Race, Gender, and “Good Hair”

by gwen, Aug 6, 2009, at 05:52 am

Tracy R. sent in the trailer for the movie “Good Hair,” a documentary by Chris Rock:

This movie looks awesome. It humorously addresses the social construction of “good” hair, which means, of course, straight hair. As we see in the trailer, African American women often feel pressured to wear their hair straight in order to be seen as attractive; this is similar to how lighter skin is often defined as more attractive than darker skin, even by other African Americans (and Latinos). It’s also interesting that the pursuit of “good” hair has created a global market for human hair.

On the topic of African American women and weaves, Sexual Buzz sent in this KGB “Natural Weave” commercial (KGB is a service where you can get answers to questions via text) that plays on the “angry sassy Black woman” image:

NOTE: As a really, really curly-haired White girl, I spent most of my life having no idea what to do with my hair, since it was frizzy instead of falling into the perfect curls people on TV seem to have. I once ended up with painful burns on my head and neck from trying to use a straightener designed for African American hair. I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of money on various methods of hair straightening (the burns didn’t keep me from trying other chemical straighteners–believe me, I know how pathetic that is), flatirons, and so on, until deciding last year to just go with my curls. I hate to put in anything that appears to be a product plug, but if you have curly hair you have difficulty working with, I suggest going to mixedchicks.net and see the instructions page. Doing my hair the way they say fixed almost all of my problems. You don’t have to use their product–it’s more about the technique and not doing anything to separate your curls. It is so nice to feel good about having curly hair.

So, again…sorry for that, but the comments to this and earlier posts indicate there are still a lot of curly-headed women of all races out there irritated with their frizzy hair, and I had to share.

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Tags: bodies, gender, gender: beauty, gender: bodies, globalization, hair, intersectionality, race/ethnicity, race/ethnicity: Blacks/Africans, tv/movies

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Comments

Joshua 8:04 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

It’s also interesting that the pursuit of “good” hair has created a global market for human hair.

Interestingly, this goes the other way too. My girlfriend tells me that whenever someone on a dreadlocks forum she reads cuts off their dreads, there’s lots of demand from others who would like to sew/weave the established dreads into their own hair.

http://thehairtrader.com/viewlisting.asp?lid=245428

On a side note, wow that hair trader site! $2k for a head of hair.
Jonas 8:20 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

Cultural preferences toward lighter skin color sprout from lots of circumstances.

In China and India light skin is considered a social indicator, as the laborers and field workers often have dark skin as a result of working in the sun all day.

In turn, society’s ultimate gag is that truly light-skinned people are compelled to roast themselves in cancer machines or under the big radiation ball to conform to the idea of beauty.
- indian girl 6:32 pm on September 30, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  “In China and India light skin is considered a social indicator, as the laborers and field workers often have dark skin as a result of working in the sun all day.”
  
  That theory might work in a European society where people are born with roughly the same tone of skin. However, it does not apply to India at all. Some Indians are born as dark as light, and some are born as light as most Europeans (or even lighter than the average Anglo). I might go up and down a shade depending on if it’s summer or winter, but it’s impossible for me to get super dark. Just like it’s impossible for an Irish person to get as dark as the average African.
  
  There is a lot of reasons why there are skin issues in India. They resulted from religion, colonialism, and globalization.
  
  There is no fooling Indians that their skin color is based on how much physical labor is done. They all accept it is something you are born with. Just like there are thousands of Indians in the tech industry that stay in their office all day, and yet I (medium light brown skinned) will never get as dark as many of them even though I’m constantly doing out door activity.
Chrisriane 8:56 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

Wow this is interesting … It looks like a good documentary, I always thought it was interesting how black women keep their hair. I myself am mixed race, black and white but I always keep my hair as natural as I can I think its quirky and fun.
Dutchie 9:24 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

The first clip doesn’t work from the Netherlands: “The video you are trying to view is currently not available or can not be viewed in your region. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Good Hair ft. Chris Rock- HD Official Trailer” on youtube which does work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m-4qxz08So
Alicia 9:31 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

If only everyone could be so enlightened on this subject.

http://www.pajiba.com/trailers/good-hair-trailer

“It’s about … it’s about female African-American hair. Weaves and straighteners and, I dunno, hair. About its socioeconomic role in African-American circles and … hmmm. I love you, Chris Rock. But a documentary on hair? Really?”
- karinova 1:00 am on August 20, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  Um, as one black woman, I can tell you: it’s important.
  Mr. Rowles should probably STFU, because “as a white guy who wears a baseball cap sixty-percent of my life, I just don’t understand the cultural relevance.”
  Seriously, he doesn’t.
  
