Beauty as violence: ‘beautiful’ hair and the cultural violence of identity erasure

Abstract

Curious observations of hair and hairstyles worn by many women of Black African descent reveal the triumph of a Eurocentric dominant ideology of beauty. I assert in this study that the process of attaining the hegemonic ideology of 'beautiful' hair, often defined as a European and Asian texture and style of hair, is a violent journey. This study draws largely from Johan Galtung's seminal theoretical works on violence, particularly his articulation of cultural violence as a creation of ideology through psychological process of indoctrination and brainwashing, and the internalization of this process. From this theoretical framing, and a demythologization of the multiplicity and flexibility narrative of postmodern self and identity, this study examines the attitudes of young Black South African women toward their natural hair and their perception of 'beautiful' hair. Through a survey of 159 Black female students in a rural South African university with a predominantly Black student population, and face-to-face conversations with five female students, the study asserts that many Black African women's relationship with their hair is shaped by violence. The physical and cultural violence perpetuated in the quest for 'beautiful' hair is consequently creating a generational cycle of identity erasure. ARTICLE HISTORY

Social Media and the Cultural Ideology of Beauty Among Young Black Women in South Africa

“…The legacy of political and, more importantly for this study, cultural colonisation elevates closeness to European culture as ideal, while African cultural identity remain debased or relegated in cultural performances of many African youth. The performance of beauty, as seen in this study, is such an example and, as Oyedemi (2016) argues, this form of beauty performance warrants a scholarly inquiry from a postcolonial and cultural critique perspective.…”

“…Hair is both a marker of race and beauty, and it is tied to biological, political and historical processes (Patton 2006). In South Africa, many black women have embraced the global trend of wearing weaves made from synthetic or natural human hair (Oyedemi 2016), which is associated with class and a Western notion of beautiful hair. Wearing weaves of Indian, Brazilian or Peruvian origin have become a beauty trend in South Africa.…”

“…As a result, many black women wear weaves that hide their natural hair in order to achieve a specific notion of "good hair", namely shoulder-length straight hair. Oyedemi (2016) studied the concept of "beautiful" hair amongst young black South African women and found that many young black women do not wear their natural hair as a result of many stereotypes and issues with social acceptability. In fact, many young women have their hair relaxed at a very young age, some as young as three years old, in order to erase the natural texture of their hair.…”

“…In fact, many young women have their hair relaxed at a very young age, some as young as three years old, in order to erase the natural texture of their hair. This, Oyedemi (2016) argues, leads to a cultural violence of identity erasure in the pursuit of achieving an idealised body feature.…”

En búsqueda del derecho a ser: proyecto migratorio de brasileñas en A Coruña

“…En las sociedades coloniales construidas sobre la óptica patriarcal de portugueses y españoles, el cuerpo fue sexualizado, y con distintos criterios de "valor" (Oyedemi, 2016) surgiendo distintas opresiones. Mientras las mujeres indígenas, negras y mestizas fueron "inferiorizadas", culpabilizadas por los impulsos sexuales de sus violadores, las mujeres blancas, eran "virtuosas" y su sexualidad severamente controlada por estos mismos hombres en nombre de la "familia" (Stolke, 2006, p.34).…”