MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR

Media Influences on African American Women and Their Natural Hair Tamara Stinson Queens University of Charlotte December 5, 2011

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR

Abstract
This research examines how the media and society influence African American womens perception of their natural hair. This issue is examined throughout history from slavery to present day. Presently, natural hair is gaining more positive implications; which may be affected by the increase of more positive images with natural hair. I will conduct fifteen in-depth ethnographic interviews, produce observation field notes, collect newspaper and magazine articles, pictures, blog posts, journal entries and participant observation. I anticipant finding the answers to the following questions: How does the media portray African American womens hair? How do African American women perceive natural hair? How do the media influence African American womens perception of their natural hair? This research will benefit all women who feel as though they have to change anything about their bodies to fit the universal beauty aesthetic.

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR

The American experience has produced a unique struggle for African American women to create their unique beauty aesthetic. In the United States, Eurocentric beauty standard has been the ideal, African American women have had to carve out their own aesthetic and appreciate the very features that distinguished them. However, hair texture is one of the remaining stumbling blocks on this journey to create an aesthetic that embodies every color, shape, size, and texture. It is a subject fraught with politics and emotional implications. Post emancipation African American culture did the double duty of investing in two things to fix their Blackness, their otherness. Skin bleaching and hair straightening were the dual remedies. Skin bleaching has dramatically fallen out of fashion, and is now seen as a politically incorrect ritual of self-hatred. However, altering hair texture is still a booming business in African American communities. By default, many African American women alter their hair texture by straightening. The default is for Black women to either chemically or thermally alter their hair texture from an early age. This is because natural hair carries many negative connotations. Most African American hair texture is tightly coiled, and often described at nappy or kinky. Both terms, however, carry a double meaning. The word nappy is used disparagingly just as calling a woman a bitch. Kinky is a term used to described sexual deviance. Don Imus famously referred to a collegiate womens basketball team as nappy headed hoes. This comment was derogatory and only fueled the prevalent belief that nappy hair is undesirable. Why is kinky hair such a problem? What is the big deal?

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR The texture has so many negative implications attached to it: poverty, slavery, filth, insanity, and laziness.

In the documentary Hair piece: A film for nappy- headed people, Chenzira, goes a little further by saying that African American women have a hair problem. Common saying that have been issued to women as a warning, No job wants a nappy headed woman! and No man wants a nappy headed woman! (1985). Since our hair doesnt move [like straight hair] and has no perceived beauty of its own, natural hair was not seen as necessary in hair ads, magazine, and on TV (Chenzira, 1985). Until the last decade, the otherness of natural hair has had little to no representation in popular media. Kinky hair is not acknowledged in advertisements and magazines because it did not fit the mainstream. Since African American women lacked the imagery to reinforce their beauty, many opted to play it straight (Chenzira, 1985). This research will examine main research question of how society has influenced African American womens perception of their natural hair. Additionally, how has the media reflected and influenced African American womens perception of their natural hair? Are African American women more inclined to promote who they are as an individual or promote an image of themselves that is acceptable to society? Clearly, the ideology of a Eurocentric standard of beauty is ingrained in the psyche of African American women. This standard of beauty is perpetuated through a variety of unquestionable, daily experiences of African American girls and women. (White, 2005, p. 300). Just as I never thought as a child to ask why I had to get my hair pressed and later relaxed, I am sure many of the women who state that they could not wear their hair

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR like that, have never asked why shouldnt they be able to wear their hair the way in which they were born.

Back to the Roots One must look back to history to get the source of these solutions for naturally kinky hair. Around 1850, Martin H. Freeman wrote in Anglo-African magazine, . . . kinky hair must be subjected to a straightening process-oiled, and pulled, twisted up, tied down, sleeked over and pressed under, or cut off so short that it cant curl, sometimes the natural hair is shaved off and its place supplied by a straight wig . . . Now all this is very foolish perhaps wicked, but under the circumstances it is very natural. (Byrd, 2001, p.20). History confirms that the hair problem has vexed African American women since coming to America. Hair alteration processes were not to enhance it, but to disguise kinky hair and make it conform to the New World. The problem was not with hair, but Blackness itself. The hair is a representation of the Blackness, the otherness itself. Straightening it is putting a toe in the melting pot. Coupled with skin bleaching, is an attempt to dunk oneself in to the melting pot. Bryd further explains, To gain access to the American Dream one of the first things Blacks had to do was make White people more comfortable with their very presence (Byrd, 2001, p.26). Thus, African Americans had to subject their Negroid hair and skin to straightening and bleaching to minimize the difference between them and whites.