  I can all but guarantee this will be a massive box-office hit among black people. And considering the extreme (indeed, politeness-obliterating) interest/fascination/fetish many white people have for black people’s hair— to the point where I have literally been petted like an animal, even as I tried to pull away; picture that for a second— it should be a hit among them too. But you know what? I can all but guarantee it won’t be. Because, you know, hair? Really?
  
  Aaaaarggh!!!
  *Heavy sigh*
  
  To anyone who can read this:
  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then I strongly suggest that you make a point to see this movie. I can say that without even seeing it, because no matter how badly it handles the subject, your understanding of life in America will be greatly improved. Please. You don’t know me, but please, I am begging you to see this.
Trabb's Boy 9:38 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

The Chris Rock movie looks hilarious and very valuable socially. I wish I had a better understanding of the social pressures involved. The 1970s were supposed to change the straightening requirement, though it obviously didn’t last. I wonder if there was some equivalent of the anti-feminist backlash against afros or if it was more of an economic pressure to “fit in” and to what extent the change was engineered by the beauty industry. Can’t wait until it comes out.

Saw the other on Racialicious and couldn’t bring myself to watch it again. Racist idiots.
Other Kelly 9:56 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

(looks like someone else goes by Kelly now, so I’ll just go by Other Kelly)

‘Not that I can ever claim to understand what black women face every day when it comes to their hair, but as a white girl born with extremely frizzy, curly red hair, I was harassed about my appearance throughout my entire childhood. The other children constantly told me I was ugly, and as a result, I eventually became very depressed as a child since as a girl I was told that my only value was in my appearance.

When I got a bit older, I tried expensive chemical straighteners, but they didn’t work very well and only served to calm my hair down a little bit. These days I just try to accept my hair, but it’s still difficult when I’m constantly bombarded by images that tell me that beautiful hair is straight hair (Or straight hair that has fake waves added with an iron and passed off as “curly”!) People will still come up to me and say things like “Oh, you’d be so cute if you just took care of that mess on top your head, girl.”
Sue 10:02 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

Joshua: I’m reasonably sure that the amount of demand for dreadlocks is nothing compared to that for straight hair.

Chrisriane: Not everyone wants “quirky” hair. They want to be able to wear their hair more naturally in a way that is seen as normative.

Trabb’s Boy: I think one reason for the death of the afro was that it wasn’t that flattering on some people and it was kind of limiting, especially with the products and haircare methods of the day. Plus, some African Americans didn’t want to look “exotic,” which is what the Afro-and-dashiki look usually conjured up. Even if you were wearing a crewneck sweater with an Afro you got the “African Queen” treatment from some ignorant people.

The natural styles today are another stab by African Americans at developing a more natural, American look.

I’ve been wearing my hair without any relaxer for a couple of years, but every day I worry that it’s not sufficiently professional looking.
Alicia 10:16 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

To Sue’s comments: I wear mine without relaxer either (I’m mixed, it tended not to go well), though my worries are about color. I’ve had a fauxhawk in the past, though most of the time it’s wavy and short… though I dye it blonde. To me, blonde is equivalent to dying my hair green or blue, because naturally it wouldn’t happen, but I still question the idea of women of color with naturally dark hair (latina, indian, east asian, black) adopting this color.
chuk 11:17 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

I’ve given this issue some thought in the past, but as a white male with straight hair, I didn’t really figure it my business to push the issue (except to encourage any friends I have with “abnormal” hair to sport it with pride). I’m really glad Chris Rock has grabbed the mantel on this–it will benefit from his legitimacy as a comedian and intelligent social commentator.

As an aside but related. I’m perturbed by the ubiquitous use of product, dye and extensions amongst all women. Note, I’m not perturbed that they use these things, but that it’s not really acceptable that they not.
Sabriel 11:56 am on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

When I was a sophomore in high school, my English teacher had us read an expert from the Autobiography of Malcolm X about the first time he got his hair conked.

The experience sounded so dreadful. I could not believe that people did that just to have straight hair, and they wanted straight hair just to look more white! My first thoughts about it were that it was obviously stupid of them and that I would never do such things, but the teacher kept on the subject and managed to communicate the kinds of unavoidable pressures black people had (and still have) to look and act more “white.” Then I realized how lucky I was that I didn’t have to do anything at all in order to obtain the advantages of socially acceptable and “professional” hair, and that was one of my first encounters with understanding my own privilege.

