The Appropriation of Black Hairstyles Today
African Americans style their hair in different protective styles, specific to their hair type and unique to their culture. Cultural appropriation is defined as “the adoption or co-opting, usually without acknowledgment, of cultural identity markers associated with or originating in minority communities by people or communities with relatively privileged status” (Dictionary.com). The cultural appropriation of black hairstyles by white people has become normalized in our society today. In his essay, “The Skin We Ink: Tattoos, Literacy, and a New English Education,” David Kirkland defines literacy as “taking shape within ‘a zone of constant struggle between dominant and subordinate’ causes” (Kirkland 160). I understand this definition as communal literacy. Literacy is not limited or subjected to written or verbal forms. It can include visual forms of expression. Historically, black hairstyles represent a form of literacy among the black community. Black people have and continue to use their hairstyles as a means of self-expression, a way of imposing their identity in a white-dominated society. In terms of communal literacy, the cultural appropriation of black hairstyles by white people diminishes the hairstyles’ cultural and historical value.
From the moment Europeans brought Africans to America in the 1600s, white people taught them that their blackness and kinky hair were symbols of ugliness. The negative connotations and social barriers that black hairstyles created forced black people to give up their intricate hairstyles that symbolized their African culture. With the emergence of the natural hair movement in the 60s/70s, these hairstyles, such as afros, Bantu knots, Fulani braids, and dreadlocks, became re-popularized among the black community(Griffin par. 5). Black protective hairstyles and kinky hair became symbols of perseverance and pride in their black skin.
As these hairstyles became re-popularized, white people deemed them “ghetto” and “unprofessional” in many different settings. In the workforce and schools, laws prohibited African Americans from wearing their natural hair or protective hairstyles, both hairstyles strongly associated with the black identity (Griffin par. 26). To succeed in the workforce or to be socially accepted, African American women have to emulate white traits, such as straight hair (Griffin par. 10). These are still issues black people face daily; however, black people have worked and fought for their right to wear their natural hair styled the way they want.
The Kardashians, specifically Kim Kardashian, are known to appropriate black culture. They often wear black hairstyles as an aesthetic and are credited for their popularization. Not only are they privileged to be credited for them, but they can wear them without prejudice associated with the hairstyles. Many people have accused Kim of appropriating Fulani braids, a black protective style.
Fulani braids originated from Fulani women in West Africa. In Africa, hairstyles had a social and cultural significance to Africans. It symbolized your age, class, religion, and marital status (Ebena par. 2). Today, black women wear Fulani braids as a creative look as well as to protect their hair. Figure 1 depicts a black woman wearing Fulani Braids.
This image showcases Fulani braids and how black women style them. Whether the woman styles these braids to protect her hair or the aesthetic, she expresses her culture and identity through her braids.
Figure two depicts two white women wearing Fulani braids. Pictured on the left is white actress Bo Derek and on the right is a screenshot of a Snapchat story from celebrity Kim Kardashian. For context, Kim Kardashian captioned her Snapchat story “Bo Derek braids”(Prinzivalli Par. 1).
This image, and Kim’s caption, exhibits cultural appropriation. Kim crediting the hairstyle to white actress Bo Derek indicates that she doesn’t understand the braids’ cultural history. Kim wearing the braids is offensive to the black community because white people have marginalized black women for wearing these hairstyles for years. To be accepted by society, we have to go through time-consuming and harmful measures to straighten our hair. When we do wear our natural hair, white people label us with negative stereotypes. A white celebrity can wear the same hairstyle without repercussions, perpetuates racial stereotypes, and subconsciously teaches black people that their hair is ugly. This is because when Kardashian styles her hair in Fulani braids, it’s trendy, but when a black woman wears a hairstyle associated with her culture, she is ghetto and unprofessional. Kardashian’s action ultimately demeans African Americans’ culture and history because African American women continue to be marginalized for embracing their own cultural identity. At the same time, white people can wear the same style without penalty.
In addition to Fulani braids, many different civilizations have worn dreadlocks; however, they seem to have originated in ancient Egypt (Gabbara Par. 8). Rastafarians from the Rastafari Movement, an Africa-centered belief system, popularized dreadlocks because they wore them to symbolize a lion’s mane and the Lion of Judah’s return as Jesus (Gabbara Par. 13). Black people predominantly wear dreadlocks. Like Kardashian, many accused Marc Jacobs of culturally appropriating dreadlocks. Figure 3 depicts several white models styled in Marc Jacobs’ fashion line wearing colorfully hand-dyed wool dreadlocks(Smith).
