My
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my
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Black hair and the timeless trends of Century
‘I
couldn’t get no job ‘Cause corporate wouldn’t hire no dreadlocks Then I thought about my dogs from the block Kinda understand why they chose to steal and rob’ These India Arie lyrics of her song I am not my hair came to mind when I got into a casual conversation with a retail assistant, whilst he sorted out my purchase of some old school vans. The topic of university came up and he mentioned he’d just graduated from a law degree. My face must’ve given away the look of ‘then why are you here?’ When unprompted he began to explain that he’d had plenty of Interviews but felt his afro hair is the reason he was being turned down. Though he shrugged off my look of sympathy with a chuckle and an easy ‘I guess, that’s just how it goes’. Though this has not been the first time I have been exposed to the taboo topic of black hair. Recently, black hair has become a much debated topic in mainstream American media. Solange released Don’t touch my hair which The Huffington Post dubbed ‘an anthem reclaiming black autonomy’. Sesame street went viral with a skit of an afro-wearing puppet singing I love my hair. The video was created for children but commenters showed otherwise reading “I’m an older African American woman and I started to cry when I saw it.” In 2015 Afro beauty Leneisey
LBD the
the 21st
Matero sent off a wave on social media when she became the first black model to walk in a catwalk show for Prada since 1996. The year before my birth But there is also a darkness to the politics of black hair. Protests arose in South Africa at the historically white Pretoria High School, after students as young as 13 were allegedly punished to detentions for simply wearing their natural fro’s to school after they were deemed ‘untidy’ and ‘distracting’ by teachers. The BBC also reported of a Londoner who was told she must remove her braids and adhere to European beauty standards, if she wanted the job role she had applied for. So what is the reason for all this attention? How can an unassuming puppet with an afro bring a grown woman to tears. It’s just hair, right? Because in theory seeing a woman wearing her hair in its most natural states should be a non-even right. Wrong. Well, historically hair grooming has played a significant part in the status and identity within African tribes. It was seen as being a way to identify someone’s social status through ethnicity, social rank, age, marital status, wealth, fertility, and religion. Elaborate hairstyles were fashioned using intricate twisting, braiding, cotton and wool thread-weaving techniques adding animal fat or mud and clay in their hair to create complex hairstyles. Because such hair styling would take hours, women used this time of beautifying to socialise and develop meaningful bonds with one another, just as we do today when we go to the hairdressers.
Chanel spearheaded the fight for gender equality, which we are still protesting today,
hilst Josephine Baker had to sever her black hair to reach the height of her career you would presume Black Women and men nearly 100 years later should no longer have to conform to such henious standards in order to get ahead. Though as we look at some of the most prominent black women in the media today such as Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce and Halle Berry, all of these women are known for commonly wearing straight hair. Which begs the question have we gone back in terms of feminist development? Whilst the glorious world of weaves and wigs have enabled millions of women to diversify their hairstyles women should not be deemed less than or be discriminated again when they do decide to wear their hair in its glorious natural state. Just a few young visionaries today who embody the the Spirit of Josephine baker and Chanel are Zendeya Coleman who unopollogetically wore dreadlocks to the emmy’s awards causing much controversy and Designer Azedene Jean Pierre who’s made a name for herself in the fashion industry whilst wearing her glorious afro with pride.
Chanel wearing her iconic bob
trim, fitted sleeves and metallic embellished buttons with accompanying slimline skirt, the outfit was the perfect choice for the postwar woman who was trying to build a career in the male-dominated workplace’.The suits was the ultimate F you to societal norms categorizing women as portraits made to be seen and not heard in Paul Poirets’s voluptuous gowns. both Chanel and Baker who revolutionized the pattern of the time championing the same feminism trend which is on everyone’s lips today. Josephine Baker used her femininity to escape a southern American upbringing of Jim crow laws and segregation though she was only able to do so by shedding her natural afro and leaving it with her old life in Arkansas.
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Josephine Baker performing in 1927
o when did the sight of a black woman’s natural tresses become so shocking to the public eye? Moving on to the Fourteenth Century which bore the era of slavery. During this time slave masters would shave of their captives elaborate styles as a way of dehumanizing them and uniforming them in order to maintain control. After the emancipation of slavery in the 1800s' 'good hair' became known as hair that was finer, curlier and closer to Europeans in texture. So, the more European someone’s hair looked, the easier it would be for them to assimilate into societal norms such as schools, churches, and social circles. Therefore the invention of the hair straightener in 1909 was championed as a way of easing the integration of black women into society. The aftermath of this is still grossly apparent in today's society. The 1920’s was the decade Josephine baker the erotic dancer singer and entertainer shot to fame on the Parisian scene.. She became wildly popular thanks to her risqué performances and stunning appearance, making her French debut at Théâtre des ChampsÉlysées where she performed a Danse Sauvage dressed in only a feather skirt. Her moves were spell binding and she became an overnight sensation and in 1927, became the highest paid entertainer in Europe an incredible feat for a black person never mind a woman of her time . Josephine always wore her hair cut short, pressed and slicked down in waves, which is known today as the traditional flapper hairdo- a European hairstyle. The flapper look was the biggest trend of the roaring twenties as it became fashionable for young women to reject traditional gender roles by smoking, drinking, driving automobiles and gaining sexual liberation. Furthermore, a woman who's noted in history as one of the inventors of the flapper movement is Gabrielle Coco who with her
Pierre’s A/W 17 collction
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invention of the Little Black Dress, was as equally risqué as Baker. It was similarly through sexual liberation that Chanel was able to escape the demons of her torturous childhood from growing up in an orphanage to opening her first boutique on Paris' Rue Cambon after gaining financial support from her lovers. Chanel was a proud feminist who was open about her high-profile relationships and seductive power over influential men openly stating 'as long as you know men are like children you know everything'. as she cut her hair from as early as 1916 while it was deemed as an out rightly vulgar act. She became known as the first designer to use Jersey, a material that was reserved for men’s underwear fabric to create comfortable and practical dresses for women. The designer was the inventor of androgynous dressing when she created her iconic suits. ‘Consisting of a collarless boxy wool jacket with braid