In short, I am glad that Chris Rock is doing this.
Sue 12:18 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

Alicia:

I have no problem with women of color dying or highlighting their hair blond

1)If it looks good;

and

2) if it’s a real choice, as in I’m doing this for fun or because I think it’ll make me look attractive, not I MUST do this and have stick-straight hair to be accepted.

I also have patience for the women with natural hair who attack women with relaxed hair (for the uninitiated, there are many blogs on this) especially if those women work in conservative environments; in such places, a professional may well not want to risk her professional standing because of the admittedly ridiculous attitudes of the whites (usually males) in charge. With all the obstacles they already face, they’re not going to hand someone a reason to be disrespected.

We all have to keep doing whatever works with our hair, budget, and lifestyle and hopefully in time some good styles will evolve that will be acceptable everywhere.

Although I’m trying to spend less time on the web, I sent an email of complaint to KGB, with the question:

“Guess who’s not going to be using this service because of this racist commercial?”

It never ends, does it?
- Sue 10:54 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  BTW, KGB sent me one of those emails that said they were sorry I “was offended” and that they were permanently discontinuing the commercial. I wonder how many people wrote them.
  
  “KGB,” the name’s enough.
Sue 12:19 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

Sorry, should have been:

I also have NO patience
gwen 12:21 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

I put up a note at the end of the post about mixedchicks.net, which provides some really great instructions for reducing frizz–my fellow curly-haired readers might want to check it out. I actually get compliments on my curly hair since I started doing what they suggest on the site. I’m annoyed that it took me 33 years to find out a good way to do curly hair.
- Sue 10:52 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  gwen:
  
  If you’re ever in New York, you might want to try the Devachan salon sometime. They’re curly hair fanatics. They don’t even like to comb or brush curly hair, preferring to finger comb it while wet (as if I had time to do that).
  
  Another nice thing is that they don’t try to guilt-trip the customer into coming in every six to eight weeks for a trim. Usually, they’ll suggest a four to six months, depending on one’s hair. I think that they also have produced some videos that are online.
  - Sue 6:49 am on August 8, 2009 | # | Reply
    
    Here’s another curly haircare video produced by DevaCurl. It’s a little cutesy at points, but still informative. The claim about the problems of sulfates has been challenged, but the products are good, as are many others not made by this company.
    
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtnLEHCQ8iA
    
    I don’t apologize for prolonging this discussion a bit. This is not “Haircare tips for Girls.” Rather, “It’s Survival for the Woman Who Does Not Fit the Reigning Aesthetic Standard.” Astonishingly, it can shape your financial and romantic future.
    
    Curly hair is a social construct. People feel free to intrepret it as a sign of disorganization and sexual promiscuity. I’ve read more than one article in which individuals, including a magazine beauty editor, said that then-craze for straight, preferably blond hair, was an effort to define oneself as as far from the “Negroid” end of the spectrum as possible.
    
    Every few years, magazines decide that curly hair is “in” again, but all the models have straight hair that’s been curled. I once read an article about the difficulty of having curly hair in the workplace. One interviewee said she might have a problem in a more conservative environment. The magazine ran not a single photo of these women and their “horrible” hair!
    
    When’s the last time you saw a television reporter or anchor who had really curly hair? I’ve seen a couple; as their careers progressed, they went straight (pun intended). In a movie, the clichéd makeover progression of a nerdy or geeky woman (almost always a brunette) is get her curly hair straightened, along with a change of wardrobe.
    
    I think that straight hair is part of the new color line and that it isn’t an accident that straight-haired Hispanic and Latina, and East Asian and South Asian women are considered more desirable than African American women: as Chris Rock said in that trailer, no one wants kinky hair. Including a lot of black men.
    
    Until the last few years, nearly 100 percent of the advice for hair has been for the maintainance or creation of straight hair.
    
    It is ridiculous to feel that you are instantly going to be considered less polished and attractive because you are wearing your hair in its more or less natural state and that you would have to spend tremendous amounts of time and money using toxic chemicals and have to restrict your activities because you’re afraid you’re going to get your hair wet.
    
    Hair is a feminist issue. It’s also an economic issue. I’ve read that African Americans spend more money on hair products than anyone else and yet they’re still fairly poorly served. I saw a documentary on the web that said that many black-oriented hair product stores in black neighborhoods aren owned by Asians (Koreans, I believe) not blacks, and that when blacks have tried to compete, they’ve been undercut, having their products copied while their own are excluded from the stores.
- Rebecca 9:09 pm on October 3, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  Try the “Curly Girl” book, which is written by and aimed at white women with curly hair. Or, really, sort of mid-curly hair …
  
  Okay, there’s (broadly) four types of hair, with many different subtypes: straight, wavy (my type), curls that look like corkscrews, and kinky or “Afro-textured” hair. They’re numbered, one being straightest and 4 being the curliest. “Curly Girl” is written mostly about Type 2 and 3.
  
