look like the way women with “good hair” apparently look. They can try their best but ultimately their doing more harm than good to their hair. All these chemicals and heat that women put in their hair is not making it any better. If anything you may actually be turning your perfectly health hair into something …show more content…
This documentary all came about from Chris Rock’s daughter who while in the car with one of her friends who happened to be white saying that her friend had good hair. Chris Rock felt the need with that documentary to open up the eyes of African American women on how beautiful their hair really is in his documentary. When Chris interviewed the actress, Nia Long in his documentary she stated that "there 's always this sort of pressure within the black community like, if you have good hair, you 're prettier or better than the brown-skinned girl that wears the Afro or the dreads or the natural hairstyle." This documentary was just the
It is one of the first things people see. It can make or break you. “If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they are not happy.” This was said by one of the people being interviewed in the documentary, and the meaning basically means that relaxed hair equals happiness and un-relaxed hair equals the opposite. Yet, the nature of "relaxing" is not very relaxing. It is a long, tricky and expensive business whose purpose is to get black women's hair to resemble European hair – the idea is to "relax" the white people who come into contact with black women. Furthermore, black hair products are largely controlled and manufactured by white people. Rock shows that black women have made this style their own – it is no cultural cringe to white
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
The lyrics from “Formation” state, “My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana-You mix that Negro with that Creole make a Texas bamma” (Beyoncé); were directed toward African American women specifically because they have been taught to hate the skin they are in which leads to women using bleaching to become lighter which can be extremely dangerous if it is not used properly. The feud in the black community is light skin vs. dark skin is also addressed with these lyrics it simply states be proud of your bloodline no matter what you may be mixed with. The light skin vs dark skin argument is an end result of the brown paper bag test, which determined who would work the fields and who would work inside the house. The “Paper Bag” test was the determinant factor, if your skin color was the color of the brown paper bag or lighter you were given access to certain privileges and conversely if your skin was darker than the paper bag you were denied those same privileges (Steward). Beyoncé goes on to sing, “I like my baby hair with baby hair and Afros-I like my Negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils” (Beyoncé), this focuses on African American women changing their looks because society tells them that their natural hair and big nose is ugly. Beyoncé personally targets the criticism she received for not “combing” her daughter, Blue Ivy’s, hair stating that if
"Those whose hair texture and thickness differed from those of most white women were left with two choices: straighten their hair to approximate the images of 'ideal ' white beauty or resist the hegemonic messages of white standards of appearance and instead adopt hair styles well suited to the characteristics of their own hair and embrace them as beautiful” (1991, 375). It is important to consider the second option that Caldwell stated. In order for us to deconstruct hegemonic femininity and masculinity, we must first recognize it and then resist it. The same applies for Ducille’s piece, one must really step back and analyze whether an action, such as making a multiracial Barbie really does justice to community in which it is targeting. I do not believe that Mattel’s intentions were to push for cultural and racial equality in the means of providing a new doll. I think they were just creating a new doll to sell to a certain demographic and make more
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.
...aw is giving the public the idea that judging people on the way which they look is a appropriate action when in reality we the people of the United States have been trying for years for equality! It is justifying the idea of white privilege. “The greater the power imbalance between groups, the greater the emphasis on maintain boundaries between sides” (Dalamage, 2013).
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
...have darker skin, you usually have to go to another “specialty store”, where you will incur a higher price. Another example, when white people wear their hair in its natural state it is seen as normal, or ok, but when a person with an afro texture hair where’s their hair natural, it’s seen as unprofessional. It comes out of their head, just like anybody else 's. It just defies gravity and is not straight. Straight is not “good hair”. It is also not normal for everybody.
Regina Jere-Malanda debunks black hair, the object of popular debate and heavy scrutiny. In her article, she sheds light on many cases where black hair has been in the spotlight. She refers Michelle Obama who wore a natural hair style and was ridiculed by the media. There were cartoons of her in an afro with a gun on her back. She includes the testimony of Dr. Reese who says from personal experience, that the ill-tolerance of natural hair is associated with Black Panthers in that it represents "militancy". On The Tyra Banks Show, the ideology of having more relaxed hair is said to date to slavery times where having such hair could mean better treatment. These associations along with others have brainwashed the community into thinking that having natural hair is distasteful. Thus, the idea that having straight hair is equated to conforming to popular opinion and not loving one's natural self causing debate.
Why are black women so worried about getting their hair wet? How painful are weaves? Can blacks really get our edges back after they are gone? Those are some of the questions that are asked by people in America who look white. African American hair is different from white hair. In Americanah by Chimananda Nogzi Adichie, the main character Ifemelu changers her hair throughout her experiences in Nigeria and America. In Nigeria, she wears box braids, but when she comes to America she chemically relaxed and then chops off all of her hair. When she returns back to Nigeria, she puts her hair back into box braids. Hair is significant in this story because it represents her identity as an African American woman in American and in Nigeria. She learns
In other words one’s characteristics inclusive of skin color, facial structure and hair texture appears to regularly inspire acts of being degraded. Moreover African Americans have the impossible task ...
“I’m black and I’m cursed! God cursed me with terrible hair!” I personally know that trying to manage African American hair can be very difficult because unlike Caucasians black people have a rougher grade of hair. No one really knows why God gave Caucasians fast growing soft hair and black people slow growing rough hair. As a African American female I can testify that my hair doesn’t grow fast and I am a proud “creamy crack “user so therefore the chemicals from relaxers I use makes my hair straight and bouncy. When my relaxer expires and I need to get another put in my hair, my hair gets stiff and the roots of my hair become harder to comb. Hair is one of every human’s main features, women care for their hair and desire to find hairstyles that they believe will be appealing on them and speak for the way they
Lee revealed that she once had a manager tell her that he loved everything about her and was considering hiring her, but her hair would be an issue. The manager, who worked for a Sacramento news station told her that her hair was “too aggressive” for his viewers (Starr 2014). Statements such as the one Lee received about her hair being too aggressive are the primary reason why some Black women feel the need to straighten and alter their hair.
These chemicals damage the hair and dull its color and sheen so they are then coated with silicone. This coating washes off easily and then you’re left with a dry, tangled mess.
I say this because of the shift the African American culture has taken especially in the natural hair movement. Today you see more and more African American wearing their natural hair. There are fewer number of people processing/straightening their hair. The beauty of blackness is a topic that is going to receive different viewpoints and explanations. Viewpoints of this topic for various reason the ideas and concepts of the past will come into play when deciding if black is beautiful or not. One’s up brings and family traditions along with personal opinions will be key factors when trying to explain this question. In my opinion black is beautiful because “black” is a part of me. I am a darker skin African American woman who prefers darker skin over lighter skin. I also prefer kinky curl natural hair over processed or straightened hair. The way I live and the way I was raised are all ideas and concepts of what I know to be the meaning of “black”. I believe the slavery/segregation are the gateways and reasons as to why black is seen as beautiful. I say this because African American people never gave up the fight or stop fighting to what they wanted and what they believed which made them beautiful. I also say black is beautiful because from a personal perspective I seen many other races who try to “be/act black” by doing things such as dressing like black people, talking like