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR Tate found that as early as the 1930s, hair straighteners and skin bleaching creams were [ironically] Black beauty advertisements commonly seen in Black Northern periodicals. However, especially with the emergence of the Black Nationalism in the 1920s, the hair straightening and skin bleaching became hotly debated within the African American community. Political, social, and religious leaders debated about the practice of hair straightening, Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey said dont remove the

kinks from your hair! Remove them from your brain! (Byrd, 2001, p.38). The Crusader, a periodical, even featured women with traditional African hairstyles on its cover. Booker T. Washington stopped hair culturist from being trained in his school and denied hair product companies from his National Negro Business League. Madame C.J. Walker was a Black hair care mogul that is erroneously credited as inventing the hot comb (Byrd & Tharp, 2001). Her employees, the hair culturist, were shunned by Washington. Walker did not advocate straightening hair specifically, and told the Indianapolis Recorder, I make hair grow. I want the great masses of my people to take a greater pride in their appearance and to give their hair proper attention (Byrd, 2001, p.36). In the 1960s a new way of defining beauty (Byrd, 2001, p.52) became the basis for an African American cultural revolution. The Black is beautiful phrase arose as a statement of pride instead of using Black as an insult. Afrocentric dress and the Afro hairstyle defined the person that held these new ideologies. All About the Natural was a popular how-to book at the time by Lois Liberty Jones. The natural hairstyle, the Afro, greatly increased in popularity (Byrd & Tharp, 2001). The Afro hairstyle itself became an identifier and a pride of being Black (Byrd,

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2001). The Afro pick had been developed and then Afro Sheen can they were keeping up the trend. It even crossed borders used by Afro-Brazilians in the Brazilian Black Pride Movement (Sieber, 2000). Now that Black was beautiful, straightening ones hair in the image of White beauty was seen as blasphemy (Byrd, 2001, p.58). Whiteness had been removed from its pedestal of superiority and replaced by its on archetype that resembled African American women with their natural hair texture. The 1960s cultural changes were very personal because it was about appearance (Douglas, 1998). So ones very appearance was a political statement. Rooks asserts that Black pride conversations called for production of imagery that would combat the damaging representations in popular culture (Tate, 2009, p.36). Again, image was the problem and image was seen as a viable solution. African Americans sought to create imagery that would reflect the new aesthetic they were developing. However, wearing the Afro and natural styles were not without its challenges. Generational perceptions of the Afro were different. Older generations did not relate to it. One parent remarked, if [her daughter] was going to let her hair go natural I would have to go back to the jungle (Byrd, 2001, p.61). One woman cut her straightened hair and felt like a newborn. She knew her decision would affect her family, so she left a note at home telling her family what shed done. When shed returned, her mother and neighbors greeted her with tears, saying she had lost her beauty, changed all their years of hard work, and that this act would be detrimental to her life (Douglas, 1998). This incident proves that African American hair carries social and moral implications than just being a hairstyle. All of their hard work were the hours that were spent grooming and caring for her tresses to give it shine a length. Obviously a well-groomed daughter represented an

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR attentive mother. Conversely, an ill-groomed daughter was a reflection of a negligent

mother. The detriment is that people would negatively judge her because of her hair. She would be whispered about, lose her status in the community, and possibly be denied a well-paying job and other opportunities. The two historical periods of post-emancipation and the Black power movement can be seen as two extremes of a pendulum swing. The former was about conforming; the latter was about distinction. Should the present age be a balance of the two?

Black Women and Their Hair According to theorists, hair has always been an important factor in defining one's identity (Brownmiller, 1984; White, 2005; Byrd & Tharp, 2001; Patton, 2006). For African Americans this is doubly true. During the 1800s, hair was an indicator of one's slave status; today hair is a marker of beauty, economical status, power, and beliefs. Women with straightened hair are still considered the beauty norm in African American society today. Women of power and upper-class status often wear their hair straightened, and usually not in a natural style ( i.e. Oprah, Michelle Obama). Women with good paying or middle class jobs wear their hair sometimes short, sometimes longer, and some even wear braids (Patton, 2006). Women who are lower-class wear their hair most often in braids, which is interesting because braids are more expensive than having one's hair chemically straightened and can be more time consuming. Essentially to African Americans hair defines one's race, one's heritage and also who one is. Women with "good" hair tend to do more with their hair and are often envied for it by other women. According to Dione-