  There are other qualities that determine what hair looks like, of course. The texture, the volume, the hairline, the color, etc. And it varies quite a lot race by race. But most white people tend to have type 1-3 hair. You usually find type 4 in people of African descent, and some Jewish people. Asians tend to have pretty straight hair. These are really broad generalizations, though.
  I don’t know why straight hair is valued so much over type 3 hair, though. You can’t chalk it up to racism because plenty of white people have curly hair.
Sue 12:23 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

chuk:

We’ll give up the hair dye when the culture gives up ageism and sexism.

Really, it should be a choice. And those isms aside, some people look good with silver hair, some don’t.

Since you raised the issue, I’m really concerned with the overuse of Grecian Formula 44 amongst men. Or maybe they’re just using black and brown shoe polish, I don’t know. I see too many men walking down the street who look like aging heroes straight out of the comic book.
Sue 12:35 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

I’ll check out the video, but I’ve tried Mixed Chicks in the past, which I thought were good, but not great. (The success of these products is a highly individual phenomenon.)

After trying scores of products, my best results to date have been with Wen Fig cleansing conditioner. http://www.amazon.com/WEN-Fig-Cleansing-Conditioner-16oz/dp/B0006Q3NTS

I also like the DevaCurl line, and I’m getting my hair cut at the Devachan salon this week.
http://store.devachansalon.com/Categories.bok?category=DevaCurl

http://www.devachansalon.com/

Afrobella is a good source for hair products. http://www.afrobella.com

So is Naturally Curly, but for some reason I can’t get on the site.

I’ve been told a few times that I should try to go to a salon that has a lot of customers from the Dominican Republic because people from there tend to have a mix of hair textures. Plus, it would be relatively cheap. I’m trying to get a recommendation.
chuk 1:31 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

Sue,

I’m pretty sure that this statement of mine–”Note, I’m not perturbed that they use these things, but that it’s not really acceptable that they not”–is trying to capture your main point in your first comment, and the problem with what you allude to in your reply to me, as ageism and sexism. And, if this was a thread about standards of male beauty, I would gladly present the same view there.

Thank you for your input
- Sue 10:44 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  OK. Sorry. BTW, I meant to add that I can’t defend weaves on any ground.
Other Kelly 2:05 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

Thanks, Gwen. I’ll check out the link. Right now I just slather my hair in mousse and only wear it in a ponytail. I’m tied of doing that, and it’s damaging to my hair. I’d like to wear it down sometimes.
Parapluie 4:56 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

One of my friends used to send me random catalogs for things I would never need or want. Being white with enough hair of my own, one was a catalog of wigs aimed at black women. I flipped through and noticed that almost all the wigs had straight or somewhat wavy hair. Almost none that were curly or kinky.

I’m suddenly having a flashback of the “Family Guy” episode where Stewie asks to touch Cleveland’s hair (that time-honored tradition of petting black people) and remarks excitedly that “it’s like a sheep!”
Lo 11:17 pm on August 6, 2009 | # | Reply

I’m Alaskan Native with super straight hair (Imagine pipe cleaners or when you get a hair cut you have actual splinters from your hair), and when it gets to about 2 or so inches it’s still sticking straight out. I call it the “Na-fro”.
Titanis walleri 12:04 am on August 7, 2009 | # | Reply

“In China and India light skin is considered a social indicator, as the laborers and field workers often have dark skin as a result of working in the sun all day.”
I believe this was true pretty much everywhere.
Melissa 3:37 am on August 7, 2009 | # | Reply

i’m a young african american woman.

i have had relaxers, weaves, and currently wear my hair natural.
i love the versatility of my natural hair.

I’ve dyed my hair blonde and currently its a deep pink.

hair for me is more of an accessory/adornment so i experiment.

i am proud to have ‘nappy’ hair. relaxers damaged my hair and made it break off i’m never going back there.

more power to all of the women who embrace their natural hair texture from straight – kinky. and experiment in color and style
Dwayne Rand 12:45 pm on August 7, 2009 | # | Reply

Why is the KGB commercial racist?
Nique 10:13 pm on August 7, 2009 | # | Reply

I started relaxing my hair when I was too young to really know about it. It was what parents did to their little girls when they got to a certain age. I was forced to stop after all the damage kept accumulating, and I’ve stayed natural ever since. Like 6 years later and I still have some family members asking me if I’m sure I don’t want to relax it again, and are so shocked that I’m planning on living the REST OF MY LIFE with my hair like this. The horror! I want to keep my hair the way it was made! I must be insane!

