Wednesday, December 9, 2009
'It Must Be Your A$$ 'Cuz It Aint Your Face': The Demystification of the Myths of the Women that are Video Vixens
Black women are highly sexualized within the media in hip-hop videos. With these raunchy roles that are seen across the globe, Black women are scrutinized for being portrayed so negatively. For this blog, the question of why Black women feel the need to star in these controversial roles is discussed with many determining factors. Women deserve to be treated with respect and deserve to be treated with decency. In the media realm, women are objectified and yet no one takes time to understand the real life situations that occur for these women behind the scenes. First, this blog will examine the role of fathers in the lives of young women and their contribution to these women's lives (or lack thereof) that aids in the decision to make these women want to attract so much attention in the media with hip-hop videos. Secondly, the focus will shift from women to men by discussing the upbringing of males by strong women who encourage these men to respect women to the utmost degree. Somewhere along the way the idea of Black women being respected by Black men was ignored and the disrespected and vulgarized video vixen was born. Lastly, this blog will tie these two ideas together to conclude the reasons behind women feeling the need to cling to these hip- hop stars in order to validate them and simultaneously take away some of the insecurities they battle as popular faces in the media.
A Video Girl: Every Man’s Fantasy
This is Nelly's controversial video for "Tip Drill," which inspired the title of this blog. As seen here these women do not regard themselves highly enough to recognize what they should and should not be doing in videos.
Young women are constantly being projected onto the screens of mainstream media via hip-hop videos. “Though rap has often been presented as a male-dominated form by the media, women have been a part of the rap scene since its early commercial years” (Keyes 255). These women secure their spots in front of the camera by making sure that they stand out in any way possible. Not only are they profiting from these romps in front of the camera but they are projecting an image of Black women into the homes of many Americans who would find this occupation quite degrading. They are usually depicted in outfits that leave very little to the imagination. Popular attire includes next-to-nothing swimsuits, pasties, and anything metallic that can attract the camera’s lens while filming is taking place. They make sure that they do everything possible to stand out amongst the sea of faces that long for that one chance to prove their worth and abilities to contribute to the artist’s video.
“Rap music videos are notorious for featuring half-clothed young Black women gyrating obscenely and functioning as backdrops, props, and objects of lust for rap artists who sometimes behave as predators…it seems as though the resentment, hostility, and disdain that many young Black men feel…have been directed at Black females” (Gender Talk 186). These men treat these women with great disrespect; yet these women do not combat because they are capitalizing on these meetings. When money is involved, it seems validated that things like respect, integrity and self-worth take a backseat to the idea of pocketing cash for doing just a little shaking and jiggling here and there. With all these beautiful women surrounding these rappers, why would respect matter? Respect only comes with reality and in these special cases; these men are living out their ultimate fantasies with various ethnic scantily clad women surrounding them and respect is the last word on these rappers’ minds.
Self-esteem and the Absent Father
This is a documentary that was run in the news that speaks about the prevalence of absent fathers. This has become such an issue that it has even been addressed by the President of the United States. It is clear that fathers really have an impact in the lives of the children, especially the lives of their daughters.
These video girls seem very confident while in front of the camera. Their makeup is perfect, their outfits hug every curve of their toned bodies and their hair flows endlessly down their backs. They feel empowered because they know that they are the cream of the crop and that they have successfully won the ultimate battle of the most beautiful. Behind their whitened smiles lie the truths that they keep hidden from society.
Fathers have an obligation specifically to their daughters. When the father is absent from the home during a girl’s adolescent period this causes many problems for the girl as she grows older and begins to formulate her own relationships with men outside of her household. “Every day, at any moment, images of beauty, particularly images of beauty, particularly images in advertisements and television commercials, confront women of all colors. Data suggest that exposure to these images of beauty can negatively affect a woman’s self-confidence thereby causing them to indulge in unhealthy behaviors and become extremely dissatisfied with their body image and attractiveness” (Frisby 324). This advertising that Frisby speaks of begins with the absence of the strong male role model, the father, in the household. A woman may begin to doubt herself because she has not had her father to highlight what is great about her. These women have not experienced the grandeur that comes from having a man in the household to cultivate a young woman into an ideal human being. With the lack of the male figure in the household women are shown that men do not value them. Even though a mother may try to take the place in her child’s life as a father figure, the differences between mothers and fathers is clear: fathers, with simple affection, show women that they are worth more than just simply being subjected to “provocative and often foul language, flashes of violence, and blatant objectification of and disrespect for women” (Gender Talk 184).
The presence of the father in the Black American household is absolutely necessary for the success of the family unit. When the father is not present to reinforce the values of self-worth and confidence in female children, a young woman yearns to find these things in another man which usually involves a method that is detrimental to the mental or physical health of the young woman. Many of these women dance around in front of the camera because they lack the self-esteem that is required to challenge their male counterparts and demand respect in the form of a bigger swimsuit that keeps them fully covered in every shot. They have not had a positive male role model to teach them that a man should always treat a woman with respect in every way. This is an essential part of the process of growth for the woman and should be fully embraced. Women need father figures to show them right from wrong in society.