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Rosado (2004), relaxed hair, braids, weaves, and shortly cropped hair is considered more professional in nature, hence middle class women adopt them more often. Contrarily, supposed natural hairstyles (i.e. dreadlocks and twists) are viewed as more radical hairstyles in the professional world. Therefore, hair can be seen as an indicator of gender, social class, sexual orientation, political views, religion and even age (Dione-Rosado, 2004). Even around three or four years old African American children understand what "good" hair means for themselves and the social hierarchy it can create (Lake, 2003). White tells a story of having her hair pressed each Saturday for Sunday worship services, after which her mother would tell her not to play hard so her hair would not "go back (to its natural state)." She continues on to say that "at an early age, I internalized that my natural born hair was not good enough; it was not acceptable enough to make me worthy of being presentable" (White, 2005 p. 301). This is common among some young girls; to feel in adequate because their hair is not the way others want it to be. "Black women are taught that nappy hair is a badge of shame" (Banks, 2000 p. 72) and considering the amount of shame African American women have already suffered; no African American woman wants more. Many African American women still think that the natural state of their hair is cumbersome, unsavory, or even disgusting. These women find little power in their hair. "The possibility that hairstyling practices, in whatever form, serve as a challenge to mainstream notions of beauty or that they allow black women to embrace a positive identity is important for two reasons: voice and empowerment" (Banks, 2000 p. 69).

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR Media Perceptions of Black Hair The average Black person was subjected to a beauty ideal advertising throughout the first half of the century, as well as popular culture figures and images, did not offer an

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alternative Black beauty ideal (Bryd & Tharp, 2001). This lack of imagery of natural hair contributed to the lack thereof. Traditional hairstyles or were ridiculed in popular culture. Braids, plaits, or loose kinky hair was a comic relief, especially personified in the Our Gang character, Buckwheat. Even Maya Angelou described dreaming of waking up from Black ugly dream as a child. She longed to be crowned with long blonde hair instead of the kinky mess that mama wouldnt let me straighten (Byrd, 2001, p.42). In an examination of an advertisement from Ebony magazine in the 1950s, it expresses that straight hair is the preferred texture. It shows the profile of a light-skinned woman with straight, glossy hair that has been curled at the end in a traditional 50s style. She is facing away from the viewer and has arched eyebrows, long eyelashes; and wears lipstick and jewelry and a contented expression. Underneath her chin is a box of Shampoo Straight. The advertisement promised to create straight hair that lasts 3-6 months. The advertisers always claim that washing with this shampoo will wash out the curl. Obviously, this advertisement is targeted towards African American consumers. Not only is it placed in a Black publication, but it alludes to common characteristics about kinky hair. Unpermed kinky hair that has been straightened can revert back to its original texture if get wet or is exposed to humidity. Shampoo Straight entices potential customers with the promise of permanently creating straight hair, even new growth. Looking at the present time, many African American women still have their natural hair texture altered. Negative perceptions, ignorance of natural hair care and grooming,

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and the prevalence of straightened hair aesthetic still abound. One new appearance in the Ebony magazine ads is the appearance of relaxers specially created for and marketed to pre-adolescent girls. One product is Dark & Lovelys Beautiful Beginnings Childrens No-Lye Relaxer. It promotes itself as the gentlest (Beautiful Beginnings, 1997, p.118) and being made with Comfort Plus, a mysterious safeguard ingredient that helps prevent scalp irritation and damage (1997, p.118). Undoubtedly, the advertisement is attempting to address any reservation that parents would have about giving their daughters chemical burns. Beautiful Beginnings will make hair softer, silkier, and more manageable (1997, p.118). The product box shows a young girl with straightened, shining hair and a smile. Another newer occurrence is the integration of the word natural in products that promote chemical processes. One advertisement reads TCB is Now TCB Naturals, with 100% Natural Extracts (TCB, 1997, p.107). TCB boasts of a new line of products, which include special botanicals like joboba oil and chamomile (1997, p.107). Furthermore, Theres even a superior No-Lye Relaxer, formulated with moisturizing olive oil . . . (1997, p.107) This current zeitgeist is the reason that more natural hair imagery is necessary, especially for young African American women. Much of natural imagery that Black women could take pride in was arrested in the 1970s. Valcin (1999) asserts that there is not a place in society for African American women because there is nothing that looks like us or reflects us. Black women have to make our own space. There are a growing number of African American women, particularly in online communities that are interested in solving our hair problem by accepting their natural texture. One website, Black Girl with Long Hair, was created to promote natural beauty. A recurring blog