Seriously, it’s a zillion times more versatile now than it was then. It never wanted to stay down on my head, so I always had to wear it in a scrunchy because it would go up then down. The only time it would stay perfectly flat was right after a relaxer, but as soon as I got in new growth that was it. Tied up all the time. Now with natural hair, I can do whatever I want. I can gel it and have the curls show, or comb it and give myself a cute fro, braid it, twist it, and even temporarily straighten it if the mood strikes (it often doesn’t, that takes too much effort). I can have wash and go hair. So many people take that for granted.

I suggest that anyone with a hair texture they can’t seem to figure out needs to search the internet, some great sites were mentioned that definitely helped me in the past. You have to talk to people with similar hair textures. One of those places for curly hair explains the labeling system for curls (I think my hair is like from a 3b to 4b, can’t remember and too lazy to check) to you can learn from those with similar hair.

Oh, I’ve gotten the “can I touch your hair” thing so many times I can’t even count, but the truth is if more black (or black and something else mixed in) people kept their hair natural, it wouldn’t be such a mystery to non-blacks. Be glad people at least ask, so you have the chance to say no! I always say, “yes, but only if I can touch yours, too.” They usually kind of see how absurd it is to ask someone to touch their hair, and I figure we both get to feel a new hair texture as a result.

Wow, I had way too much to say on this. So to change the subject, anyone see the KGB commercial where the guy wants to buy a bra for his girlfriend? These people put absolutely no thought into their commercials, I’m guessing. Unless their goal is to shock and offend. In that case, they win.
- Sue 6:54 am on August 8, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  I haven’t seen it, and I’ve had quite enough contact with that company’s advertising. If it offends you, you should write them. I complained about the other commercial.
Bill 3:47 am on August 8, 2009 | # | Reply

“African-American hair”

Yes, because as we all know, an African’s hair goes through drastic changes as soon as she gains US citizenship.
@aimutiny 6:33 am on August 9, 2009 | # | Reply

I’m a teenage white girl with practically a blonde afro. This confuses people as much as you’d think it would. When I was little it wasn’t as curly, still curly but not as much. From the ages of about 5-12 I wore it in plaits, because otherwise it got really hard to comb through. Then, a couple of years in bunches. Now I just wear it out. It’s been interesting for me though – I’ve always quite liked my hair, except for it getting so tangled. I’ve never minded how it looks because before I was too young to care, and now I’m involved in the punk scene so looking different is never going to be an issue, and people love my hair. The only people who don’t seem to like my hair are some black people – I’ve got bullied about it by kids at school, coming up to me and saying it looks like I don’t wash/comb my hair or asking why I don’t straighten it. Having said that, most of my white friends do do the patronising ‘Ooh, can I touch it?’ thing…

My curly hair product recommendation is Aveda’s Be Curly.
thewhatifgirl 9:51 am on August 9, 2009 | # | Reply

This whole thread is really interesting to me, since I have straight hair that canNOT be curled. The only way for me to curl it – twisting it into shape while it’s wet and then letting it dry and stay in that shape for several hours – is not conducive to making the kind of curls that you see on models. I’ve had a lot of people with curly hair tell me that they are jealous of my hair and, after this thread, I can see how a lot of women with curly hair would say that, yet I’m jealous of the fact that their hair curls! Still, I guess it is “better” to have the most acceptable kind of hair.

Back on topic more, I can’t wait to see the Chris Rock movie. I’ve thought about adopting, possibly a black child (I don’t have a preference and from what I’ve heard, there are a lot more black children that need to be adopted than white), and I wonder sometimes how I would deal with their hair, since the only hair I’ve ever known was stick straight but I wouldn’t want to subject the poor kid to relaxers and all that. Plus, natural hair is beautiful. But it was interesting to me to realize that I would have no clue what to do with most natural black hair.
- Nique 2:32 pm on August 9, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  This lady is white and has adopted black children and has videos explaining how she does their hair http://www.youtube.com/Katelynylyn
  - Sue 4:38 pm on August 9, 2009 | # | Reply
    
    “Still, I guess it is “better” to have the most acceptable kind of hair.”
    