Women and their Sons: The Basis for the Treatment of Women in Hip-Hop Videos
This is a song that shows the significance of the bond between mother and son. A few key things that stuck out were the ideas of remaining close at any age, always expressing love to one another and the fact that a man should always attempt to treat his wife, or any woman that he encounters, the same way that he treats his mother.
The absence of the father figure in the household garners more responsibilities for the woman to be both the mother and the father in the household, especially to her son(s). These strong Black women must impart their knowledge about the treatment of women onto their sons so that the factor of respect is established. “50% of all Black households with children under age 18 are headed by Black women” (Bush 381). The fifty percent of households that do not have fathers present allow women to have a say in what happens with that fifty percent of the young Black male demographic. So in retrospect, at least half of all Black men in America recognize how women should be treated. “Logically, if there are aspects of manhood that only men can teach, then there must be aspects of manhood that only mothers (women) can teach” (Bush 384).
Though women can have an impact on the lives of young men, there is a big difference in the deliverance of a message that comes from a father and one that comes from a mother. Some misconceptions about strong Black women are as follows: “black women have too much control and power in the home; black women are at fault in helping to keep black men down; there is growing distrust and hatred among black men and black women; and black women have more opportunity than black men” (Cazenave 348). Rather than young Black men succumbing to the falsehoods associated with these stereotypes, they focus on the concrete clues that women are correct in telling them to be upstanding citizens. For example, if a young Black man sees that his mother is able to run the household, maintain a job and take care of her children, he will aspire to reach his mother’s level of greatness. Rather than making these young Black men feel less than the status quo, mothers serve as a model for their sons and other young Black men. She does not want to beat the Black youths down, as they have already been in society. She wants to show them that these Black women are great and in order to attain that same level of greatness, Black men must treat Black women with respect and act humbly towards them.
So if these men know how to treat women because they have been taught positively by Black women how to do so, why are so many women being disrespected in the media in hip hop videos? Once these men reach a certain level of success, they begin to feel that they have surpassed the achievements of the positive women in their lives and forget to act humbly and respectfully in their dealings with the women in their videos. Hip-hop will not begin to change until these men begin to treat these video vixens with the same decency and respect with which they treat their mothers.
Hip-Hop Videos: Validation for Video Vixens
This is a documentary that was conducted that involved twenty Video Vixens telling their own personal stories about their lives as women who are always in front of the camera.
Heterosexual men and women, which are the two groups that are primarily focused on in hip-hop videos, naturally gravitate towards one another. Men feel a need to protect these women because these lessons have been instilled in them by the most important women in their lives: their mothers. On the same token, women feel an inclination towards men because they are searching for that absent father figure that aids in building up self-esteem and confidence, two important components that help with the shaping of a woman’s identity. These women feed off of the energy that is produced on-set by the men who are rapping. “Not only are rap music and hip-hop culture a potential form of resistance, they may also have broad-reaching implications for identity development and maintenance…and it can also be a (re)affirmation of one’s identity” (Sullivan 616). These women gain a sense of identity from these men. They look up to these men in admiration as if they were looking up to their potential father figures. Once that element of trust is established, women allow themselves to be degraded because they assume that this relationship, which is similar to a father-daughter bond, is healthy; consequently, anything negative that takes place is seen as something that is done out of love for the woman. On the other hand, men are always working to surpass the social standing of the women in their lives. Once these men see that these women look up to them, they use that to their advantage to manipulate them into believing that anything told to them to do is correct. These men prey on these women’s vulnerabilities.
In conclusion, though hip-hop videos do degrade women, the women have to take a stand against this oppression. If these women see nothing wrong with what is going on then society has to rest its case and allow these women to come to their own personal realizations on their own times. The father-daughter relationship between hip-hop and video vixens allows both women and men to remain connected to one another. They see nothing wrong with the videos; even though the women are practically naked, they need that public attention for validation and to hide the insecurities that they face as Black women in front of the camera. These women will continue to be profitable for the sake of these men. These men lose all value for these women and only recognize the dollar signs associated with their names; it is up to these women to recognize these wrongs and do something to bring about change first before society gives its opnions.
This is 50 Cent's "PIMP" video. Women are pictured being pulled on dog leashes and the usual scantily clad women flood the screen in every shot.
Works Cited
Cazenave, Noel A. “Black Male-Black Female Relationships: The Perceptions of 155 Middle-Class Black Men.” Family Relations. 32.3(1983): 341-350. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/584611.pdf
Frisby, Cynthia M. “Does Race Matter? Effects of Idealized Images on African American Women’s Perceptions of Body Esteem.” Journal of Black Studies. 34.3(2004): 323-347. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/3180940.pdf
Cole, Johnnetta Betsch and Guy-Sheftall, Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women’s Equality in African American Communities. New York: 2003. Print.
http://books.google.com/books?id=0E4CAAAACAAJ&dq=gender+talk&cd=2
Keyes, Cheryl L. “Empowering Self, Making Choices, Creating Spaces: Black Female Identity via Rap Music Performance.” The Journal of American Folklore. 113.449(2000): 255-269. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/542102.pdf
Lawson Bush, V. “How Black Mothers Participate in the Development of Manhood and Masculinity: What Do We Know about Black Mothers and Their Sons?” Journal of Negro Education. 73.4(2004): 381-391. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/4129623.pdf
Sullivan, Rachel E. “Rap and Race: It’s Got a Nice Beat, but What about the Message?” Journal of Black Studies. 33.5(2003): 605-622. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/3180978.pdf
A Video Girl: Every Man’s Fantasy
This is Nelly's controversial video for "Tip Drill," which inspired the title of this blog. As seen here these women do not regard themselves highly enough to recognize what they should and should not be doing in videos.
