As an African-American woman living in today’s society, my hair has always been one of my most prominent features. The curls on my head have become one of my greatest attributes and have helped to better demonstrate who I am as an individual. The curls are defined, voluptuous, and bouncy just as I am.
Growing up, however, I did not see my curls as such. When living in a suburban area, it became effortless to compare myself to the other children. I’d always get asked questions about my hair which related heavily to the color of my skin. As an adolescent, I never really thought much of what was being asked of me.
I grew to dislike my curly hair and wanted to “tame” it. At the age of ten, I became extremely adamant on getting my hair relaxed to closer resemble my peers and with this, I unconsciously conformed to that of the western standard of beauty to avoid perpetual questions and commentary on my hair.
Ethnic hair is extremely diverse and differs from that of the average white woman. We as African-American women continually get bashed for the authenticity of our hair which is in terms uncontrollable. Society expects us to be able to change the nature of our hair to meet the requirements of what the media perpetuates to be professional and traditionally standard.
The Politics of Hair has been a prevalent topic of mass controversy in the most recent years. The politics of hair is a phenomenon in which society perceives beauty and hair to be of a certain “traditional” standard. The mass media has unconsciously made the notion that women of color should assimilate themselves into what society believes to be “socially acceptable” yet they do not understand what they are implying. The implications made are such that those who have ethnic hair do not meet the demands of our society at large and are not qualified to be of major importance to society.
The politics of hair is a topic that is undoubtedly cloaked in the mass media. Many don’t realize that it affects African-American women around the world. The media subliminally influences the way women of color wear their hair whether it’d be natural, relaxed, weaved, etc. The way in which African-American women wear their hair relates heavily to a theory formed by identity scholar Ronald L. Jackson.
The Cultural Contracts Theory developed by Ronald Jackson identifies the ways in which cultural values tend to be switched from culture to culture; it essentially determines the degree to which an individual unconsciously assimilates themselves within society and the way in which they negotiate their identity.
African-American women across the nation are unconsciously assimilating themselves and disregarding important aspects of their culture due to the social positioning that we are able to see on a day-to-day basis. The politics of hair is an extensive issue that is seen as very minimal because it is not an issue that is talked about enough.
Ladies: Do not feel the need to assimilate yourself within a culture that is not yours. Flaunt your natural "untamed" hair and do with it what you please.