    If one had to pick I think that’s what most people would select. If someone did one of those calculations of how much time black women spent thinking or working on their hair, the result would be many years.
    
    The Mixed Chicks site had information for mothers of mixed race kids that might be helpful. Their imitation of the comments of black women who are dismayed at how white mothers are caring for mixed kids’ hair is funny and familiar.
    
    Here’s another site:
    http://www.tightlycurly.com/CurlyPrimer.aspx
    
    Black women with the kinkiest hair say that these methods don’t work and that they feel left out. http://www.afrobella.com/2008/10/23/when-is-a-silkener-not-a-silkener/ (See comments).
    
    If you end up adopting an African American child, go on the web and see what’s available once you see what kind of hair your kid has.
  - thewhatifgirl 9:31 pm on August 9, 2009 | # | Reply
    
    Thanks, Nique.
evening 7:26 am on August 10, 2009 | # | Reply

I want to second NaturallyCurly.com site. As well as mention the book “Curly Girl.” Both helped me find a good way to “do” my hair as well as find good products for my particular type of curl. Go curls!
Sue 8:13 am on August 10, 2009 | # | Reply

“Curly Girl” is a very good book. It’s a little dated, in that the DevaCurl has since created a lot of products (although there are home recipes that some may prefer and that are cheaper). I’ve also seen criticism by some African American women with the kinkiest type of hair that there’s only a short chapter on black hair.

In addition to lots of tips on how to care for curly hair, which were rare when the book came out, the authors make the case for curly hair. They treat it as as social and political issue.

The paperback is very reasonably priced.
JP 10:14 am on August 10, 2009 | # | Reply

so funny my mom and I have natural hair and we get a lot of compliments from people of other races, we only ever hear negative things from other black people “you need a perm” “nappy *ss head”… white people are always fascinated and some even say they’ve always wanted to try braids, some other black folk express regret as they wish their hair was natural and was as thick (our hair is mad thick, comb breaking thick) as ours… but it’s easily manageable with Pantene for women of color, just wash, condition + twist
- Sue 9:31 pm on August 10, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  I never know what to make of that reaction. On the one hand, I think some white people are genuinely admiring, on the other, they’ll never know what it’s like to have “different” hair. Compliments are cheap.
  
  When Bo Derek had her hair done in braids in “10,” it was not the same thing as if a black woman had put her in that style. (Have to say, I’ve never been a braids fan.) And of course, she had to be blonde and amazingly sexy to get away with it.
  
  Some black people are rigid and disapproving, but at least they have direct experience.
  - karinova 2:57 am on August 20, 2009 | # | Reply
    
    “Compliments are cheap.”
    
    And often, so shallow. In their minds, it’s equivalent to wishing they had green eyes instead of blue. It’s: “I wish I could wake up one day with your hair,” totally oblivious to all the attendant anguish. They might as well be saying, “Gosh, I wish I had brown skin like yours!”
    Really? Do you?
    
    Sidebar: Believe it or not, I have had white people basically say “I wish I had brown skin like yours.” They say it in relation to tanning. To them, brown skin means they’ll look good wearing certain colors. That’s all.
  - karinova 3:01 am on August 20, 2009 | # | Reply
    
    Oh, and re: Bo Derek…
    This may come out wrong, but can I just say, white people, particularly blondes, should not wear braids. I’m sorry. They simply don’t have enough hairs, I think. There is so. Much. Scalp showing.
    
    Am I the only one who feels this way, or…?
- Sue 9:37 pm on August 10, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  The reason I’m suspicious is because over the years white women have offhandedly made comments that made it clear that waking up one morning with typical African American hair would cause cardiac arrest. If you’re a black woman professional in a field hostile to blacks and women and your white colleagues display attitudes like that it’s disconcerting to say the least.
  - JP 9:51 am on August 11, 2009 | # | Reply
    
    I get what you’re saying, sometimes you really don’t know if it’s genuine or not… my mother (Jamaican) used to braid a lot of tourists hair for $ as they admired hers, so I guess they were genuinely intrigued but being in the US you hear how dreadful frizzy hair would be… there’s a lot of “it looks so nice, but I would NEVER wear my hair like that” or “you can pull it off, but if I wore my hair like that they’d say I my hair looks nappy”
    
    I even remember my mother mentioning being asked about her hair at work (her hair is dyed, but afro-textured). Her boss approached her about her hair, she assumed he meant the color and defended that half the women in the office aren’t even natural blondes, then he made it a lil more evident he wasn’t talking about the color… she didn’t mention what happened next, but she still has her ‘fro + still works there… it’s just so crazy the prejudice which can come from what is natural
    
    … I also don’t get the obsession with touching a ‘fro, just the other day even, some latin girls asked to touch my hair in the middle of a church ceremony—it’s so wierd, like it’s a pet or something, and then they mumble surprisingly “OMG it’s so soft” like they expected steel wool… but sometimes you have to take some blows, like a grain of salt
    - Sue 10:23 am on August 11, 2009 | # | Reply
      
      For example, I used to get my hair very, very lightly relaxed by a really nice Hispanic or Latina woman whose hair may have been relaxed; she always wore it blown out and straight.
      
