Natural Hair

Manipulation of the hair is one of the lesser theorized technologies through which Black diasporic subjects have carved space for their existence, expressed aspirations, and posed dissent against a social world reliant upon their dehumanization. In response to this forum's call to elevate mediated epistemologies about Black women, we offer focused consideration of Black hair as a technology of collective expansion that resists essentialism and begins to theorize a digital, post-natural turn. The practices tied to Black hair, from the development of styling tools and products (physical technologies) to technologies of touch via digital practices (i.e., the digits or fingers) such as greasing, braiding, washing, combing, and otherwise working hair, are central to how Black women create digital (here meaning: online) content and navigate scrutinization. We consider the complications of these technological and digital practices by considering the simultaneous neoliberal and liberatory undergirding of the Digital Natural Black Hair Movement and a very recent tech-forward turn toward what we call the "post-natural" that eschews the implicit essentialism of earlier natural hair moments. Taking the "sacred" foray into the haircare industry by megastar Beyoncé as a case study, we outline facets (and aspirations) of the post-natural digital re-branding of Black hair.

Black women's natural hair has been subject to both praise and scrutiny, though the latter is more common despite the steps taken towards inclusion and diversity. In the age of social media, members of the natural hair community have been able to voice and communicate ideas and issues that are specific to their discourse community. This study explores how the natural hair community uses social media, more specifically Instagram, to discuss the complex issues that surround natural hair including historicization, workplace bias, colorism, and social justice. Additionally, this study argues that natural hair is a form of visual rhetoric as well as a metaphor for rhetorical reappropriation both visually and textually. The concept "good hair" continues to be significant in natural hair discourse as it can be associated with numerous artifacts and ideas of what "good hair" means to Black women with natural hair. A theoretical approach was taken to investigate textual trends in user discourse as well as visual rhetoricy on one Instagram page using André Brock's Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) as a model.

The discrimination of African Americans originates from when Europeans forcibly removed Africans from their homeland to be slaves in the American colonies. Before enslavement in America, Africans could use their hair to communicate certain characteristics about themselves such as their relationship status, age, and more ("Fast History: Black Women and Their Hair", 2017). However, Africans were forced to cut and/or cover all their hair with head wraps when they arrived in America. It was a way to separate them from their culture and identity. Many White people during that time referred to Black hair as wool to dehumanize Black people (Ivey, 2006). In addition, White people treated Black people with lighter skin and straight hair, which were usually interracial individuals, better than those who did not have those features (Robinson, 2011). After slavery was outlawed, a Black person not wearing their hair straight could show defiance, but their hairstyle choice could determine if a White person allowed them to be educated, employed, and more (Patton, 2006). This is how colorism, natural hair discrimination, and internalized self-hate began. Since then, degrading all aspects of African American culture has been normalized. This includes music, religious practices, and style of dress. African American culture was and sometimes still is seen as savage and dangerous by the White majority. This can be especially seen in the 1960s and 1970s. During this time period, a movement started that urged African Americans to be Black and proud of it. One way they did this was by wearing afros in opposition to the beauty standards of White America (Garrin & Marcketti, 2018). Garrin and Marcketti's (2018) participants expressed how wearing their afros out for the world to see made them feel strong and a part of something bigger than themselves. The afro also began as a symbol for the

This article explores how Black women use storytelling to construct their Black girlhood on the axes of Black hair and beauty politics. The study includes a discourse analysis of a series of focus groups with a student organization dedicated to Black women's natural hair at a midwestern predominantly white institution. I ask: How do young Black women use storytelling as a tool to construct, recall, and (re) negotiate their childhood experiences of hair and beauty politics? I explore the ways these women use storytelling to articulate how their Black girlhood was in part shaped by encounters with hair politics and constructions of beauty. These "hair moments" that they recall reveal complex negotiations of standards of beauty. I analyze three themes that emerge from these conversations: (1) shared experiences around play, imagination, and relationship to images of mainstream beauty; (2) family as a social unit that socializes Black girls around beauty; and (3) adolescence, prom, and contested notions of appropriate "formal" adornment. These themes among these young women illustrate shared experiences, negotiation/critique, and meaning making around concepts of beauty. This study contributes to conversations around beauty culture, Black hair politics, and the bourgeoning field of Black girlhood studies. Through understanding how Black women reflect on their girlhood experiences of the politics of hair and beauty, we can better understand the inner experiences of Black girls, and the complexities of how they come to know and understand their bodies.

The discrimination of African Americans originates from when Europeans forcibly removed Africans from their homeland to be slaves in the American colonies. Before enslavement in America, Africans could use their hair to communicate certain characteristics about themselves such as their relationship status, age, and more ("Fast History: Black Women and Their Hair", 2017). However, Africans were forced to cut and/or cover all their hair with head wraps when they arrived in America. It was a way to separate them from their culture and identity. Many White people during that time referred to Black hair as wool to dehumanize Black people (Ivey, 2006). In addition, White people treated Black people with lighter skin and straight hair, which were usually interracial individuals, better than those who did not have those features (Robinson, 2011). After slavery was outlawed, a Black person not wearing their hair straight could show defiance, but their hairstyle choice could determine if a White person allowed them to be educated, employed, and more (Patton, 2006). This is how colorism, natural hair discrimination, and internalized self-hate began. Since then, degrading all aspects of African American culture has been normalized. This includes music, religious practices, and style of dress. African American culture was and sometimes still is seen as savage and dangerous by the White majority. This can be especially seen in the 1960s and 1970s. During this time period, a movement started that urged African Americans to be Black and proud of it. One way they did this was by wearing afros in opposition to the beauty standards of White America (Garrin & Marcketti, 2018). Garrin and Marcketti's (2018) participants expressed how wearing their afros out for the world to see made them feel strong and a part of something bigger than themselves. The afro also began as a symbol for the

In order for the hair to serve its designated functions including insulation, forming a protective physical barrier and communication, hair follicles must change and the manner in which they accomplish this goal is through the hair growth cycle. During the hair growth cycle, the original lower portion of the follicle is destroyed and it then regenerates, creating another. This process is unique in that it allows the body to produce hair follicles that contain different characteristics. In other words, post-natal follicles are still capable of recapitulating the later steps in follicular embryogenesis throughout a person’s life. Because many changes in hair (like growing an entire beard) will take several years to complete, experts are still unsure the extent of possible differences in hair size when compared to its predecessor. http://www.curlcentric.com/how-to-grow-natural-hair/