Young women are constantly being projected onto the screens of mainstream media via hip-hop videos. “Though rap has often been presented as a male-dominated form by the media, women have been a part of the rap scene since its early commercial years” (Keyes 255). These women secure their spots in front of the camera by making sure that they stand out in any way possible. Not only are they profiting from these romps in front of the camera but they are projecting an image of Black women into the homes of many Americans who would find this occupation quite degrading. They are usually depicted in outfits that leave very little to the imagination. Popular attire includes next-to-nothing swimsuits, pasties, and anything metallic that can attract the camera’s lens while filming is taking place. They make sure that they do everything possible to stand out amongst the sea of faces that long for that one chance to prove their worth and abilities to contribute to the artist’s video.
“Rap music videos are notorious for featuring half-clothed young Black women gyrating obscenely and functioning as backdrops, props, and objects of lust for rap artists who sometimes behave as predators…it seems as though the resentment, hostility, and disdain that many young Black men feel…have been directed at Black females” (Gender Talk 186). These men treat these women with great disrespect; yet these women do not combat because they are capitalizing on these meetings. When money is involved, it seems validated that things like respect, integrity and self-worth take a backseat to the idea of pocketing cash for doing just a little shaking and jiggling here and there. With all these beautiful women surrounding these rappers, why would respect matter? Respect only comes with reality and in these special cases; these men are living out their ultimate fantasies with various ethnic scantily clad women surrounding them and respect is the last word on these rappers’ minds.
Self-esteem and the Absent Father
This is a documentary that was run in the news that speaks about the prevalence of absent fathers. This has become such an issue that it has even been addressed by the President of the United States. It is clear that fathers really have an impact in the lives of the children, especially the lives of their daughters.
These video girls seem very confident while in front of the camera. Their makeup is perfect, their outfits hug every curve of their toned bodies and their hair flows endlessly down their backs. They feel empowered because they know that they are the cream of the crop and that they have successfully won the ultimate battle of the most beautiful. Behind their whitened smiles lie the truths that they keep hidden from society.
Fathers have an obligation specifically to their daughters. When the father is absent from the home during a girl’s adolescent period this causes many problems for the girl as she grows older and begins to formulate her own relationships with men outside of her household. “Every day, at any moment, images of beauty, particularly images of beauty, particularly images in advertisements and television commercials, confront women of all colors. Data suggest that exposure to these images of beauty can negatively affect a woman’s self-confidence thereby causing them to indulge in unhealthy behaviors and become extremely dissatisfied with their body image and attractiveness” (Frisby 324). This advertising that Frisby speaks of begins with the absence of the strong male role model, the father, in the household. A woman may begin to doubt herself because she has not had her father to highlight what is great about her. These women have not experienced the grandeur that comes from having a man in the household to cultivate a young woman into an ideal human being. With the lack of the male figure in the household women are shown that men do not value them. Even though a mother may try to take the place in her child’s life as a father figure, the differences between mothers and fathers is clear: fathers, with simple affection, show women that they are worth more than just simply being subjected to “provocative and often foul language, flashes of violence, and blatant objectification of and disrespect for women” (Gender Talk 184).
The presence of the father in the Black American household is absolutely necessary for the success of the family unit. When the father is not present to reinforce the values of self-worth and confidence in female children, a young woman yearns to find these things in another man which usually involves a method that is detrimental to the mental or physical health of the young woman. Many of these women dance around in front of the camera because they lack the self-esteem that is required to challenge their male counterparts and demand respect in the form of a bigger swimsuit that keeps them fully covered in every shot. They have not had a positive male role model to teach them that a man should always treat a woman with respect in every way. This is an essential part of the process of growth for the woman and should be fully embraced. Women need father figures to show them right from wrong in society.
Women and their Sons: The Basis for the Treatment of Women in Hip-Hop Videos
This is a song that shows the significance of the bond between mother and son. A few key things that stuck out were the ideas of remaining close at any age, always expressing love to one another and the fact that a man should always attempt to treat his wife, or any woman that he encounters, the same way that he treats his mother.
The absence of the father figure in the household garners more responsibilities for the woman to be both the mother and the father in the household, especially to her son(s). These strong Black women must impart their knowledge about the treatment of women onto their sons so that the factor of respect is established. “50% of all Black households with children under age 18 are headed by Black women” (Bush 381). The fifty percent of households that do not have fathers present allow women to have a say in what happens with that fifty percent of the young Black male demographic. So in retrospect, at least half of all Black men in America recognize how women should be treated. “Logically, if there are aspects of manhood that only men can teach, then there must be aspects of manhood that only mothers (women) can teach” (Bush 384).
