This week I visited my first HBCU here in Ohio. It was an experience..the school is out in the middle of nowhere, but it has a lot of life in it's student body. I have never seen so many "hair hustlers" in my life. You know what I mean, when you go off to college a lot of times there aren't many place to go get Black hair taken care of...well these students coming from all over the US and world..had the hair hustle down to a science. They practically had a beauty shop in one of the dormintories. These students were paying for school by putting in weaves, threading eye brows, unbraiding hair and whatever else...and all this made me think. What a surprise?! HA...
What was interesting to me was the strict dichotomy between the perception that the girls were trying to portray...all starting with their hair. Maybe because I'm a bit older now, IT ANNOYED the hell out of me. For example, long straight hair equals Nicki Manaj, skin tight leggins and a belly button ring showing through a see-through shirt...Okay, obviously this is a generalization but you should have been at the step show I was at. It was filled with nakedness and long weaves! Like, when have we gone too far? When is our perception of beauty dangerously weaving with dangerous life choices. When we alter our appearance (whether with weaves or make-up or colored contacts) is it adding to us, or taking away from who we really are? Think about this, by changing our perceptions of beauty by adding the "unatural", are we not implicitly saying we aren't beautiful already? So many ways to think about this...what do you think?
So you must have visited Central State! My neck of the woods! I've been up to the campus (as well as Wilberforce; across the street)and I totally agree on everything you were saying. When I walked on both campuses, I noticed that the majority of the women seemed more "made-up" then trying to be themselves. It's sad because you think by being on a HBCU campus that you would see more black women embracing who "they" are...but instead you are seeing more women embracing the whole "barbie" image...smh!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed the step show though :0)
LOL! Thanks for your response! Such a small world! I totally agree though - sometimes I wonder if women (not only Black women) know who they are or what it means to embrace who "they/we" are...do we even know?? Thanks again. :)
ReplyDeleteok, so i know I'm late, but as long as the "cool" celebrities that they are looking at on tv, in movies, etc. keep on wearing that stuff so will they. I think part of it is the young mentality and part of it is socialization. We are from a pretty white neighborhood. There weren't a ton of people walking around looking like that, and the weaves on tv weren't really all that crazy. People in "our day" just got enough weave to look like they "could've" grown it themselves. They'll eventually get it or make the conscious decision that they don't care and they like how they look. To each her own right?
ReplyDeleteI guess to each her own and I agree, but when how THEY look affects me...and how people perceive me - that really irritates me! It's more than just hair and the way people dress its the idea of who and what these women are. Unfortunately, hair and dress directly relate to societies perception of what we (black women) are. And 9 times out of 10 society is wrong...because they get those ideas from the stereotypes...that are created out of some truths...that are exaggerated by stereotypes..etc etc! GRRRR I hope that makes sense.
ReplyDelete