Black hair and hairstyles are empowering and a form of resistance, but only white people “rocking” our hairstyles are considered beautiful.
Malcolm X once said that the most disrespected person in America is the black woman. One way to analyze the black woman’s experience in America is through her hair. People are astonished and confused by the texture, the aesthetic and the way we “tame” it — as if it were some fantastical being, as opposed to hair that’s simply different from yours. Yet people still feel the need to reach out with a finger, even though they are afraid of the power it evokes; so bewildered that they want to copy it. Why is it that black features are considered beautiful but black women are not? From the naps in our hair, the plump in our lips to the junk in our trunks, black features are fetishized and appropriated. When Miley Cyrus wore dreads to the VMAs, she was considered chic, but when Zendaya Coleman wore dreads on the red carpet she was told it looked like she smelled of “weed and patchouli oil.” When white people appropriate black features it is considered astonishing and beautiful, but when black people naturally flaunt it or style it, it is not appreciated in the same way.
Ever since grade school, I have been teased about my hair or defined by it through other people’s ignorance. Classmates would go as far as to pay me a dollar a day to “boing” my curls. In my head back then, I was like, “Ayyee, I’m making money!” But looking back, I knew I was uncomfortable about the offer because I was being made into an object that could be bought. I was made into an animal that could be pet. I didn’t realize how much I was being disrespected because this fetishization was school-wide. This is what I thought made me memorable, made me special and important to people — but I hated my hair. I lived in Oakland but went to Berkeley schools, which were predominantly white. No one else looked like me. None of those idiot boys that I liked wanted me back, and it was subconsciously about the societal implications that my hair evoked. It was the survival of the prettiest and I was last in line.
People talked.
“How many combs have you broken?”
“Is that real hair, or is that like one of those weaves or something?”
“You kind of look like a wet poodle.”
“There is no way you could have woken up like that.”
No matter how much people tell me they love it now, I will always feel as if I don’t want to rock my natural hair because of the social constructs that convinced me that whiteness is beautiful and blackness is other.
These insecurities came from internalizing people’s ignorance and twisted fascinations with nappy hair throughout my life. This rejection is solely a snippet of what I went through. I learned that the only treatment for this phenomenon is self-love, understanding and confidence.
I’m in college now. As I’ve gotten older and more comfortable with my hair, I’ve come to see it as a political statement — nappy hair confuses the restricted mind regarding the things we can do with it, the way we style it and the culture we put into it. And yes, maybe sometimes I did not just “wake up like this,” but there are hairstyles that I can do to make myself “wake up like this” every day. For example, braids. The list of possibilities are endless: box braids, faux locks, Nubian twists, Hawaiian twists, cornrows. Black people have been rockin’ braids since forever; we did not just start wearing them because someone else wore them and made them “trendy.” Black-girl braids are a powerful, chic and healthy break for our psyches as the multitude of teasing subsides with the change in style and tastes.
I am not the first to speak about this issue, but we can’t forget its relevance or importance to our campus. There is a lot of work to be done, and it will take time, but that does not mean this divide cannot be mended. I don’t know what white students can do about this aside from try to deconstruct it, create respect for it and educate themselves about cultural appropriation. Ask before you decide to touch our hair. Think about what you say before you say it. As for black women, we should be strong, be confident and have conviction in our own beauty, and what we are wearing on our heads. This is what resistance looks like.
Coming back to Occidental from Winter Break, I noticed so many black femmes on campus with braids, and it was beautiful. Braids are about reclaiming and embracing our black beauty. These braids symbolize blackness in its purest, most loving form — they are cultural markers from our ancestors. Angela Davis said that braids are the “symbolic ropes that hold us together.” Ropes signify the good and the bad, from double-dutch to the lynching and whipping of our ancestors. The authenticity of these braids can only be rocked by black women — anyone can wear them, but only blackness can give them power.
Sophia Brown is a first year undeclared major. She can be reached at sbrown3@oxy.edu.
Braids have been used by my cultures in many times. They are not just a black woman thing. I am glad you have confidence but your experience is also making you myopic and racist yourself.
I hope that you find your ability to accept all peoples again and realize that things are not just for one people but for all. Even if your arguement had validity (it does not) you should realize that the appropriation if something by others shows its acceptance which is what I thought we were all striving for. To claim it as solely your own or just one particular groups you set the stage for confrontation and dislike.
It is possible for people of many backgrounds to enjoy the same thing and this should not be discouraged.
In the 50s and 60s and 70s it was public accommodations, education, right to vote, and that sort of thing. Now it’s hair styles. Things are tougher on blacks than ever. No wonder they are so angry.
Someone asked me yesterday why it is that race relations seem worse than ever after 8 years of Obama. This article explains it all.
Your way of challenging popular notions of beauty, and your honesty in portraying your experiences is really amazing!
To the Real Mr. Teetsel, Do Not steal my name. Use your own.
Yes, braids show up in many cultures. But this article specifically discusses traditional hairstyles worn by black women (box braids, cornrows, dreads) that when worn by white women are seen as a fashion statement rather than a means for discrimination. Just like the author stated, when black women wear these hairstyles, it is a justification for discrimination in the workplace, by police, and by society. Additionally, this is just one factor of discrimination that black women face in the American society, where the afterlives of slavery still persist. We are still subjected to silence, violence, and oppression by dominant society to this very day. One of the main reasons Trump got elected is because we had 8 years of Obama, but that’s another story. @man with an axe
“I hope that you find your ability to accept all peoples again and realize that things are not just for one people but for all.”
I wish it was that simple. The principles of this country are founded upon racism and ruthlessly taking from black and brown bodies and communities. Yes, it is just a hairstyle, but negative connotations associated with black women who wear these hairstyles do not apply to white women, simple as that. White women get praised for doing things black women have beeeeeeen done did and call it their own, while black women are ridiculed for wearing our hair in ways we have for centuries. Black is not a trend. Like Amandla Stenberg said, when are y’all gonna love black people as much as you love black culture?
Assuming you are correct about this, wouldn’t it be better for black women if white women copied their hairstyles? If black women get hassled for wearing a certain hairstyle that would likely cease after the hairstyle became mainstream.
Man with the Axe. You have no logic. Tmes are not tougherfor the black man from my perspective. There are many successful black men accross many industries here in the US. And just look at the complaints now, cultural appropriation of hair styles and hoop earrings. Forget that these arguements are weak, they hardly rise to the leel of issues from the past.
Racism is a worldwide issue and is practiced by all races. It is wrong headed but it is real. To try to make racial issues out of thing like hair style is just an excuse by the authors own racial animus and by your defense of her views, yours as well.
And for all its imperfections, the US constitution is the most fair expression of human rights and the preserverence of all peoples rights. There is not another counry in the world that protects all groups as we do in the US. Do we need to improve, yes we do, but these types of arguements and declarations of ownership of things like hair styles only serve to set us back not move us forward.