(What are Women of African Descent without It?) Written by: Frederick Alexander Meade
In the most recent of times, women of African descent within many of the industrialized nations have begun to garner a significant amount of financial, social and political status. This phenomenon finds its expression especially within the confines of the United States of America. With the emergence of Oprah Winfrey, Tyra Banks and most recently Michelle Obama, African American women have started to establish a heightened standing among previously white male dominated industries and thus have increased their visibility within exclusive social and political circles.
With the status of women of African descent ascending to exceedingly high societal echelons, rather new dimensions have started to develop in terms of the physical images projected of such elite figures. Images of prominent African American women depicting strength, poise and sophistication have cascaded through many of the traditional media channels as well as through the internet. Much of the visuals depicting this relatively small but increasingly influential group not only serve to influence fashion styles but also function to expand the publics' general sensibilities in terms of what is aesthetically acceptable and what is deemed to be unacceptable. With a plethora of clothing and hair styles worn by these celebrities being continually presented to the world one feature of the African aesthetic has been absent.
African hair and related styles have largely seen an increase in acceptance by women of color around the world. Many women of African descent determined to redefine present day standards of beauty (many of which find their origins in Europe) have shed the wearing of perms and straight hair weaves, instead insisting on and embracing what is naturally theirs - African hair. In the face of this growing trend however, no such movement from those African American women belonging to what may be considered to be the "power elite" has surfaced. Oprah Winfrey has not (even on occasion) worn an afro during the taping of her popular show. Tyra Banks has never filmed a season of America's Next Top Model in which she, week in and out, wore her hair in African locks. Lastly, the dawning of an African hair style by Michele Obama would be deemed by many (even in the African American community) as an affront to beauty and subsequently an act unworthy of that of a would be "first lady." With this pervasive and pathological rejection of this feature of African beauty prevailing from those who are widely considered to be our communities' role models, one question must be asked. What are African American women of influence without African hair?
The answer to this question may yield a startling but valid depiction of what many famous African American women have allowed themselves to become. For a woman of African descent to wear her hair in a manner that is completely foreign to that which is innately intended is to reject in large measure "the self." This phenomenon is made exceedingly worse by virtue of the fact that these groups of women have not only rejected in large measure themselves but have accepted standards of beauty for which they can never reach. To abuse one's hair whether by straightening comb or through the use of chemicals in a nebulous and futile attempt to obtain and maintain a pseudo image of a European woman, is to yield to a power which the individual feels is greater than she.
An African American woman who practices such a ritual rooted in self contempt has essentially reduced herself to a mere figment of her own imagination. The prevailing image (in relation to beauty) embedded in such an individual's mind is that of a woman whom she can never become. This paradigm serves to perpetually undermine any feelings of equality (and even more still any feelings of superiority) in relation to the mimicker and that which is being mimicked. Furthermore, this state of affairs merits an especially significant measure of absurdity considering the fact that these African American women of note perpetually chase an image of a woman who is largely void of the financial, social and political resources which they possess. This behavior on the part of many of these women of high regard, suggests that if it were possible for them to become a woman of another ethnicity they would conceivably surrender all of their fortunes to achieve this state.
As more African American women enter into the ranks of those for whom resources are seemingly endless, the image of the African woman will continue to evolve. If the acceptance of African hair is continually met with avoidance, then women of African descent will have once again reduced themselves to that of perpetual “runner up” in the world's beauty contest.
The esteems of these women will never fully be realized and an almost timeless scar on the face of mother Africa will again grow deeper. We may only hope that these acts of self denial will one day cease, that we may see mother Africa's beauty once again.
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African hair and related styles have largely seen an increase in acceptance by women of color around the world. Many women of African descent determined to redefine present day standards of beauty (many of which find their origins in Europe) have shed the wearing of perms and straight hair weaves, instead insisting on and embracing what is naturally theirs - African hair. In the face of this growing trend however, no such movement from those African American women belonging to what may be considered to be the "power elite" has surfaced. Oprah Winfrey has not (even on occasion) worn an afro during the taping of her popular show. Tyra Banks has never filmed a season of America's Next Top Model in which she, week in and out, wore her hair in African locks. Lastly, the dawning of an African hair style by Michele Obama would be deemed by many (even in the African American community) as an affront to beauty and subsequently an act unworthy of that of a would be "first lady." With this pervasive and pathological rejection of this feature of African beauty prevailing from those who are widely considered to be our communities' role models, one question must be asked. What are African American women of influence without African hair?
