My Hair and I Essay

I remember a time when I discovered that the world was stranger than I had thought as a child. I was in elementary school. I come from a rather small town so every little thing that was not considered to be the “norm” really stood out. One of the kids in my class had gotten the sides of his head shaved, so it was a buzzed mohawk. At the time I was around 5, and I had never seen anything like it. Now I can go to the mall and see mesh “shirts” with nipple rings shining through and green hair. I look back now and a mohawk seems like nothing compared to the things you see now.

Sophomore year of high school, I needed a change. I decided to cut off six inches of my hair off. I was no longer the girl who hid behind her hair, I was ‘edgy.’ Even though I love my new short hair cut, there’s not much that can be done with short hair. Therefore, when my brother was planning to get married

The researcher interview with African American women with natural hair and examination of social media. The researchers explain that in the natural hair community a curl texture is more attractive than kinky hair texture and lengthier hair more desirable than short hair; also having manageable hair is dynamic to African American women’s effective performances of Black femininity. This research expands the discourse in African American Studies that theorizes the experiences of African American women with natural hair compared to those of African American women with relaxed hair such as perms (Howard, 2015, p.

Since the early 1900s, Black women have had a fascination with their hair. More explicitly, they have had a fascination with straightening their hair. The need to be accepted by the majority class has caused them to do so. Though the image of straight hair as being better than coarse hair still hasn’t left the Black community, there has been a surge of non straight hairstyles since the nineteen sixties. Wearing more natural hairstyles, which ironically enough include ‘weaves’ and ‘hair extensions’ has been considered to be more empowered and more enlightened. However, this image comes with a price, and though it appears the ‘natural’ hairstyle movement has advanced Black women, it has actually set

Much attention is given to the issue of the perfect body image among young girls and women in the United States; however, within this set of people, little attention is given towards black women and the topic of their hair. How are black women affected by these unrealistic standards for beauty, especially in a world that tends to favor the Eurocentric standards? This study discusses the phenomenon behind black women and their hairstyles and explains that their choice in hairstyle is not solely reliant on societal expectations, but also equally of their own personality, self-esteem, and time.

In the late 1960s, the Afro hairstyles became a political statement, announcing, “I am black and proud” and challenged white aesthetics. This movement asked Black people to show their natural beauty without shame, spreading to the world that black is beautiful (BlackHistory.com). However, two decades later, this statement has slowly faded away and has been replaced by fake hair weaves and hair straightening chemical creams. Today, African Americans spend over half a trillion dollars on hair care and weaves, more than any other racial group. Majority of African American women do not feel the need to wear their hair naturally, and choose to chemically straighten their hair (Johnson & Bankhead, 2014).

Hair modification is a century old tradition for all ethnicities. The focus of this research paper will be the benefits of natural hair versus relaxed hair within the African American hair community. My position on this issue is that the natural state of hair is inherently better than the processed relaxed state of hair, even though African American women continue to relax their hair the outcome may be extreme.

Women believe hair is an essential part of life. Different races have different hair textures and styles majority of the style comes with stereotypes. Women believe hair is a way of bringing out their personality or raising their self-esteem In the African American population hair is controversial topic. Some embrace the natural beauty of hair while others enhance it with more chemicals, weaves, locks and braids. African American hair has started issues within the corporate workplace. This paper explains how African American women’s natural hair is viewed in the corporate

Hair is an aspect of identity many women are made to confront. It is a projection of how a woman would like to be perceived and who she believes she is within her society. Black women in America face an interesting dilemma when it comes to hair. When African slaves were brought to America, they were confronted with the Eurocentric ideal of beauty, which, in addition to pale skin and Anglo Saxon facial structure, also included straightened hair. As time progressed, black people sought new ways to assimilate. Throughout the course of time many hair straightening agents such as straightening irons, perms, and hair extensions have been used to help aid black people in mimicking the hairstyles of the socially accepted white standards. More

Black men are more likely to prefer dating and marrying people with light skin than women are. Black men also see lighter skinned black women as a “prize” due to the mentioned benefits of being a light skinned black woman. Since dark skinned women meet few, if any of the European beauty standards, they are more likely to “...experience self hate, distorted body image, depression, and eating disorders” (Bryant, 82-85) Seeing as how European beauty standards are impressed upon men as well, it is no surprise that Black men see straighter hair as better hair. This then leads to Black women choosing to permanently wear their hair straight. For these Black women, “...discrimination against their person can lie within the walls of their very homes.”

Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair, investigates the notion of what good hair is. Dominant society views good hair as straight or essentially caucasian hair. This is not only problematic to the self-esteem and confidence of black women, but it can also cause black women to appropriate Asian culture. Black women unfortunately take advantage of Asian culture in search of what society believes is good hair. Many black women wear weaves in order to align to what society believes is good hair. However, when they buy this hair, they do not realize what Asians go through. Likewise, Asians who give up their hair do not know where or who this hair will be going to. Thus, this desire for good hair further perpetuates the lack of understanding that black

that straight hair was the style I was not made fun of for having; I blame it on

“That is the point, everyone has to do it,” Sam said, “besides your hair will grow back fast.” He did have a point about that, my hair was very

All my life people have defined me by my hair color. I have always just been the girl with the red hair and nothing more. No one saw past my hair to get to know the real me. The only thing I wanted was for people to see that I was more than just a hair color.

If this goal was not achieved these women would often wear wigs. Women that were also bald or who did not want to deal with their own hair would choose to wear a wig. Styles of their hair would often vary from frizzy to tight curls,as an everyday style.( Alchin