Hair matters : beauty, power, and Black women's consciousness / Ingrid Banks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Banks, Ingrid, 1966-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American women--Race identity.

African American women.

African American women--Social conditions.

Hair--Social aspects--United States.

Hair.

Beauty, Personal--Social aspects--United States.

Beauty, Personal.

African American women--Interviews.

African American women--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 197 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, c2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Long hair in the 60's, Afros in the early 70's, bobs in the 80's, fuchsia in the 90's. Hair is one of the first attributes to catch our eye, not only because it reflects perceptions of attractiveness or unattractiveness, but also because it conveys important political, cultural, and social meanings, particularly in relation to group identity. Given that mainstream images of beauty do not privilege dark skin and tightly coiled hair, African American women's experience provides a starkly different perspective on the meaning of hair in social identity."--National Women's Studies Association Journal "Grab your copy at your local bookseller and get hip to what your hair is saying to others with regards to beauty, culture and politics. Learn about how culture has a love for coifs, because after all, so do you!"-Sophisticate's Black Hair Styles Guide Drawing on interviews with over 50 women, from teens to seniors, Hair Matters is the first book on the politics of Black hair to be based on substantive, ethnographically informed research. Focusing on the everyday discussions that Black women have among themselves and about themselves, Ingrid Banks analyzes how talking about hair reveals Black women's ideas about race, gender, sexuality, beauty, and power. Ultimately, what emerges is a survey of Black women's consciousness within both their own communities and mainstream culture at large.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Unhappy to Be Nappy

1. Why Hair Matters: Getting to the Roots

2. The Hair “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of Black Womanhood

3. Splitting Hairs: Power, Choice, and Femininity

4. Women and Girls Speak Out: Five Hair-Raising Sessions

5. Black Hair, 1990's Style

Conclusion

Appendix I: Methods, Methodology, and the Shaping of Hair Matters

Appendix II: Defining Black Hair and Hairstyling Practices

Appendix III: Interviewee Demographics

Notes

References

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-191) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jun 2020)

ISBN:

0-8147-3945-8

0-585-43463-8

OCLC:

784884460