Sheena's hair essay plan

In 2010 African hair seen as "ugly" but since the doc brought the issue to the mainstream what was actually a social taboo(women didn't talk about WHY they wanted straight hair), the debate has come to the fore. Women are now starting to explore why they want their hair to be long, straight, light, soft and flippable.

Use GH and Tyra notes to frame start of case studies THEN go into Bell Hooks and link to Revlon and Al Sharpton's exploitation quote; Hooks says the hair pressing ritual she grew up with was a positive bonding experience for black women- to be allowed to take part in this ritual meant you were old enough to listen to and join in with conversations about men, listen to the soul music, learn about their culture. In 60s wearing hair natural was seen as a political statement, and in the 70s mass produced hair relaxers started selling, almost corrupting the "ritual" of getting your hair pressed with your mum, sisters, friends, aunties... "sound of the blow-dryers drowned out conversation" and it became all about chasing a artificially constructed ideal. Advertisers started selling images to make women feel insecure, thus any good that came out of this cultural ritual was eroded.

Link to Butler and gender- female heterosexual gender, no matter your creed, is spoken through hair. We are taught that it should be soft, shiny, long, touchable, tousleable...in short, it should be there to entice the audience to play with it.

Link to Mulvey and male gaze; since our media is largely owned by "Eurocentric" males these are the ones who construct our ads, and by repetition, our values and ideologies. The camera "is" male, so it follows that what is shown on the screen is pleasing to the camera, and non- threatening..."black" is considered threatening because it is "unknown" Tracie Thoms "if you see black hair in its natural state it can be frightening. If you don't understand black hair you are afraid of it."

Maya Angelou "hair is a woman's glory" the message is the same but the meaning has become tainted. Link to weaves, Beyonce, Tyra, young girls saying you are supposed to get a perm.

 

Link to HEGEMONY

 

Those who create the male gaze like being at the top of the pile and want to maintain this hierarchy. One way of doing this is by perpetuating messages and embedding them in the social psyche so audiences keep chasing fake ideals and spending money. Those who are being oppressed do not know they are being oppressed, in fact they may even believe that they're supposed to think,feel, act this way. The oppressed don't know they are oppressed, this is the easiest way to maintain control.

BUT: reframe- since 2010 there has been a growing trend for women wearing their hair naturally- removing the wigs and weaves and growing their hair. With women like Naptural85 on YouTube broadcasting and amplifying positive representations through social media, black women are starting to connect and lend each other support. To grow one's hair and care for it is becoming a means of creating and strengthening self esteem, by nourishing one's hair- by touching it, treating it with patience and learning to care for it, black women are in turn beginning to care for themselves and see that they do not have to present as "white" in order to be considered beautiful. This is new.

Link to Media 2.0

Black celebs spreading the message- Kelly Rowland, Viola Davis, Esperanza Spalding. By attending high profile events and posing for pictures they are starting to send the message that you will still be accepted by mainstream society with natural hair- all these women appeared on red carpets wearing $1000+ dresses, shoes, jewellery, accessories. Their sponsors and fashion houses did not shrink away. The message that African hair is dirty and unhygienic is starting to lose power.