In recent times, women of African descent within many industrialized nations
have begun to garner significant financial, social and political standings.
This phenomenon finds
its expression especially within the confines of the United States of
America. With the emergence of such figures as Oprah Winfrey, Tyra Banks
and more recently Michelle Obama, African American women have started
to establish themselves within previously male dominated industries and
have thus increased theirvisibility within exclusive social and political
circles.
With the status of
some women of African descent ascending to exceedingly high societal echelons,
rather new dimensions have started to develop in relation to the physical
images projected of Black women.
Images
of prominent African American women depicting strength, poise and sophistication
have cascaded through many of the traditional media outlets as well as
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 as well as that which is not.
While a plethora of
fashions and hair styles worn by these celebrities, have been 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, and have instead,
insisted on and embraced 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 the "power elite" has surfaced.
Oprah Winfrey has
not, even on occasion, worn an afro during the taping of her\ popular
talk 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 Michelle 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 “First Lady."
With this pervasive
and pathological rejection of this feature of the African aesthetic 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; this group of women has not only rejected to a significant extent
themselves but has accepted a standard of beauty 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 - on the part of the
mimicker in relation to that which is being mimicked.
Furthermore, this
state of affairs merits an especially significant measure of absurdity
considering the fact these African American women of note perpetually
chase an image of a woman who is largely void of the financial, social
and political resources 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 Black woman will continue to evolve.
If the acceptance of African hair is continually met with avoidance, women
of African descent will have once again reduced themselves to that of
perpetual “runner up” on the world stage of beauty. They will
never fully realize their esteem and an almost timeless scar on the face
of mother Africa will again grow deeper.
We may only hope these
acts of self denial will one day cease; that we may see mother Africa’s
beauty once again.
Frederick Alexander Meade is an educator and journalist providing analysis
on social and political matters. His works appear in news magazines and
publications around the country. Meade, who lives in Atlanta, GA, can
be reached by E-mail at
