Hair is Powerful

These readings remind of the movie, Good Hair, that explores the different hairstyles of african american women. The movie interviews black actresses and experiences with hair throughout their lives. What I found surprising is that most of the actresses spent thousands upon thousands of dollars straightening and getting weaves for their hair. Most of the women (actresses and regular women)were to the point of addiction with the amounts of money they spent on their hair and the alarming part was that the women who weren't rich consciously knew that they spent all of their money on their hair and barely had money to afford anything else in their life. I think this goes back to black women trying to fit an unrealistic beauty standard perpetuated through dominant white culture. Many black women are trying to fit this ideal of what they believe a beautiful women is supposed to be but are failing to understand that that what is considered beautiful is a construction of white dominant culture. Ideas of what is considered beautiful transcend race and what is beautiful to white culture is different from black culture. Black women often don braids, dreds, afros, and bald hair to go against constructions of beauty. As well I find it interesting in Ingrid Banks research the degree to which women identify their hair (long) with femininity and sexuality. Particularly as women have dreds or bald hair they are thought to be less feminine because they are deviating from dominant white cultural norms for beauty. I think it speaks to the level of how women particularly black women are judged on their femininity by the style of their hair.