Black Hair Analysis

According to Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Tharps book, Black hair, what motivated African Americans to attempt to straighten their hair stems from their desire to “emulate European standards of beauty, dress, and behavior” (26). This was because their importance were not their education and training, but the way they presented themselves that mattered to society. Due to this, businesses started exploited their eagerness to counter the main stream stigma- even black entrepreneurs. In the early 1900s, two black-owned companies named The Poro and The Madam C.J. Walker company emerged, and both created products designed to treat black women’s damaged, nappy hair. They both even have made major contributions to their African-American community. For
school for training African-American hairstylists and agents…” (32). The Walker company created the hot comb, which became the foundation of the Black beautician industry for more controllable hair. Although these women made great contributions to better the lives of their community, it is important to note that they did not attempt to challenge the prevalent idea of beauty at the time. Some critics even blamed Walker for expanding the notion that black women needed to straighten their hair (35-36). However, it should be understood that black women—especially darker-skinned women—were experiencing difficulties finding a job or a husband. So companies like The Walker were providing ways to possibly change that kind of life for them. She wanted to make them feel good about themselves, and if that was to straighten their hair, then she will be satisfied (36). Black men, on the other hand, in an attempt to save money, took to making their own conks instead of purchasing ones on the
This, according to Malcolm’s criticism, was how white imprisoned the Blacks mentally, and that this was even worse than the physical nature of slavery itself (47-48). In order to combat this, Blacks have to learn to love their own appearance. For the African-Americans today, they still struggle with the same concept of beauty, body image, and hair of the past. Although some of them straighten their hair, it does not necessarily mean they are mimicking features of European hair styles. As Jones and Shorter-Gooden argued, “Not every woman who decides to straighten her hair or change the color of her eyes by wearing contacts believes that beauty is synonymous with whiteness” (178). Basically, black women are experimenting, even with hairs that are associated with European styles, to spark an expression of creativity or for employment reasons (Tracey, Owens Patton,