Though women can have an impact on the lives of young men, there is a big difference in the deliverance of a message that comes from a father and one that comes from a mother. Some misconceptions about strong Black women are as follows: “black women have too much control and power in the home; black women are at fault in helping to keep black men down; there is growing distrust and hatred among black men and black women; and black women have more opportunity than black men” (Cazenave 348). Rather than young Black men succumbing to the falsehoods associated with these stereotypes, they focus on the concrete clues that women are correct in telling them to be upstanding citizens. For example, if a young Black man sees that his mother is able to run the household, maintain a job and take care of her children, he will aspire to reach his mother’s level of greatness. Rather than making these young Black men feel less than the status quo, mothers serve as a model for their sons and other young Black men. She does not want to beat the Black youths down, as they have already been in society. She wants to show them that these Black women are great and in order to attain that same level of greatness, Black men must treat Black women with respect and act humbly towards them.
So if these men know how to treat women because they have been taught positively by Black women how to do so, why are so many women being disrespected in the media in hip hop videos? Once these men reach a certain level of success, they begin to feel that they have surpassed the achievements of the positive women in their lives and forget to act humbly and respectfully in their dealings with the women in their videos. Hip-hop will not begin to change until these men begin to treat these video vixens with the same decency and respect with which they treat their mothers.
Hip-Hop Videos: Validation for Video Vixens
This is a documentary that was conducted that involved twenty Video Vixens telling their own personal stories about their lives as women who are always in front of the camera.
Heterosexual men and women, which are the two groups that are primarily focused on in hip-hop videos, naturally gravitate towards one another. Men feel a need to protect these women because these lessons have been instilled in them by the most important women in their lives: their mothers. On the same token, women feel an inclination towards men because they are searching for that absent father figure that aids in building up self-esteem and confidence, two important components that help with the shaping of a woman’s identity. These women feed off of the energy that is produced on-set by the men who are rapping. “Not only are rap music and hip-hop culture a potential form of resistance, they may also have broad-reaching implications for identity development and maintenance…and it can also be a (re)affirmation of one’s identity” (Sullivan 616). These women gain a sense of identity from these men. They look up to these men in admiration as if they were looking up to their potential father figures. Once that element of trust is established, women allow themselves to be degraded because they assume that this relationship, which is similar to a father-daughter bond, is healthy; consequently, anything negative that takes place is seen as something that is done out of love for the woman. On the other hand, men are always working to surpass the social standing of the women in their lives. Once these men see that these women look up to them, they use that to their advantage to manipulate them into believing that anything told to them to do is correct. These men prey on these women’s vulnerabilities.
In conclusion, though hip-hop videos do degrade women, the women have to take a stand against this oppression. If these women see nothing wrong with what is going on then society has to rest its case and allow these women to come to their own personal realizations on their own times. The father-daughter relationship between hip-hop and video vixens allows both women and men to remain connected to one another. They see nothing wrong with the videos; even though the women are practically naked, they need that public attention for validation and to hide the insecurities that they face as Black women in front of the camera. These women will continue to be profitable for the sake of these men. These men lose all value for these women and only recognize the dollar signs associated with their names; it is up to these women to recognize these wrongs and do something to bring about change first before society gives its opnions.
This is 50 Cent's "PIMP" video. Women are pictured being pulled on dog leashes and the usual scantily clad women flood the screen in every shot.
Works Cited
Cazenave, Noel A. “Black Male-Black Female Relationships: The Perceptions of 155 Middle-Class Black Men.” Family Relations. 32.3(1983): 341-350. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/584611.pdf
Frisby, Cynthia M. “Does Race Matter? Effects of Idealized Images on African American Women’s Perceptions of Body Esteem.” Journal of Black Studies. 34.3(2004): 323-347. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/3180940.pdf
Cole, Johnnetta Betsch and Guy-Sheftall, Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women’s Equality in African American Communities. New York: 2003. Print.
http://books.google.com/books?id=0E4CAAAACAAJ&dq=gender+talk&cd=2
Keyes, Cheryl L. “Empowering Self, Making Choices, Creating Spaces: Black Female Identity via Rap Music Performance.” The Journal of American Folklore. 113.449(2000): 255-269. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/542102.pdf
Lawson Bush, V. “How Black Mothers Participate in the Development of Manhood and Masculinity: What Do We Know about Black Mothers and Their Sons?” Journal of Negro Education. 73.4(2004): 381-391. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/4129623.pdf
Sullivan, Rachel E. “Rap and Race: It’s Got a Nice Beat, but What about the Message?” Journal of Black Studies. 33.5(2003): 605-622. Print.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/3180978.pdf
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Touching up Our Roots: Exploring the Complexities of Black Hair amongst African-Americans
The significance of hair in the black community is one surrounded by facts and myths that in turn may dictate the standard of beauty for African Americans, specifically African-American women, based on European principles of beauty. From an African-American woman’s standpoint, this essay post seeks to prove that African-American women can overcome being defined by their hair. This post will explore some of the complexities of Black hair care, the evolutions and revolutions of Black hair, and the representation of Black hair in the American media.
