Si the practice continues even today, for the sociologist Juliette Smeralda, author of an anthropological essay which traces the development of the self-image in the black and Indian diasporas (1), Western society imposes codes of beauty ( fair skin, straight hair) that does not match black women. Pressure felt from an early age: "the constant exposure of the black girl to the western doll risk of modifying its intimate relationship to itself ". Even though barbies colors have appeared on the toy market, "the texture of the hair, the facial features have remained long and Caucasoid." Cinderella, Pocahontas, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland… From the most famous children's stories to Disney films, all the stories imagine the same type of heroine: brunettes, blondes or redheads, with long, straight hair.
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, do not transgress the imposed codes. “Blacks live in a world where they haven't set the rules,” adds Juliette Smeralda. The rejection of frizzy hair by the black people is also explained by the loss of an inheritance. Torn from Africa and stripped of all their possessions, the slaves could not pass on the teaching of hairdressing ”. A track studied by Doctor Willie L. Morrow, in his work entitled 400 years without comb.
A question of cultural identity
The return of Afro therefore underlines a certain desire to assert one's ethnicity, a way of assuming one's origins. "I feel like myself", confirms Caroline, nappy for two years. Like her, many have felt this natural transition as a revelation. "I felt liberated when I understood where my complex was coming from" confides another convert. "When you wear your hair natural, it's also a time when you are interested in your roots, in your culture," adds Qita, also a follower of the movement. And, out of the question for her to rethink hair straightening. Moreover, at the time, she literally refused to have her hair touched, even to be told about it. “I felt like a kind of shame, the awareness of disguising my true nature”. However, it was only at the age of 22 that she decided to put an end to smoothing treatments. And many are those who refuse to take the plunge, taking the difficulty of taking care of Afro hair as an excuse. In total disagreement, Juliette Smeralda asserts that this is “a way of hiding behind a problem”. The sociologist adds that “it is difficult to question the image that we reflected in the mirror for a long time. Can you imagine the dismay of black female politicians if they were forced one day to wear frizzy hair?
(1) Black skin, frizzy hair: The story of an alienation, ed. Jasor.
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