Black hair, white fetish Part II

I had to stop and think about this for a moment. McKinney's hair looked fly to me. So much better than her braided coif with the huge bow. It definitely brought her into the twentieth century, and surely, she is adamant about wearing her hair without chemical straighteners. This would look quite different if your image of a woman is that of a white woman. If the hairstyle was placed on a white woman's head, the aesthetic rooted in Black natural hairstyling would not be there. Cynthia decided to have a hair-style that registered with Black U.S. Americans. I'm not saying all Black folks love the do, but they definitely recognize it as a real and socially acceptable aesthetic.

For this white man, it references savagery, wildness, and "hideousness."

Black folks have definitely made the link from our hair to our African roots. This is definitely why the Afro became a popular hair style in the seventies. It was a way to shed a white standard of beauty from imposing on our Black bodies. It embraced the "nap"* and although the Reagan years brought on an unfortunate descent into the Jheri Curl, the black community held on to natural hair as a referent to our African roots. That is what is unacceptable here—the ways in which the nap is an outright rejection of American (read white) standards of beauty and respectability. The nap does not conform, it is not restricted, it does indeed go "in every conceivable direction." That's what makes it beautiful.

And so Black hair becomes, in many ways, a cite where politics are imprinted on the body. The choice to "go natural" or to wear thick, kinky, un-straightened hair is one that reveals a kind of personal politics. We (U.S. Americans) know the politics of respectability. We know that kinky hair is not acceptable. To wear it reveals, in many ways a political choice not to cooperate with that politic. (Note I specified the politics of respectability in regards to what hair means in U.S. American society, not radical politics in general.) This is not to suggest that there are not radicals who straighten their hair. I’m talking about here, how it is imprinted on the body by kinky hair.

Kinky hair also invokes issues of class. Who can afford to get their hair "done," and who can't? While kinky hair is far from low maintenance, it is certainly cheaper (in most cases) as it does not require the monthly purchase of cream crack (store bought no-lye relaxer), the one-time purchase of a stove heated hot comb, or the bi-monthly trip to the beauty salon to get it pressed or relaxed. So who has their hair straightened, how straight (i.e. bone straight), and how often certainly wears an air of respectability, and wealth that, at least to the outside community (read white folks) do not immediately register. We all know this to be a farce, as for a while I was paying $80 dollars a visit to have my thick head of locs maintained (I have since found a better deal at $65). We know that twists and braids can cost upwards of $50 and some times go into the hundreds. Oh, black folks can find a way to consume. But this is a truth, I expect white folks not to really know. It’s a relatively new development, this natural hair stylist, locatician, etc. movement. Since Madam C.J. Walker, Black middle-class-ness has looked straightened, and "respectfully" styled. That has changed dramatically as means of straightening have become more accessible to the poor (for a while now, keep up white folk) and natural hair for Black folks actually suggests that someone is financially secure enough to not have to depend on white standards of respectability in order to keep their jobs. White folks may not have caught up with this class dimension reality, but that doesn’t make them any less obsessed with Black hair. In fact, natural or not, the major image of Black women is tied to this aspect of our hair so regarldess if the Rutger's basketball team has/had straighetneed hair (which look at the roster pictures and you will see they mostly do have their hair straightened) the overarching image of black women, especially for white racists becomes attached to the "natural." Symbol: black women. Sign: nappy headed ho.

But lets get back to the psychological aspect of this whole hair deal. "Natural" hair references a rejection of a respectability aesthetic based in European standards of beauty. It politically symbolizes (whether intentionally or not) Black U.S. American historical ties to Africa which, for white people, continues to be a place that represents the primitive. White supremacist ideas of Africans as not only primitive, but savage, oversexed, and immoral therefore get tangled up in our kinky, African hair. This is how "ghetto," "ho," and "slut" easily slip into a reference to Black women, especially in regards to our hair.

Lets look at it from another perspective. Rewind: Above I stated, "...back to the psychoanalytic aspect of this whole hair deal. "Natural" hair references a rejection of a respectability aesthetic based in European standards of beauty. It politically symbolizes (whether intentionally or not) Black U.S. American historical ties to Africa which..." (I would like to insert here.) references the history of the middle passage, slavery, the nadir, and jim crow. (Note the semi-linear timeline.) It is a site that brings down heavy upon some white folks—white guilt. The guilt mired with the fascination and fetishization of Black hair results in the well-known intrusive behaviors of some of our white friends. Uninvited touching, a mirage of questions (often accompanied by intrusive touching) "I just love your hair. How do you make it do that?" "Do you wash it? How often?"

It reflects itself on any point of the political or cultural spectrum, a fascination with our hair. So lets return to the jerks at hand.

Imus' "nappy headed ho" reference, and Boortz’s "ghetto slut" reference. The former being a recent follow up to the latter, if actually discussed in a public forum would have the potential to put white America’s psyches on blast. Instead Imus has successfully, single handedly given us the distraction of hip hop, an issue he clearly knows is one of contention within the Black community, to cover white America's ass on the issue. This isn't the first time. It won't be the last. Every five seconds a white person is referring to a black woman as a nappy headed ho (or some variation thereof).

In love and nappyness,

a black girl