      She was really expensive, but she did a very good job to give me some control but to maximize the curl, mixing the product a certain way, working with an assistant and doing only half my head at a time (I have a lot of hair and if she’d done my whole head the results would have been uneven because it would have been time to take it off where she started. More black hair info.)
      
      I stopped doing it because despite her best efforts the chemicals were taking the life out of my hair. Plus it was expensive. Plus I hated having to go to a different salon to get my hair cut because not everyone can cut curly hair and I used to have to emerge from this fancy salon in a fancy city a dripping mess.
      
      Once I made a comment about braids, which she missheard. In frankness, I don’t like braids myself, especially on me: In high school, an experiment with cornrows made me a figure of fun to a bunch of students, including some constantly teasing black guys.
      
      She thought I was talking about myself and blurted out:
      
      YOU DON’T NEED THAT!
      
      This was not professional protectionism on her part. She was truly appalled. And this was a light-brown skinned member of a minority group.
    - Sue 10:40 am on August 11, 2009 | # | Reply
      
      “[M]y mother (Jamaican) used to braid a lot of tourists hair for $ as they admired hers….”
      
      There also probably was an aspect of “What happens in Jamaica stays in Jamaica.” I doubt they wore those styles to work. (There also might have been flak from their offices).
      
      I’m not saying that all nonblacks are being disingenuous when they say they admire black hairstyles, just that I am justifiably skeptical.
      
      And even when they adopt the styles they still have the benefit of nonblack privilege.
Sue 10:31 am on August 11, 2009 | # | Reply

Jezebel.com ran this video — they didn’t know what to make of it — but the premise is that having short, tightly curled hair is horrendous. You’ll be mistaken for a “black boy.” As I often was called “son” when I had a short Afro, this resonated with me in a particularly unpleasantr way.

The Jezebel caption says the subject had a “bad perm.” It’s not actually a bad perm; it was an effective perm. But no one, especially back then, wanted to have hair like this, some form of which most black people have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4g-TxEzLzw&eurl=http://jezebel.com/5295794/wtf-moment-in-retro-tv&feature=player_embedded
- Nique 10:44 am on August 11, 2009 | # | Reply
  
  Wow that was just horrible all around. Where the lady says something like “at least you’re not really a black boy” and then at the end he brings up the fact that he stayed with his friend when she had chickenpox. She points out it’s not the same, I wish there was more so I could see where she was going with that.
  
  I have to point out though, that when any girl with any hair texture wears it short, she might be confused for a boy, and the same with boys when they wear long hair. It isn’t exclusive to one hair texture.
  - Nique 10:49 am on August 11, 2009 | # | Reply
    
    Ok, so I’m guilty of thinking that the character with the perm was in fact a boy, but is actually a girl. I think. When I re-watched it, I heard that at the beginning she was being taunted for looking like a boy, like a little black boy. So being a boy was the first insult, then being black was added to it. But kids of that age are pretty androgynous so forgive me for my mistake.
    - Sue 11:27 am on August 11, 2009 | # | Reply
      
      Yes, it is a girl, and whether this was intended as humor or some kind of heavy-handed educational video (it apparently was heavily edited), the kind of teasing she’s getting is completely different in kind from the ordinary ribbing an androgynous-looking kid gets.
      
      For one thing, people usually are embarrassed. “You’re a __? I’m sorry!”
      
      At least when people were confused about me — grrr — they’d said something to my mother like, “What a HANDSOME son you have.”
      
      The impression you have from this clip is, “Horrors! What could be worse?” Black people absorb messages like this all the time before they try to start filtering.
      
      Here, the fact that it’s obviously dated and poorly produced provides distance.
Links for the Week (August 16-August 23) « The Requisite Variety 8:17 pm on August 15, 2009 | # | Reply

[...] Race, Gender, and Good Hair (via Sociological Images)–(scroll down for a take on the KGB commerical that plays to Black female stereotypes) [...]
Angry_Ki 5:58 pm on August 21, 2009 | # | Reply

Relating to the KGB ad: Yak hair is used regularly to make Santa wig-and-beard sets, and cheaper Santa wig-and-beard sets, made of synthetic fibers, are actually labelled as “synthetic yak hair”.