Talkin' 'bout Good and Bad Hair: Understanding the Historical Implications
The most discoursed topic of Black hair is good versus bad hair. What is bad hair and what is good hair? Generally speaking from a stereotypical standpoint, bad hair is considered coarse, kinky, short, tightly coiled, or nappy hair; good hair is long wavy, curly, silky hair. The notion that long and silky hair is considered the better hair type for Black women is deeply rooted in Black women’s perception of beauty and the influence of European ideals of beauty on Black society. “Competing mythologies on something as deceptively insignificant as hair still haunt and complicate African-Americans’ self-identities, and their ideals of beauty, thus revealing broad and complex social, historical, and political realities” (Lester 203). The standards of European beauty shape Black women’s standards and ultimately become a part of self identification, where the grade, texture and length of a woman’s hair can build or diminish her self-esteem.
In order to understand the ramifications of Black ideals of hair and self worth, one must understand the history of African-Americans and the implications of beauty. Much of it is based on the racism and the history of the United States. “During slavery, Black women who were lighter-skin and had features that were associated with white progeny (e.g. wavy or straight hair, White/European facial features) tended to be house slaves and those women with darker-skin hues, kinky hair and broader facial features tended to be field slaves” (Patton 26). Thus, the concept of light-skin with good hair being better than dark-skin with kinky hair was established. The American Anglo-Saxon opinion of kinky/nappy hair was undesirable and straighter hair was favored and rewarded. For Black people, hair type became a defining institution of self-worth and importance in American society.
Stereotypical Good Hair
Stereotypical Bad Hair
Spike Lee’s 1988 film, School Daze, highlights some of the intricacies of Black hair and skin color in one of the scenes in the movie. The group of light-skin girls with long, wavy or straight hair are the wanna-bes (the wanna-be whites) and the group of dark-skin girls are the jiggaboos (an offensive term for a dark skin person). The groups are against each other because the wanna-bes think they are better than everyone else because of their hair texture and skin color. The dark-skin girls are attempting to prove their self-worth through the insults they throw at the light-skin girls. This scene is a satirical view into the shallowness of some Black women’s identity; her identity is surrounded by what she perceives is the beauty of her hair.
Straighten out that Kitchen! : The Evolution and Revolution of Black Hair Care Products and Hairstyles
“The hair on the back of the head is notoriously recalcitrant. It’s called the ‘kitchen’ […] No one knows why, but in the old days hair was greased and hot combed bone-straight next to the kitchen stove where the hot-comb got heated” (Monroe 518). For some, hair is straightened or manipulated for easier to manage, day to day styling and/or for aesthetic reasons. And for this reason Madame C.J. Walker, the first African-American self-made woman millionaire, made a fortune with her invention of the hot-comb and other black hair care products in 1905. Later in 1909, Garrett A. Morgan, the inventor of the gas mask and the traffic light, stumbled upon the invention of the hair relaxer. As the years progressed, relaxed, permed, and processed hair, along with the uniqueness of cornrows, braids, and weaved hair became an element of the norm for Black culture.
Hair being Hot Combed
Over the Years…
During the 1940s, the conk became a popular hairstyle amongst African-American men, where a cream, lotion, or pomade would chemically straighten a man’s naturally kinky hair. “[…] The element of straightening suggested resemblance to white people’s hair, but the nuances, inflections and accentuations introduced by artificial means of stylization emphasized difference” (Mercer 47). Although, Black people were chemically straightening their hair in order to be compared to the naturally straight hair of whites, the styles that evolved from chemically straightened hair created a difference in cultural hairstyles.
Conk Hairstyle
In the 1960s, the slogan “Black is Beautiful”, influenced many African-Americans to embrace the naturalness of their physical appearance. This mantra was a self-affirmation that was opposing to the idea of Black as dark, ugly, unworthy and monstrous. It was slogan of self-empowerment that inspired African-Americans to not be influenced by the standards of beauty in European culture. Natural hairstyles, like Afros and dreadlocks became popular in the Black is Beautiful movement(Mercer 33).
“The Afro, popularized in the United States in the period of Black Power, has been displaced through the 1970s by a new range of black hair-styles, of which the curly-perm is just one of the most popular” (Mercer 34). This trend of the curly perm, later branded as the Jheri Curl became a hit amongst African-Americans in the early 1980s. In Robert Mark Silverman’s article, “Black Business, Group Resources, and the Economic Detour”, a black manufacturer comments on the popularity of the Jheri Curl in the United States in the 1980s. “We were riding on a fad, the curly hair thing. Then, the comedians started jumping on it, and teasing Black folks about the grease, and the this, and the that. So that thing started to go down” (Silverman 242).
The Jheri Curl
From then on, African-American culture saw a balance between chemically treated hair and natural hair: Afros, dreads, braids, and also false hair like wigs, weave and/or extensions. There has however been a reemergence of natural hair or unrelaxed, non-chemically treated hairstyles that have become popular in recent years. Black women are becoming more cautious about the chemicals and products used in their hair, and as a result some chose not to damage their hair with harsh chemicals. It is important to understand that natural hair is not necessarily better or worse than relaxed hair, it is just about a woman’s personal preference.
