Natural Hair Research Paper

African American women's health, hair politics, and physical activities. Studies show that African American women tend to pay more attention to their hair instead of their health issues. Researches came up with a theoretical argument to figure out why hair matter for some women. They discover that hair presents a barrier to exercise in that the time and economic restrictions involved in maintaining a hairstyle post exercise for physical activity as prohibitive. This study provides some perception about the relationship between hair and health for African American women and suggests that extra attention is justified to address views about beauty ideals and hairstyles as a barrier to exercise (Versey, 2014, p. 2015)

To some, there has been a difference felt towards black hair culture in the workforce as

There has been a notable amount of conversation on the internet on the rebirth of the natural hair movement. Cherise Luter (2014) states that despite afros and the natural hair movement not being a new concept (i.e. the Black Power Movement), it has gone under what she calls a “refreshing change”. Furthermore, what used to be “I’m black and I’m proud”, has been replaced with “I’m me and I’m proud” (Luter 2016). So, what is the natural hair movement? It is defined as a movement where black women decide to not conform to the social norms of chemically altering their hair and wearing it in its natural, kinky, or curled state (Joignot 2015). The movement could also be considered as an outlet for black women to display their racial and cultural pride or to articulate their “political position (Brown 2014:297). However, simply the terminology “movement” is something that should be shocking to many. There is a great amount of historical context behind the continuous influence Eurocentric beauty ideals have had on black women for centuries. According to Nadia Brown (2014), Black natural hair throughout history has proven to be recognized as “either unintended or intended personal and political statements” (298). the beauty standard in Western society which praises European hair textures, has influenced many black women to be critical of other black women who choose to chemically straighten their hair, accusing them of being subservient to the dominant and pervasive racist

In 2014, 12 year-old Vanessa VanDyke was threatened to be expelled from her school, Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, Fl., if she didn’t comply with the schools dress code and cut her hair, which they deemed a “distraction.” A few months before VanDyke’s incident, another little girl, 7 year-old Tiana Parker, was sent home from her school, Deborah Brown Community School in Tulsa, Oak., because her dreadlocks violated school policy, which stated that “hairstyles such as dreadlocks, afros, mohawks, and other faddish styles are unacceptable.” Earlier this year, a group of high school girls were suspended from school in Nassau, Bahamas, for wearing their hair natural because it was dubbed “untidy, un groomed, and unkempt hair.” The list of natural hair discrimination incidents in schools can go on— even longer if you want to include discrimination incidents towards Black hair in the work place, but this article would never end if I listed all of them. All of these incidents serve as a reminder why non-black people wearing black hairstyles is so

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

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.

Gates also writes about a time when he was at his uncle’s house to watch television. While they were all watching, they saw Nat King Cole, a famous singer with “patent-leather hair” (328). His hair was processed, but not to the point where it looked completely like white peoples’ hair. It still looked somewhat natural. Back then, it was rare for an African American to be seen on television as Cole was. This shows the slow transition of blacks becoming accepted into white society.

As an African American hair plays a vital role in our society. The ideal of Black hair is one that allows you to explore your inner feelings, attitudes and sense of style through the facet of hair. However, this freedom of expression becomes questioned as you try to pursue a professional career. As an African American woman pursuing a career in the field of broadcast journalism, your freedom of expression through hair is often limited by corporate policy. By pursuing a career in this field and attaining my first internship in a top 10 market. I have already faced some challenges. Due to the fact that I was only an intern, I did not receive pressure from corporate level to change my look. However, I placed internal pressure on myself to assimilate to white culture standard of “professionalism” by straightening my hair for an intern newscast. I decided to elongate my naturally, kinky curly hair in order to fit the bill of a typical news anchor. Who declared black hair of any style to be unprofessional?

While Kylie Jenner’s faux dreadlocks for her ‘rebel-themed’ Teen Vogue photoshoot were described as beautiful, edgy, and raw by various style magazines, Zendaya Coleman’s dreadlocks she wore on the Oscars red carpet were described as making her look like she “smells like patchouli oil. Or, weed," by Fashion Police host Giuliana Rancic. America loves to appropriate black culture, even when black people themselves, don’t receive the same amount of love from America. From box braids to dashikis, black culture has been stolen by America and used for their own personal gain, disregarding the historical context and meaning of these traditions or blatantly perpetuating stereotypes.

They were taken from their home and forced to work as slaves in a place they have never seen before. They were dehumanized and ripped of their culture by getting their hair shaved or cut off, trying to make them forget where they came from and who they were. After having to work under the hot sun, in a field, they never had time to take care of their hair nor did not have the same products that they have always used, so they were forced to wear scarves and forget about taking care of their hair. Due to not being able to properly take are of their hair, African American women hair were mocked and turned into jokes, which lately turned into not being social acceptable due to their hair. Resulting in Madame C.J Walker creating a cream to turn their hair from kinky curls to bone straight. Fortunately, years later African American women waned a change and felt that their hair should not be hidden. Slowly but surely African American women started to follow this wave and started to become natural, but another obstacle stood in their way, learning what to do and getting ahold of the needed items. Social media was the only way to gain the information that was needed to learn how to properly take care of their hair. Without the use of social media, it would be difficult for African Americans to get the natural hair care products that they need because in major department stores, the sections for black hair is very vague and even if they did have the item one was looking for, it is usually not in stock. More research should be done to understand why is it still difficult in some areas, Nationwide, for African Americans to get access to the hair care products that they need but not the same for other hair types? The sales for natural hair products are growing online, yet still not occurring in stores. Why is

African American culture has grown tremendously and has become more popular among all of the races. Not only has it become popular but it has also stirred up a lot of controversy. One aspect of African American culture that has become popular and is very controversial is Black women wearing their hair natural. Black women are really starting to embrace their natural hair and love the skin they are in but there are also a lot of people in society tearing them down. A lot of Black women and men have very curly natural hair and when the women do not feel like managing their hair they wear protective styles like braids or faux locks. Because of these styles, African Americans have been denied jobs and opportunities to prosper in society (Williams, 2015). It is offensive to tell Blacks how to wear their hair and that it is not acceptable. It is basically like telling her that she is unacceptable. There has been a great flow in the popularity of natural hair. In the early 1900’s since Black women were teased for their natural hair, straightened hair had become widely favored in the African-American community, but it lost its popularity to the Afro, which was seen as a symbol of black pride during the 1960s. Later on, Black women and even men returned to using chemical straightening treatments known as relaxers that loosened their naturally curly hair. Experts say that this method was often used as a means of meeting the white standard of beauty. The number of women using relaxers

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

Women need to know they aren't alone when battling this condition and find ways they are comfortable with to deal with the issue, NaturalHairQueen.net reports

Hair is a basic element of most of our lives, so to many, hair is a trivial thing. However, the fact that we live in a social climate that routinely rejects aspects of communities of color, hair has come to be an increasingly symbolic piece of our racial identities. This is especially true for the black community in the United States. After generations of countering Eurocentric ideologies surrounding acceptability, members of the black community are beginning to embrace the acceptance of their own images despite cultural messages that continue to promote the opposite. In an article written by Khalea Underwood of Refinery29, she chronicles her experiences with having her hair touched by a white

A common argument against the existence of cultural appropriation is; “Well, how about when Asian people who dye their hair blonde, or when African Americans straighten their hair?” This is not appropriating ‘American culture’ but assimilating to it. Assimilating is adopting the dominant culture in order to be successful and carry out day to day life. Instead of questioning why people of color are forced to fit in, we should be asking why the American standard of beauty is so