While Jacobs claims to have drawn inspiration from non-black people who dreadlock their hair, he appropriated black culture(Smith). Many people saw Jacobs’ majority white models styled in dreadlocks as high fashion when white people label black people who wear this hairstyle as unprofessional and dirty. Legally, employers can deny African Americans a job because of their dreadlocks. On Sept. 15, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the banning of locs in the workplace is nondiscriminatory and legal(Gabbara). Thus, when white people wear dreadlocks as an aesthetic without being stereotyped, it demeans the style’s cultural and historical value. Jacobs has profited from a hairstyle associated with black culture and identity and continuously stereotyped/ridiculed for. Furthermore, it reiterates racial stereotypes and causes black people to change the way they view themselves.
Figure 4 depicts a meme that claims how, when a person of power, often white, wears a black hairstyle, it is seen as high fashion, but when a black person wears the hairstyle, she is labeled by society as ghetto.
This meme exemplifies how the person of power or dominating culture won’t take on the negative stereotypes that come with the hairstyle. As a result of this, it contributes to our oppression and affects how black people view themselves and manage their hair. Black hairstyles are black people’s culture; it isn’t something you can take on and off. Thus, when a white girl wears the same hairstyle, she exploits black culture. This ultimately ignores the years of oppression black people have overcome to be able to embrace these hairstyles.
Moreover, cultural appropriation is a huge norm in today’s society. The kinky hair and hairstyles that were once deemed ugly by non-POC are now desirable traits by all cultures yet are only accepted when worn by white people. When white people style their hair in black hairstyles, it essentially trivializes the everyday struggle of being an African American. It not only perpetuates racial stereotypes and systemic racism, but it impacts the way black people view themselves and wear their hair. It teaches black women that their traits are beautiful on white women, but not themselves. Cultural appropriation diminishes the cultural and historical value behind black protective styles, ultimately affecting black people’s ability to interact and communicate through their hair management. To avoid cultural appropriation, people need to educate themselves on the cultural history behind the hairstyles and respect those who created it. Until Black people can freely wear their natural hair without being marginalized, we cannot praise or credit non-POC for popularizing the same hairstyle.
Works Cited
“Definition of Cultural Appropriation | Dictionary.Com.” Www.Dictionary.Com, www.dictionary.com/browse/cultural-appropriation?s=ts. Accessed 5 Nov. 2020.
“Fulani Braids | Ebena Hair Professionals.” Ebena.Net, 3 July 2018, ebena.net/style/tribal-fulani-braids/6685. Accessed 5 Nov. 2020.
“Fulani Braids.” Pinterest, Oct. 2020, www.pinterest.com/pin/513340057531583504/?d=t&mt=login. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.
Gabbara, Princess. “The History of Dreadlocks.” EBONY, 18 Oct. 2016, www.ebony.com/style/history-dreadlocks/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.
Griffin, Chante. “How Natural Black Hair at Work Became a Civil Rights Issue | JSTOR Daily.” JSTOR Daily, 3 July 2019, daily.jstor.org/how-natural-black-hair-at-work-became-a-civil-rights-issue/. Accessed 1 Nov. 2020.
JP Yim, and Getty Images. “Marc Jacobs Spring 2017 Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week September 2016,” Time, 21 Sept. 2016, time.com/4501037/cultural-appropriation-marc-jacobs-dreadlocks/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.
Kirkland, David. “The Skin We Ink: Tattoos, Literacy, and a New English Education.” Visions and Cyphers: Explorations of Literacy, Discourse, and Black Writing Experiences, edited by David F. Green, Jr., Inprint Editions, 2016, pp. 156–174.
Orion Pictures, et al. “Kim Kardashian ‘Bo-Derek’ Braids,” Cosmopolitan, 29 Jan. 2018, www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/a15914974/kim-kardashian-cultural-appropriation-cornrows-bo-derek-braids/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.
Prinzivalli, Leah. “Kim Kardashian Responds to the Backlash Over Her Fulani Braids.” Allure, 20 June 2018, www.allure.com/story/kim-kardashian-explains-why-she-continues-to-wear-braids#:~:text=Kim%20Kardashian%20West%20made%20headlines. Accessed 5 Nov. 2020.
Skoufatoglou, Nelly. “Cultural Appropriation Meme,” Neos Kosmos, 2 June 2017, neoskosmos.com/en/42058/hoops-baby-hairs-cornrows-when-the-cultural-appropriation-fury-goes-too-far-but-forgets-to-look-back/.
Smith, Cherise. “Is Cultural Appropriation Always Wrong?” Time, 21 Sept. 2016, time.com/4501037/cultural-appropriation-marc-jacobs-dreadlocks/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.