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feature is Now and Then, which shows photos of women before and after they stopped altering her hair texture (Noelliste, 2011). Chenzira (1985) suggests that African American women should look at their natural tresses and embrace the full beauty of its own rebelliousness, and presents a montage of women with natural hair (1985). She understands the power of positive imagery to promote natural beauty. Through the theoretical lens of social constructivism, this research will examine how society has influenced African American womens perception of their natural hair using the following research questions: RQ1: How does the media portray African American womens hair? RQ2: How do African American women perceive natural hair? RQ3: How does the media influence African American womens perception of their natural hair? Theorist John Dewey believed individuals begin their lives as human societies did historically: acting on impulse and custom. These modes of conduct, being unselfconscious and shortsighted, cannot handle all the challenges life poses, and generate problems of their own. Dewey introduced the idea of the "active self". It is a very simple but powerful concept, which explains a good deal about how social systems develop. The "active self" describes how individuals sometimes step forward and take actions "above and beyond the call of duty", to help solve problems within their social systems, and to try to make the world a better place. It is a theory about social leadership where individuals try to do more than just "go with the flow", but rather step out and try to achieve positive change, not out of regard for themselves but out of regard for the world they wish to live in. For example, when Rosa Parks refused to be humiliated by

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND THEIR NATURAL HAIR giving up her seat on that Birmingham bus, she was exemplifying the active self Hickman & Neubert, 2009).

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Methodology Since the perception of ones own hair is a unique journey, I chose to collect personal ethnographies of women who currently wear or have worn their hair in its natural state as an adult. Using Deweys thoughts on the active self, I seek to understand how a Eurocentric standard of beauty is constructed and how these women have challenged and transformed this universal standard. I will conduct fifteen in-depth ethnographic interviews; produce observation field notes, collect newspaper and magazine articles, pictures, blog posts, journal entries and participant observations. All of the women have, at one time, worn their hair straightened. For the majority of them, the decision to wear their hair natural was a significant self-transformation. The ages of the women range from 23-44 years old, and the length of time that these women have worn their hair natural ranges from four months to 10 years. Most women were born and raised in the northeast. Six reside between New York and Washington, DC. Four women migrated from the northeast to the south. Three women were born and raised in the south and still reside there. One women was raised in the midwest and the other was raised on the west coast but now reside in the south. Their occupations range from law and graduate students, entrepreneurs, attorneys, government and postal workers, college professors, stay-at-home moms, hairstylists to positions in the corporate world. Additionally, my lifelong and personal experiences will be included as participant and observer. All names have been changed for anonymity.

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Conclusion This research identifies the problem of African American women conforming to a beauty aesthetic that does not affirm them. It examines the historical roots of this problem, the imagery that has bolstered it, and the effort to reverse it by encouraging African American women to embrace their natural beauty. I expect to find that the media has a large influence on how African American feel about the way their hair grows from their scalp and the aesthetic of the Eurocentric beauty standards in general. The space to discuss the politics of hair and the construction of identity/beauty, which have recently received attention in popular culture, needs to continue. This is just the beginning effort to penetrate this complex issue. This study does have some limitations and raises questions for future research. The sample Im choosing to use is one of convenience, thus, many of the women are of a middle class socio-economic background. However, this issue raises an important question that should be explored further: does socioeconomic class play a role in influencing women and how we choose to wear our hair? Perhaps there are more options available to middle-class women (i.e. access to resources, job opportunity etc.); however, I suspect that a larger influence is having the opportunity to be exposed to the history of natural hair and an alternative worldview. Also, the construction of identity and beauty can be just as complex for mixed raced women who sometimes have good hair. Often, the voice for these women could be excluded from the discussion of identity and beauty politics; however, their voice is equally important and their experiences, too, need to be explored. This self-definition of beauty not only includes looks, but also pride, strength,

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connection with oneself and spirituality. Despite being misinterpreted by others, and the social constraints that make it less tolerable to wear natural hair than permed hair; beauty should be defined by our own terms, not societys terms.

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References

Banks, I. (2000). Hair matters: Beauty, power, and black womens consciousness. New York: New York University Press. Bellinger, W. (2007). Why African American women try to obtain 'good hair'. Sociological Viewpoints, 2363-72. Brownmiller, S. (1984). Femininity. New York: Linden Press. Byrd, A. & Tharp, L. (2001). Hair story: Untangling the roots of black hair in America. New York, NY: St. Martins Press. Chenzira, A. (Producer & Director), & Women Make Movies (Director). (1985). Hair piece: A film for nappy- headed people. New York: Distributed by Women Make Movies. Dione-Rosado S. (2004). No nubian knots or nappy locks: Discussing the politics of hair among women of African descent in the Diaspora. A report on research in progress. Transforming Anthropology. 11(2), 60-63. Douglas, L. A. (Producer), Howard University & Peazey Head Productions (Director). (1998). Nappy. New York, NY: Distributed by Women Make Movies. Hickman, L & Neubert S. (2007). John Dewey between pragmatism and constructivism. New York, NY: Fordham University Press. Lake, O. (2003). Blue veins and kinky hair. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Noelliste, L. (2011 April). Now and Then. Retrieved from http://www.bglhonline.com.