While I am not at all familiar with black women’s hair, it wouldn’t surprise me if some weaves, somewhere, were made with yak hair.

I will say, though, that the ad is poorly written all around.
dendoo 2:58 am on August 23, 2009 | # | Reply

i am incredibably excited to see Chris Rock’s movie. This is a hot topic for me. I am a black woman, natural and PROUD. I wish more women regardless of race would get comfortable with their skin, teeth, eyes, ears and hair. It’s who you are. All these little girls want to look like movie stars but they have no idea that the stars are faking it to make it.

The black actresses he portrayed in the trailer were all saying they have a weave. Yet some girl is crying cause she can’t have Raven Simone’s hair or Megan Good’s hair. shame…we have our own hair and it’s about time we learned to love it.

I think after we learn to appreciate our natural looks that’s when we can start having fun and experimenting. I just got a wig made for the first time in April and it’s okay but I can’t see why people would want to opt for that over natural, beautiful hair…
aron ranen 10:14 am on August 27, 2009 | # | Reply

Please take a moment to check out my documentary film BLACK HAIR

It is free at youtube. 6 parts including an update from London, England.

It explores the Korean Take-over of the Black Beauty Supply and Hair biz..

The current situation makes it hard to believe that Madame C.J. Walker once ran the whole thing.

I am not a hater, I am a motivator.

Plus I am a White guy who stumbled upon this, and felt it was so wrong I had to make a film about it.

self-funded film, made from the heart.

Can it be taken back?

Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p96aaTSdrAE
Regulating Black Women’s Hair, and a 1969 Movie about Gay Men » Sociological Images 11:29 am on September 24, 2009 | # | Reply

[...] Also check out our recent post on Chris Rock’s documentary Good Hair. [...]
Mina 12:23 pm on September 24, 2009 | # | Reply

Sometimes I think that no matter how “good” your hair is, there’s always something you wish it would do that it won’t. My mom’s a natural blonde, which most people would die for, but she hates her hair because it’s not curly and won’t take a perm, her poor thin hair used to be so brittle and fried from all the perms and sun-in.

I have thick, wild hair that is never perfectly straight or wavy in any way that seems to make sense. It curls under on one side, over on the other, flips up in the back and cowlicks in the middle. I also can’t wear bangs because of how curly my hair gets when it’s short. I see women on shampoo commercials with perfectly straight, shiny hair and wonder what I’m doing wrong with mine and what’s wrong with me that I can’t have “good” hair like those women.

Reading this article and watching the preview for the documentary has been eye opening. I never realized how much women struggled trying to get “good” hair and it made me realize that I have the type of hair that most people would consider good, yet I don’t like it anyway. I always wonder if we’re conditioned to hate things about ourselves so we feel like we have to fix them, and therefore spend money on products we don’t really need.
Michele 3:31 pm on September 24, 2009 | # | Reply

Hair (fixing, dying, shaving), makeup, body shape, clothing, surgeries to achieve the so-called ideal. All just ways to enslave people, be they black, white, asian, male, female… Revolt I say. Throw away the makeup and the razors, the hair dye and the straightening irons. Go natural and revel in your personal beauty!
Let’s Make Fun of Black Women’s Hair for A Buck. | A Bridge Will Be Written 10:55 pm on October 8, 2009 | # | Reply

[...] last several months, so this is big thing for me) and see a link that Scott Madin has posted to the Sociological Images blog, which has yet another really messed up KGB [...]
Vintage Posters of African American Hair Products » Sociological Images 3:36 pm on October 11, 2009 | # | Reply

[...] also our post on Chris Rock’s documentary “Good Hair“and a woman gets fired for having an Afro. Leave a Comment Tags: beauty, gender, [...]
Ed Howard 12:47 am on October 14, 2009 | # | Reply

The best kept secret is the combination comb and brush in one piece, the Kakakiki KombBrush designed for the purpose of careing for the many textureds of Black peoples hair. Go to http://www.kakkiki.com to view.
“Hair Is Important”: Hair Loss Steals Your Sense of Self » Sociological Images 12:32 pm on April 21, 2010 | # | Reply

[...] more seriously if they downplayed their femininity. African American professionals said they often straightened their hair to counter the stereotype of the “angry Black woman.” Hair styles may also send signals [...]