In class this week we talked briefly about the movie good hair and how black women and their hair are portrayed in society. As an African-American woman, I could go on for days about how hair is perceived and the implications of this thinking on a society.
While I do agree that for black society as a whole, hair and hairstyles are very much influenced by what is shown in the media. Straight, long hair is considered beautiful and furthermore is considered the norm. What I do not agree with, however, are people from other races deciding that black people’s hair is not “authentic enough”. Just as black women perm, straighten, and add extensions to their hair, white women do the same. However, white women are not critiqued as much for their actions because it considered normal and customary for their hair to look a certain way.
We discussed this concept in my Media class last year of “culturally authentic.” This term normally applies to cultures outside of the United States, but can most definitely be attributed inside the states as well. I feel like it is expected for African-American’s hair to look a certain way. It’s almost as if having straight hair brings black people too close to looking white, as besides skin color this is the most noticeable difference between the races. And so essentially because African-Americans are assimilating to Western culture (as are all cultures), we are seen as not being culturally authentic. However, what can be further implied from this? Someone in my class last year brought up the idea that this need for Westerners to observe cultural authenticity stemmed from a fear that all people would become truly equal. This fear that when traveling to other places, differences cease to exist, and that individual or group that was once subordinate is now on par with you.
So what is the real dilemma here? As historical ideas and ideologies are becoming non-existent, a backlash has occurred, even in our culture, black people’s hair is simply no longer “black enough.” Afros and jheri curls are no longer in style, neither are perms and mullets. Just as times change, so do hairstyles. I’m not saying that hair and other things are not the workings of larger hegemonic processes because they most certainly are. All I’m saying that the choices we make are influenced by hegemonic processes no matter what the race and THAT seems to be the real issue at hand.
While I do agree that for black society as a whole, hair and hairstyles are very much influenced by what is shown in the media. Straight, long hair is considered beautiful and furthermore is considered the norm. What I do not agree with, however, are people from other races deciding that black people’s hair is not “authentic enough”. Just as black women perm, straighten, and add extensions to their hair, white women do the same. However, white women are not critiqued as much for their actions because it considered normal and customary for their hair to look a certain way.
We discussed this concept in my Media class last year of “culturally authentic.” This term normally applies to cultures outside of the United States, but can most definitely be attributed inside the states as well. I feel like it is expected for African-American’s hair to look a certain way. It’s almost as if having straight hair brings black people too close to looking white, as besides skin color this is the most noticeable difference between the races. And so essentially because African-Americans are assimilating to Western culture (as are all cultures), we are seen as not being culturally authentic. However, what can be further implied from this? Someone in my class last year brought up the idea that this need for Westerners to observe cultural authenticity stemmed from a fear that all people would become truly equal. This fear that when traveling to other places, differences cease to exist, and that individual or group that was once subordinate is now on par with you.
So what is the real dilemma here? As historical ideas and ideologies are becoming non-existent, a backlash has occurred, even in our culture, black people’s hair is simply no longer “black enough.” Afros and jheri curls are no longer in style, neither are perms and mullets. Just as times change, so do hairstyles. I’m not saying that hair and other things are not the workings of larger hegemonic processes because they most certainly are. All I’m saying that the choices we make are influenced by hegemonic processes no matter what the race and THAT seems to be the real issue at hand.
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