Hair Politics

Under the current lifestyle changes of Black people who are deciding to wear their hair in natural styles for self-affirmation, the U.S  Education System has positioned itself as against this change within the language and implementation of their dress code policies. There are increasing numbers of incidents in both public and private high schools that exemplifies how the personal can become political when hairstyles worn by African-Americans are targeted and labeled as distractions. Arguably, while particular natural hair styles of African-American girls can be seen as a distraction, such as beads on very young girls who play in their hair often creating clicking sounds, it is unjust to specifically identify black hair styles as a “distraction” in dress code policies that result in the threat of expulsion if changes are not made. The criminalization of black hair is best understood as a method for continued black subordination in a society that places exuberant value in “whiteness” because it continues to affirm a property concept of black bodies by seeking to regulate their activities. To understand the concept of “whiteness” and its continued domination through legal practices throughout history, the use of Feminist Legal Scholarship will be employed. To speak back to the law and its practices of subjugation, Critical Race Theory will be noted in analyzing the anti-subjugation tactics used by the families interviewed in the news clips presented.

Should I wear my Afro to my predominantly white workplace? Is one of the many questions Black Canadian women ask themselves due to the persisting anti-Black racist ideals that impede their livelihoods. This paper expands on Althea Prince’s foundational book The Politics of Black Women’s Hair (2009) by continuing discussions held with Black and mixed raced Canadian women about the societal perceptions of Black hair. The discriminatory practices demonstrated though case studies involving respectability politics in the workforce contradict Canadian values of multiculturalism. By highlighting Canadian contributions to the Natural Hair Movement, this paper identifies Black women’s self-led initiatives that challenge negative ideas surrounding their hair while encouraging Black women to claim space and exercise their right to be. Their complex views thus force a reconsideration of Canadian notions of Black presence. The Black women studied articulate this reassessment according to their own terms while concretizing their positions as valued Canadian citizens.

In the United States, black hair—that is, the hair of African-descended peoples—has a long and fraught political, economic, and social history that informs its contemporary reception: at the interstices of self-making, aesthetic expression, and respectability politics, black hair has been both overdetermined and underexplored as a site of intellectual inquiry. This essay aims to offer a critical examination of natural black hair as a central site of interpersonal negotiation for black women in the United States. Drawing on performance studies, cultural studies, and black feminist studies, I offer black hair haptics as an analytic for the racialized and gendered dimensions of quotidian public interpersonal engagement with black hair as an extension of the black body. I argue that black hair is a unique site of analysis for transgressions of socially appropriate interpersonal interaction.

The film Pelo Malo / Bad Hair (dir. Mariana Rondón, 2013) depicts the story of Junior, a mixed-race young boy in Venezuela who wishes to straighten his curly hair. This essay shows that the stigmatization of black hair is part of Venezuela's racial aesthetic regime and thus contextualizes the actions and desires of the main character. Moreover, while much of the literature on race and beauty in Latin America focuses on women's experiences, this essay examines men's and boys' experiences of aesthetic regimes that value whiteness. Junior's continual fussing with his hair, as well as his other actions, informs his mother's fears that he is gay. I argue that the main character, Junior, is subject to shifting forms of stigma that inform his attempts to straighten his curly hair and in turn inform Junior's mother's perception that he is gay.

Despite the slight decrease in childhood obesity nationwide, there is still very little evidence of decrease in physical activity among urban adolescent girls, a group at high risk of obesity. This descriptive pilot study utilized self-reported surveys administered to 56 female adolescents aged 14-17 in two Brooklyn, NY public high schools with a diverse enrollment in low-¬income communities.  Results indicated top reasons for physical inactivity included the built environment; the need for showers (55%), the space being too small (39%), indicative of the overcrowding of classes due to multiple schools sharing a single building and the ability to pass physical education class without being physically active (44%).  Results revealed hair was also a factor (39%) due to the sociocultural attitudes of many African American females regarding hair care practices.  As we look to a global future free from overweight and obese adolescents in urban communities, several considerations must be taken. Firstly, the built environment should be considered to improve overcrowding and circulation. Secondly, health educators must provide instruction that is motivating and relatable to this vulnerable population. Finally, health educators should practice cultural competency regarding societal norms surrounding the hair care needs of urban adolescent girls, particularly those of African descent. These results suggest a “one-size-fit-all” approach when addressing overweight and obesity may be less effective in racial, ethnic populations where a socio-cultural approach may be needed.

A study of the visual content of album covers of four singers: Madonna and Beyoncé (popular music artists) and PJ Harvey and Björk (alternative/indie music artists). Cover photography of music albums has been an important element of artists’ representation and a medium to grab listeners’ attention. The album cover has become an art form to reflect musicians’ styles, expressing their identities and ideas. This chapter discusses these singers’ musical styles, considering the visual representation of their hair on select album cover photos. It reveals the relations between two different art forms – music and photography – in terms of the meaning of hair as a visual element that conveys ideas about identity and ideology.

I was invited by the Filministes to introduce and moderate discussion about "This is Good Hair, too: a Black Natural Hair Documentary" by Boyd C. George. I will have the opportunity to present some research results from my research and experiences with women thinking about going natural, transitionistas, or naturalista and their journey in Quebec.

The event is free and open to all. Additional information is available on the filministe FaceBook Event page "À poil! Réflexions sur la pilosité"

Broad generalizations have been made about the preponderance or fetishization of beards during the Renaissance, but in actuality the facial decoration came in and out of fashion, in part according to the practice of influential rulers or popes as well as to cyclical custom over time. Even when not in full display, the capacity to grow a beard was considered a crucial sign of physiological health, adult status and masculine vigor. Portraits thus show a subtle range of facial hair on male sitters, from hairless boys to youths with incipient beards and men with morning shadow, carefully styled beards and groomed moustaches, or hoary stubble. Significance was also accorded the absence of body hair, or its overabundance. This paper will go beyond drawing a single, sharp distinction between men and women, or between boys and men, by attending to other central factors like religious status, geographical location, and historical change.