Tracy Patton's explanatory article, ''Hey Girl I am More Than My Hair?'', is centered on the close examination of the negative impact Euro-American standards of beauty has on African American women. Patton critically analyzes beauty from its historical context to help determine whether or not modern day interpretations of beauty are continually being determined by the hegemonic role of white supremacy. The main objective of her article is to bring to light the economic, physical, and psychological impact women of color face when they adhere to beauty standards that advocate the suppression of their culturally distinct features. By refusing to assimilate, black women forgo employment opportunities, experience heightened stress, and risk social
Throughout time, hair has been part of the establishment of understanding ones identity, especially when it comes to women. Many try to stereotype African hair by hyphenating American to the end, but physical attributes are determined by lineage, not geography. In African American culture, hair is one of the few characteristics that connect individuals back to their African ancestry. African American women can find a foundation of black pride through their hair, but they can also discover a source of humiliation and identity confusion as well. Marcus Garvey expressed that African Americans must “remove the kinks from [their] minds, not [their] hair” meaning that they should ignore society’s expectations and embrace not only their beautiful kinky hair, but their identity as an African American. By choosing to style hair in a significant way defines not only who an individual is, but the acceptance of their heredity.
Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx, New York on July 24, 1970. She was born in the United States to Puerto Rican Parents, Jennifer considers herself to be a Puerto Rican and she is very proud of her Hispanic heritage and culture. Her father is David Lopez, a computer specialist, and her mother Guadalupe Lopez, a Kindergarten teacher. Her parents recognized Jennifer’s talent and enthusiasm for performing and at the age of five the enrolled her in dance classes. Her mother said “Jennifer always loved to sing, but she was also a great actress and knew that she would have a bright future ahead of her.” With the support of her parents Jennifer grew up to be a very sensible girl, who is still very close to her family. When Jennifer earned her million-dollar paycheck for playing the role in the movie Selena, she bought her mom a Cadillac. Even though they saw Jennifer’s talent at the age of five, their relationship was not always understandable. Jennifer made a major decision and that was not to go to College. That decision was very disappointing to her parents who wanted her to go to law school. Her parents supported her pursuit of a career in show business, they did not wanted to be in the expense of her education. When Jennifer told her parents that she was not going to College and law school, they thought it was really stupid to go off and try to be a movie star.
Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women. New York: William Morrow, 1991.
Cox’s work is exactly the type of discussion that is needed to move the discourse on black women’s bodies from being regarded as part of a stereotype to being regarded as individuals with beautiful differences. This is not a ‘re-mirroring’ of the ‘un-mirrored,’ but rather a creation of a new image, void of previous misconceptions but filled with individuality. The stereotypes concerning black women’s bodies needs to be abolished, not reinvented like Hobson suggests in “Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture.”
The ideal female beauty in American culture is predominately white (Bankhead & Johnson, 2014). Throughout U.S history, women’s mainstream beauty ideal has been historically based on white standards such as having blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, a thin ideal body, straight hair, and thin lips (West, 1995; Yamamiya, Cash, Melynk, Posavac, & Posavac, 2005; Leslie, 1995). Therefore, the features of African American women tend to be viewed as undesirable and unattractive compared to the European standards of beauty (Awad, Norwood, Taylor, Martinez, McClain, Jones, Holman, & Hilliard, 2014). According to Ashe (1995), “African beauty, body and hair have been racialized, with slim/”keen” European features being the accepted standard of beauty since enslaved Africans was forcefully brought to the Americas.” The physical characteristics of Black women such as having broad noses, brown skin, full lips, large buttocks and course hair has been looked down upon throughout United States history (Byrd & Tharps, 2001). In effect, the standard of beauty of European features that were forced on slaves are internalized and currently seen in the standard of beauty of African Americans (A.A) (Chapman, 2007). These standards include African Americans perceiving light-skinned as being more favorable than dark-skinned (Maddox & Gray, 2002; Perdue, Young, Balam,