Relaxed Hair
Natural Hair
It Ain't Even Real: Images of Black Hair in the Media
“In the media, many of the African American women who are glorified for their beauty tend to be lighter-skinned women who have long, wavy hair. However, this reification of the beauty standard does not come solely from the African American community but also from the Euro American community, which promotes the acceptable standard of beauty”(Patton 39). Patton’s theory is evident in some of the most popular Black celebrities in America in the 21st century. R&B/ pop singers like Beyonce, Cassie, Amerie, just to name a few, are very successful Black women who happened to be lighter-skin with long hair. Coincidence? While Cassie and Amerie are of mixed heritage (Black and Asian), their long and wavy are genetic. However Beyonce, has dyed her hair several shades of blonde and brunette along with different wigs, weaves, and hair pieces for each public appearance she makes. Of course, there is nothing wrong with experimenting with one’s appearance and viewing hairstyles as an accessory; but images of Beyonce can become one of the only standards of beauty for young black women. Would Beyonce be as successful, global, and one of the top crossover artists of our generation if she were just as beautiful and talented but with dark-skin and natural kinky hair? This question doesn’t infer that being light-skin with beautiful hair (hers or otherwise) is the only standard for being a grand slam success in the entertainment industry, but it is inferring that it definitely helps.
Is that Beyonce? Yes...it is.
Beyonce
R&B singer Cassie
R&B singer Amerie
This is not to say that America has not embraced certain shades of Black and Black hair texture, but America does so in different forms of the media. Talk show host, philanthropist, millionaire, and the most famous African-American woman in the 21st century, Oprah Winfrey, does not fit into Patton’s standard of glorified beauty. Oprah has dealt with many things in her personal life and career but it is the content of Oprah’s celebrity that has helped her rise to her stature without fitting the standards of the Black cover girl.
Former supermodel and talk show host, Tyra Banks is notorious, especially as of late, for dawning some of the most elaborate artificial tresses. With every show or appearance there would be a different wig or weave. Weave is a comfort for some women, particularly African-American whose hair may be too stressed and damaged from chemical processing, hot combs, and/or braids to effectively grow as long, strong and as healthy as they would like. Thus weave, has become a staple in the self-esteem of some black women. On a recent episode of The Tyra Show, Tyra decided to show her audience her real hair, free from styling, weaves or wigs. This was one of the first steps popular African-American women have made in claiming their identity detached from their hair.
Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair, depicts the complexities of Black women and their hair, along with examining the politics and business of Black hair care. His documentary was inspired by his young daughter who asked her father, “Daddy, why don’t I have good hair?” Through comedy, interviews, and personal experience, his documentary is an effort to prove, not just to Black women, but to the Black community and beyond, that hair doesn’t have to define the worth of a woman. The fact that Chris Rock and the Black women in this movie are exposing African-American hair secrets is more proof that the African-American community is making strides to be comfortable with their natural beauty alongside beauty that may be enhanced.
Neosoul singer, India Arie, is a figure in Black entertainment that has gone through several transformations in hairstyles: dreads, Afros, and other natural hairstyles. Her display of confidence to experiment with different perceptions of Black hair are admirable and an example for Black females everywhere. In her song, “I am Not my Hair”, she sings about the stereotypes and cultural structures of hair and how women become defined by their type of hair. Her goal is to prove to the listener of her music and the watcher of her video that she can overcome being identified by their hair as well.
That's yo' Real Hair?!: Embracing our Natural Roots
In an effort to get back to our roots, historically and biologically, some Black women have begun to re-embrace their natural hair. Black women “go natural”, as it is commonly referred to, or stop chemically treating their hair with relaxers, because they want healthier hair and/or they don’t want to confine to the norm of society’s Euro American standards of women. “We saw how the biological determinism of classical racist ideology first 'politicized' our hair: its logic of devalorization of blackness radically devalued our hair, debarring it from access to dominant regimes of the 'truth of beauty'” (Mercer 40). Because of the stigma, the process, and the effort, there are even support groups, blogs, and specialized hair stylist for women growing out their chemically treated hair to their natural hair. Hair will remain an important identifier of Black heritage, but it does not have to be the sole definition of who Black people are. Some Black people are beginning to embrace their differences through their skin color and hair but are not allowing it to define them by African-American standards or Euro American standards.
Bibliography
Lester, Neal A. “Nappy Edges and Goldy Locks: African-American Daughters and the Politics of Hair”. The Lion and the Unicorn. Volume 24. Number 2. April 2000. http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/journals/lion_and_the_unicorn/v024/24.2lester.pdf
Mercer, Kobena. “Black Hair/Style Politics”. New Formations. Number 3. Winter 1987. http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/newformations/03_33.pdf
Monroe, Debra. “The Time to be Lovely is Always”. Callaloo. Volume 32. Number 2. Spring 2009. http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/journals/callaloo/v032/32.2.monroe.pdf
Patton, Tracey Owens. “Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair”. NWSA Journal. Volume 18. Number 2. Summer 2006. http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/journals/nwsa_journal/v018/18.2patton.pdf
Silverman, Robert Mark. “Black Business, Group Resources, and the Economic Detour: Contemporary Black Manufacturers in Chicago's Ethnic Beauty Aids Industry”. Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2 Nov., 1999. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/2645850.pdf
Talkin' 'bout Good and Bad Hair: Understanding the Historical Implications
The most discoursed topic of Black hair is good versus bad hair. What is bad hair and what is good hair? Generally speaking from a stereotypical standpoint, bad hair is considered coarse, kinky, short, tightly coiled, or nappy hair; good hair is long wavy, curly, silky hair. The notion that long and silky hair is considered the better hair type for Black women is deeply rooted in Black women’s perception of beauty and the influence of European ideals of beauty on Black society. “Competing mythologies on something as deceptively insignificant as hair still haunt and complicate African-Americans’ self-identities, and their ideals of beauty, thus revealing broad and complex social, historical, and political realities” (Lester 203). The standards of European beauty shape Black women’s standards and ultimately become a part of self identification, where the grade, texture and length of a woman’s hair can build or diminish her self-esteem.