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Patton, T. (2006). Hey girl, am I more than my hair?: African American women and their struggles with beauty, body image, and hair. NWSA Journal, 18(2), 24-51.

Sieber, R. & Frank H. (2000). Hair in African art and culture. New York: Museum for African Art.

Tate, S. A. (2009). Black beauty: Aesthetics, stylization, politics. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

White, S. (2005). Releasing the pursuit of bouncin' and behavin' hair: Natural hair as an Afrocentric feminist aesthetic for beauty. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 1(3), 295-308. (1997, March). Beautiful Beginnings Ebony, 52, 118. (1997, March). TCB Ebony, 52, 107.

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Appendix A Sample Journal Entry I transitioned after a horrible, horrible {one of many} salon experience back in April of 2008. I had only been in Charlotte about six months and I was ending one of my many failed attempts to transition. I had about six months of good new growth which ended up in the drain as the stylist decided {without my permission} to take my {finally} shoulder length hair to neck length. Being that I had struggled to get and keep my hair at shoulder length for the majority of my life, I was devastated. So from that moment on I decided to take my hair into my own hands and follow my heart, which was to go natural!

I transitioned for a very long and hot six months {the plan was to go 18 months). After a night of hanging out with my girlfriends {I'm pretty sure there were some type of spirit involved} I decided to take a pair of scissors and go to work. At first glance I hated it, out of all the impulsive decisions I made throughout my life this had to be the far worst. The next morning I got up, washed it, let it dry then went to buy some new earrings because I figured I may as well give it a shot. When I went shopping I paid very close attention to the way {I thought} people were reacting to my hair. Were they giving me the WTF face? Or smiling? Neither. I was totally out of my mind, I didn't care what people thought when I had a weave down to my ass or what people thought when I had a million and two braids in my hair or what people thought about my relaxed hair so why should I care why people thought about me just being me. From that moment on I have embraced every minute of the journey and there is no turning back for me. I had been delivered!

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Appendix B Advertisements

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Appendix C African American Women and Natural Hair Study Proposed Procedures The method of data collection will be semi-structured interviews. First, participants will be asked to read and sign an informed consent form. They will be given a copy of this form for future reference. Second, participants will be instructed to complete the attached Demographic Questionnaire. Finally, the researcher will use questions from the attached Interview Protocol during the interview. The questions are aimed at examining how the media and society influence African American womens perception of their natural hair. All interviews will be audio taped using a digital recorder in order to accurately record the data. Interviews will be transcribed word for word following each interview for data analysis and write-up. Data will be analyzed using Glaser and Strauss (1967) constant comparative technique, which involves comparing interviewees responses to identify themes in the data. Photos, personal journal entries and participant observation will also count as data. Anonymity will be guaranteed by changing the names of participants on the transcripts and future write-ups.

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Appendix D

RESEARCH PARTICIPANT INFORMED CONSENT FORM African American Women and Natural Hair Study Tamara Stinson Knight School of Communication, Queens University of Charlotte Purpose of Research You have been asked to participate in a research study that has been reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). We are trying to learn about the influence that the media and society have on African American womens perception of their hair. In-depth ethnographic interviews are one of the best ways we have of learning what volunteers such as you think about these matters. So, your participation in this interview is important and will contribute to what we know. Our interview asks you to provide your opinion about several matters related to yourself and communication with others regarding your natural hair. Specific Procedures to be Used If you agree to participate in this research, we will ask you a variety of questions. The interview will be audio-taped for future data analysis. You will also be asked to provide photos and journal entries. Risks to the Individual The risks for participating in this study are no more than you would encounter in everyday life. Anonymity Anonymity will be protected. No personally identifying information will be used in the data analysis and write-up process. Voluntary Nature of Participation Participation is voluntary and refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which you, the subject, is otherwise entitled. You may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are entitled. If you have any further questions, the investigators may be reached at (610) 304-3125. This project has been reviewed and approved by the Queens University of Charlotte Institutional Review Board. The IRB believes that the research procedures adequately safeguard the subject's privacy, welfare, civil liberties, and rights. The chair of the IRB may be reached at Queens University of Charlotte, 1900 Selwyn Ave. Charlotte, NC 28274. The telephone number is 704.337.2200. I have read the material above, and any questions I asked have been answered to my satisfaction. I agree to participate in this activity, realizing that I may withdraw without prejudice at any time.

____________________________________ Participants Signature

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