Many aspects of this time period is shown to have had an impact on Westerfeld’s novel, Uglies. Women beauty standards have been prevalent since the beginning of history, however the 1960s saw birth to unrealistic beauty standards. Women during this time were expected to have a willowy look, which includes a thin body, long slim legs and an adolescent physique. Women who did not meet this standard were looked down upon by other members of society for not holding a desired beauty. The discrimination “uglies” face from pretties is linked to this standard faced by women in Westerfeld’s community. Many pretties laugh at respective “uglies” prior to their operation as “uglies” look different than their pretty counterparts. When Tally sneaks into a pretties only party, she “[feels] uglier every second she [spends] there. Being laughed at by everyone she met wasn’t helping much” (Westerfeld 13). For being an “ugly,” Tally is laughed at, and made to be like a second class by the pretties because she is different than them. In Westerfeld’s American society, if a woman does not achieve the thin, willowy look that is desired, then she experiences the exact feelings of inferiority. The discrimination faced by “uglies” as well as women who do not meet the beauty standard, are connected in the ideology that being ugly, makes you of lesser importance than a prettier counterpart. The 1960s saw a strong push for equal rights for African
It is unfortunate that we live in a society that places such a great emphasis and consideration towards the aesthetics of beauty. What is more unfortunate is that beauty itself is not defined by any realistic qualities or pragmatics. Rather it is defined by society and what the particular or dominant class in society feels beauty is. In today’s society in order for a woman to be looked at as beautiful she must posses a combination of qualities, such as, a slim body, straight hair, fair skinned, full lips, straight sort of raised nose and so on. In the society that the Breedloves lived in, beauty had a lot to do with racism and the dominant class that influenced it. To be a woman of beauty in that society you had to be blond hair, blue eyed and fair skinned. If you couldn’t exactly look like that the closer you came to it the better you were viewed. You also had to behave in a certain manner i.e. well groomed, soft spoken, and have high morals. In other words you had to look like a stereo typical European and for colored women loose all the funky things that made them who they were: “The careful development of thrift, patience, high ...
The short story "Barbie-Q,” by Sandra Cisneros has many reflections on cultural diversity and how each culture views its own individual beauty of women and girls which is cultural beauty. Women value culture and the beauty it represents. In the short story "Barbie-Q, "p. 205 (line 1 ) , Sandra Cisneros reveals
Most beauty advertisements are geared toward women; men still feel the need to lighten their skin. Many dark-skinned people are told by beauty and cosmetic advertisements that their color is repulsive. They are repeatedly told to modify their bodies to fit the White image of beauty. This is not an isolated case in Ghana. The problem with fitting into the White image is that it does not exist (Hunter 2011 and Pierre 2008). The look that Ghanaians are trying to conform to is unrealistic. It is l...
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
You might imagine that the pressure on women to appear as desirable as possible is an obstacle that our society has outgrown after multiple waves of feminism. You'd be wrong. If it's at all possible, it seems like this pressure is only ever escalating. The fact is, as much as people may assert their status as independent free-thinkers, most of them remain bound to the invisible rules that blur their perception of true beauty. Feminists are concerned about objectification. Psychologists are worried about unattainable beauty benchmarks. Terrified mothers confident that the industry will somehow convince their daughters to be over sexualised at a young age. What I’m trying to say is that the pressure to conform to beauty standards does not only effect individual women, but everyone around them.
Identity and Black Female Beauty" In the article it states how blacks in the United States have
This has triggered women to aspire to the white standard of beauty. White became associated with good features, such as straight long hair, a small nose and thin lips, while bad features were associated with black features (Neal & Wilson, 1989). The notio...
...ize the white beauty ideal, but also the act of distancing themselves from their own people. Therefore, “the discriminatory practices are set forth by people that are themselves the victims or the progeny of victims of racial discrimination” (Kolehmainen). What Morrison wants to convey, however, is that one must realize that beauty is not one virtue, “it is something one can do” (Morrison, Foreword).
For young people, physical beauty has become an American value, a prerequisite for acceptance into a vein, racist and unethical American society. The story of Pecola, a young black girl, growing up in Ohio in 1941 clearly shows the fact that the “American Dream” was not available to everyone. Black children are invisible in this world, not special and almost nothing. The vision that the color of your skin somehow made you unimportant by both blacks and whites. White skin meant beauty, and cleanliness; that idea was not questioned at this time in history. In this book Toni Morrison presents that beauty is “The American Dream.”