In order to understand the ramifications of Black ideals of hair and self worth, one must understand the history of African-Americans and the implications of beauty. Much of it is based on the racism and the history of the United States. “During slavery, Black women who were lighter-skin and had features that were associated with white progeny (e.g. wavy or straight hair, White/European facial features) tended to be house slaves and those women with darker-skin hues, kinky hair and broader facial features tended to be field slaves” (Patton 26). Thus, the concept of light-skin with good hair being better than dark-skin with kinky hair was established. The American Anglo-Saxon opinion of kinky/nappy hair was undesirable and straighter hair was favored and rewarded. For Black people, hair type became a defining institution of self-worth and importance in American society.
Stereotypical Good Hair 
Stereotypical Bad HairSpike Lee’s 1988 film, School Daze, highlights some of the intricacies of Black hair and skin color in one of the scenes in the movie. The group of light-skin girls with long, wavy or straight hair are the wanna-bes (the wanna-be whites) and the group of dark-skin girls are the jiggaboos (an offensive term for a dark skin person). The groups are against each other because the wanna-bes think they are better than everyone else because of their hair texture and skin color. The dark-skin girls are attempting to prove their self-worth through the insults they throw at the light-skin girls. This scene is a satirical view into the shallowness of some Black women’s identity; her identity is surrounded by what she perceives is the beauty of her hair.
Straighten out that Kitchen! : The Evolution and Revolution of Black Hair Care Products and Hairstyles
“The hair on the back of the head is notoriously recalcitrant. It’s called the ‘kitchen’ […] No one knows why, but in the old days hair was greased and hot combed bone-straight next to the kitchen stove where the hot-comb got heated” (Monroe 518). For some, hair is straightened or manipulated for easier to manage, day to day styling and/or for aesthetic reasons. And for this reason Madame C.J. Walker, the first African-American self-made woman millionaire, made a fortune with her invention of the hot-comb and other black hair care products in 1905. Later in 1909, Garrett A. Morgan, the inventor of the gas mask and the traffic light, stumbled upon the invention of the hair relaxer. As the years progressed, relaxed, permed, and processed hair, along with the uniqueness of cornrows, braids, and weaved hair became an element of the norm for Black culture.
Hair being Hot Combed
Over the Years…
During the 1940s, the conk became a popular hairstyle amongst African-American men, where a cream, lotion, or pomade would chemically straighten a man’s naturally kinky hair. “[…] The element of straightening suggested resemblance to white people’s hair, but the nuances, inflections and accentuations introduced by artificial means of stylization emphasized difference” (Mercer 47). Although, Black people were chemically straightening their hair in order to be compared to the naturally straight hair of whites, the styles that evolved from chemically straightened hair created a difference in cultural hairstyles.
Conk Hairstyle
In the 1960s, the slogan “Black is Beautiful”, influenced many African-Americans to embrace the naturalness of their physical appearance. This mantra was a self-affirmation that was opposing to the idea of Black as dark, ugly, unworthy and monstrous. It was slogan of self-empowerment that inspired African-Americans to not be influenced by the standards of beauty in European culture. Natural hairstyles, like Afros and dreadlocks became popular in the Black is Beautiful movement(Mercer 33).
“The Afro, popularized in the United States in the period of Black Power, has been displaced through the 1970s by a new range of black hair-styles, of which the curly-perm is just one of the most popular” (Mercer 34). This trend of the curly perm, later branded as the Jheri Curl became a hit amongst African-Americans in the early 1980s. In Robert Mark Silverman’s article, “Black Business, Group Resources, and the Economic Detour”, a black manufacturer comments on the popularity of the Jheri Curl in the United States in the 1980s. “We were riding on a fad, the curly hair thing. Then, the comedians started jumping on it, and teasing Black folks about the grease, and the this, and the that. So that thing started to go down” (Silverman 242).
The Jheri Curl
From then on, African-American culture saw a balance between chemically treated hair and natural hair: Afros, dreads, braids, and also false hair like wigs, weave and/or extensions. There has however been a reemergence of natural hair or unrelaxed, non-chemically treated hairstyles that have become popular in recent years. Black women are becoming more cautious about the chemicals and products used in their hair, and as a result some chose not to damage their hair with harsh chemicals. It is important to understand that natural hair is not necessarily better or worse than relaxed hair, it is just about a woman’s personal preference.
