African American Natural Hair

To this day, African American culture has grown tremendously and has become more popular among all of the races. Not only has it become popular but it has also stirred up a lot of controversy. One of the aspects of African American culture that has become popular and stirred up a lot of controversy is Black women and their natural hair. Black women are really starting to embrace their natural hair and love the skin they’re in but there are also a lot of people in society tearing them down. A lot of Black women have very curly natural hair and when they don’t feel like managing their hair they wear protective styles like braids or faux locks. Because of these styles, African American women have been denied jobs and opportunities to prosper in
For example, Disney Channel star Zendaya wore her hair in flowing faux locks to the Oscars and was harshly criticized afterwards. The show Fashion Police’s star, Giuliana Rancic said very rude comments about the biracial star saying that she looked like she smelled like “patchouli oil … or weed.” Zendaya quickly took to Instagram and responded that she wore the faux locks due to her loved ones that have them, like her father. She also took the time out to call out the black celebrities that do wear dreadlocks proudly. Not only has Zendaya been attacked, but Beyoncé’s sister Solange has also been attacked about her natural hair for years. One of the most recent happenings was in 2014 when In Touch magazine compared Solange to a
Slaves would use scarves as an alternative to showing their kinky or curly hair. Not only did they use scarves but they also found other ways to alter their hair to be socially acceptable at the time. One development they came up with was called the “sheep fleece carding tool” (Byrd and Tharps 2001, 13) which they used like a modern day comb to detangle their hair. They also used things like “bacon grease and butter to condition and soften the hair, prepare it for straightening, and make it shine. Cornmeal and kerosene were used as scalp cleaners, and coffee became a natural dye for women” (17). Back in these days the hairstyles the slaves wore was determined by the work that they did. If they were field slaves and worked outside, the women would wear head scarves and the men would cut their hair extra short and wear things like straw hats to block them from the sun. If they were a house slave, they were expected to keep their hair nice and presentable or they would have to face the wrath of their masters. They often tried to imitate the styles of the white woman or they would wear tight braids and cornrows. Black male slaves, like upper class White males, chose to wear wigs in the eighteenth century or “styled their own hair to look like a wig”