Resistance And Empowerment In Black Women S Hair Styling

Elizabeth Johnson's Resistance and Empowerment in Black Women's Hair Styling develops the argument that one way Black women define themselves and each other, is by the way they style/groom their hair via endorsement by the media through advertisement, idealized identification of Black female celebrities, and encouragement by professional celebrity hair stylists who serve as change agents. As a result, hair becomes a physical manifestation of their self-identity, revealing a private and personal mindset. Her research answers the following questions: What is the relationship between Black females' choice of hairstyles/grooming and transmitted messages of aesthetics by the dominant culture through culturally specific magazines?; What role do the natural hair blogs/vlogs play as a change agent in encouraging or discouraging consumers grooming their hair in its natural state?; What impact does a globalized consumer market of Black hair care products have on Hispanic/Latinas and Bi-Racial women?; Are Black female Generation Y members more likely to receive backlash for failure to conform their hair to dominant standards in their hair adornment in the workplace? Johnson thus demonstrates that the major concern from messages sent to Black women about their hair is its impact on Black identity. Thus, the goal of Black women should be to break with hegemonic modes of seeing, thinking, and being for full liberation. This critical and deep consciousness will debunk the messages told to Black women that their kinky, frizzy, thick hair is undesirable, bad, unmanageable, and shackling.

Elizabeth Johnson's Resistance and Empowerment in Black Women's Hair Styling develops the argument that one way Black women define themselves and each other, is by the way they style/groom their hair via endorsement by the media through advertisement, idealized identification of Black female celebrities, and encouragement by professional celebrity hair stylists who serve as change agents. As a result, hair becomes a physical manifestation of their self-identity, revealing a private and personal mindset. Her research answers the following questions: What is the relationship between Black females' choice of hairstyles/grooming and transmitted messages of aesthetics by the dominant culture through culturally specific magazines?; What role do the natural hair blogs/vlogs play as a change agent in encouraging or discouraging consumers grooming their hair in its natural state?; What impact does a globalized consumer market of Black hair care products have on Hispanic/Latinas and Bi-Racial women?; Are Black female Generation Y members more likely to receive backlash for failure to conform their hair to dominant standards in their hair adornment in the workplace? Johnson thus demonstrates that the major concern from messages sent to Black women about their hair is its impact on Black identity. Thus, the goal of Black women should be to break with hegemonic modes of seeing, thinking, and being for full liberation. This critical and deep consciousness will debunk the messages told to Black women that their kinky, frizzy, thick hair is undesirable, bad, unmanageable, and shackling.

"They don't think I'm viable, because I'm a Black woman with natural hair and no husband." This comment was made by Stacey Abrams shortly before the 2018 Democratic primary after she became the first Black woman to win a majory party's nomination for governor. Abrams' sentiment reflects the wider environment for Black women in politics, in which racist and sexist cultural ideas have long led Black women to be demeaned and fetishized for their physical appearance. In Sister Style, Nadia E. Brown and Danielle Casarez Lemi argue that Black women's political experience and the way that voters evaluate them is shaped overtly by their skin tone and hair texture, with hair being a particular point of scrutiny. They ask what the politics of appearance for Black women mean for Black women politicians and Black voters, and how expectations about self-presentation differ for Black women versus Black men, White men, and White women. Black women running for office face pressure, often from campaign consultants and even close colleagues, to change their style in order to look more like White women. However, as this book shows, Black women candidates and elected officials react differently to these pressures depending on factors like age and incumbency. Moreover, Brown and Lemi delve into the ways in which Black voters react to Black female candidates based on appearance. They base their argument, in part, on focus groups with Black women candidates and elected officials, and show that there are generational differences that determine what sorts of styles Black women choose to adopt and to what extent they change their physical appearance based on external expectations.

Over the last century, there has been a revolution in self-presentation and social attitudes towards hair. Developments in mass manufacturing, advances in chemical science and new understandings of bodies and minds have been embraced by new kinds of hairdressers and their clientele and embodied in styles that reflect shifting ideals of what it is to be and to look modern. The emergence of the ladies hairdressing salon, the rise of the celebrity stylist, the impact of Hollywood, an expanding mass media, and a new synergy between fashions in clothing and hairstyles have rippled out globally. Fashions in hair styles and their representation have taken on new meanings as a way of resisting dominant social structures, experimenting with social taboos, and expressing a modern sense of self. From the 1920s bob to the punk cut, hair has continued to be deeply involved in society's larger issues. Drawing on a wealth of visual, textual and object sources, and illustrated with 75 images, A Cultural History of Hair in the Modern Age presents essays that explore how politics, science, religion, fashion, beauty, the visual arts, and popular culture have reshaped modern hair and its significance as an agent of social change.

Strong Black Girls lays bare the harm Black women and girls are expected to overcome in order to receive an education in America. It captures the routinely muffled voices and experiences of these students through storytelling, essays, letters, and poetry. The authors make clear that the strength of Black women and girls should not merely be defined as the ability to survive racism, abuse, and violence. Readers will also see resistance and resilience emerge through the central themes that shape these reflective, coming-of-age narratives. Each chapter is punctuated by discussion questions that extend the conversation around the everyday realities of navigating K–12 schools, such as sexuality, intergenerational influence, self-love, anger, leadership, aesthetic trauma (hair and body image), erasure, rejection, and unfiltered Black girlhood. Strong Black Girls is essential reading for everyone tasked with teaching, mentoring, programming, and policymaking for Black females in all public institutions. Book Features: A spotlight on the invisible barriers impacting Black girls’ educational trajectories.A survey of the intersectional notions of strength and Black femininity within the context of K–12 schooling.Narrative therapy through unpacking system stories of oppression and triumph. Insights for building skills and tools to make substantial and lasting change in schools.

The first book of its kind, this volume explores women and non-binary people in popular culture in Canada, with a focus on intersectional analysis of settler colonialism, race, white privilege, ability, and queer representations and experiences in diverse media. The chapters include discussions of film, television, videogames, music, and performance, as well as political events, journalism, social media, fandom, and activism. Throughout this collection, readers are encouraged to think carefully about the role women play in the cultural landscape in Canada as active viewers, creators, and participants. Covering a wide range of topics from historical perspectives to recent events, media, and technologies, this collection acts as an introduction, an archive, and a continuing commitment to lifting the voices and stories of women and popular culture in Canada. This book is a must-read for gender studies and media studies courses that focus on popular culture, Canadian feminism, and Canadian media. FEATURES includes questions for critical thought that stimulate discussion focuses on intersections of race, gender, ability, and sexuality provides contemporary Canadian content from an interdisciplinary and intersectional lens

This book is aimed at constructing the Black female subjectivity of African-American women through the works of chosen poets: Marilyn Nelson, Rita Dove, Elizabeth Alexander, and Patricia Smith. The study delves into the intricacies of African-American women’s issues such as objectification, rape, motherhood, and racism. This work is unique, as it takes up the study of African-American women’s poetry and studies different creative expressions and artistic genres in their struggle for identity. It illuminates Black female aesthetics, and the liberation of self, thus, celebrating their blackness. By examining historical and contemporary issues, the book invites the readers to re-counter the dominance of the established White Order and stimulates the question of the agency of Black women. This book debunks the perceptions and offers a genuine contribution to the discourse on African-American women’s lives. It goes beyond the customary reflections on women’s experiences and addresses the poignant odyssey of ‘women of color’, marking a shift to ‘politics of survival’.