Relaxed Hair
Natural HairIt Ain't Even Real: Images of Black Hair in the Media
“In the media, many of the African American women who are glorified for their beauty tend to be lighter-skinned women who have long, wavy hair. However, this reification of the beauty standard does not come solely from the African American community but also from the Euro American community, which promotes the acceptable standard of beauty”(Patton 39). Patton’s theory is evident in some of the most popular Black celebrities in America in the 21st century. R&B/ pop singers like Beyonce, Cassie, Amerie, just to name a few, are very successful Black women who happened to be lighter-skin with long hair. Coincidence? While Cassie and Amerie are of mixed heritage (Black and Asian), their long and wavy are genetic. However Beyonce, has dyed her hair several shades of blonde and brunette along with different wigs, weaves, and hair pieces for each public appearance she makes. Of course, there is nothing wrong with experimenting with one’s appearance and viewing hairstyles as an accessory; but images of Beyonce can become one of the only standards of beauty for young black women. Would Beyonce be as successful, global, and one of the top crossover artists of our generation if she were just as beautiful and talented but with dark-skin and natural kinky hair? This question doesn’t infer that being light-skin with beautiful hair (hers or otherwise) is the only standard for being a grand slam success in the entertainment industry, but it is inferring that it definitely helps.
Is that Beyonce? Yes...it is.
Beyonce
R&B singer Cassie
R&B singer Amerie
This is not to say that America has not embraced certain shades of Black and Black hair texture, but America does so in different forms of the media. Talk show host, philanthropist, millionaire, and the most famous African-American woman in the 21st century, Oprah Winfrey, does not fit into Patton’s standard of glorified beauty. Oprah has dealt with many things in her personal life and career but it is the content of Oprah’s celebrity that has helped her rise to her stature without fitting the standards of the Black cover girl.
Former supermodel and talk show host, Tyra Banks is notorious, especially as of late, for dawning some of the most elaborate artificial tresses. With every show or appearance there would be a different wig or weave. Weave is a comfort for some women, particularly African-American whose hair may be too stressed and damaged from chemical processing, hot combs, and/or braids to effectively grow as long, strong and as healthy as they would like. Thus weave, has become a staple in the self-esteem of some black women. On a recent episode of The Tyra Show, Tyra decided to show her audience her real hair, free from styling, weaves or wigs. This was one of the first steps popular African-American women have made in claiming their identity detached from their hair.
Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair, depicts the complexities of Black women and their hair, along with examining the politics and business of Black hair care. His documentary was inspired by his young daughter who asked her father, “Daddy, why don’t I have good hair?” Through comedy, interviews, and personal experience, his documentary is an effort to prove, not just to Black women, but to the Black community and beyond, that hair doesn’t have to define the worth of a woman. The fact that Chris Rock and the Black women in this movie are exposing African-American hair secrets is more proof that the African-American community is making strides to be comfortable with their natural beauty alongside beauty that may be enhanced.
Neosoul singer, India Arie, is a figure in Black entertainment that has gone through several transformations in hairstyles: dreads, Afros, and other natural hairstyles. Her display of confidence to experiment with different perceptions of Black hair are admirable and an example for Black females everywhere. In her song, “I am Not my Hair”, she sings about the stereotypes and cultural structures of hair and how women become defined by their type of hair. Her goal is to prove to the listener of her music and the watcher of her video that she can overcome being identified by their hair as well.
That's yo' Real Hair?!: Embracing our Natural Roots
In an effort to get back to our roots, historically and biologically, some Black women have begun to re-embrace their natural hair. Black women “go natural”, as it is commonly referred to, or stop chemically treating their hair with relaxers, because they want healthier hair and/or they don’t want to confine to the norm of society’s Euro American standards of women. “We saw how the biological determinism of classical racist ideology first 'politicized' our hair: its logic of devalorization of blackness radically devalued our hair, debarring it from access to dominant regimes of the 'truth of beauty'” (Mercer 40). Because of the stigma, the process, and the effort, there are even support groups, blogs, and specialized hair stylist for women growing out their chemically treated hair to their natural hair. Hair will remain an important identifier of Black heritage, but it does not have to be the sole definition of who Black people are. Some Black people are beginning to embrace their differences through their skin color and hair but are not allowing it to define them by African-American standards or Euro American standards.
Bibliography
Lester, Neal A. “Nappy Edges and Goldy Locks: African-American Daughters and the Politics of Hair”. The Lion and the Unicorn. Volume 24. Number 2. April 2000. http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/journals/lion_and_the_unicorn/v024/24.2lester.pdf
Mercer, Kobena. “Black Hair/Style Politics”. New Formations. Number 3. Winter 1987. http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/newformations/03_33.pdf
Monroe, Debra. “The Time to be Lovely is Always”. Callaloo. Volume 32. Number 2. Spring 2009. http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/journals/callaloo/v032/32.2.monroe.pdf
Patton, Tracey Owens. “Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair”. NWSA Journal. Volume 18. Number 2. Summer 2006. http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/journals/nwsa_journal/v018/18.2patton.pdf
Silverman, Robert Mark. “Black Business, Group Resources, and the Economic Detour: Contemporary Black Manufacturers in Chicago's Ethnic Beauty Aids Industry”. Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2 Nov., 1999. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auctr.edu:2051/stable/pdfplus/2645850.pdf
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