(“Race Relations 101” isn’t exactly the title I’m looking for. Suggestions for better things to call this series would be much appreciated.)
The issues surrounding “ethnic” hair in general, and black hair specifically, come up pretty frequently in discussions about people’s experiences of race. It intersects with feminist concerns about beauty culture, hierarchies and colonial issues, and the difficulty of conveying lived experiences, to name a few issues. I’ll start with those, and work out from there.
This is going to be slanted toward the issue of black hair, both because I myself am black (well, black-Japanese, but I definitely have stereotypically black hair), and because much of what I’ve found that has focused on hair has been in that vein. If anyone has come across (or written) anything they would like to have included (particularly on the issue of asian hair, which I find least mentioned), please comment about it or otherwise let me know so that I can add it in.
White hair stories are also welcomed, but I would like to preserve this space for those that truly intersect with the issues laid out. If you have a story that you would like to share, but which does not really hit any of the major issues I lay out, please leave it in my Open Thread. If I get enough stories, I will write up a corresponding post about that over at Feline Formal Shorts.
Read More…Read More…