Sunday, 23 August 2015

African Hairstyles


Hairstyles
definition:-

a style of cutting, arranging, or combing the hair; hairdo; coiffure. Also,hair'style".
According to me:-
   
Hairstyle gives a new look to our personality and it increases confidence too.



what's hairdressing?

  • Its the art of arranging hair.

Hairstyles along history: social and cultural significance
It's been a signifier of:
  • Class
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Authority and power


GENERAL OVERVIEW
>Necessity to cut or confine the hair to keep it out of the way
>Personal adornment
>Status and Age
- Primitive men: fastened bones, feathers and other objects.
>Why ?
   Impress and Frighten Enemy
- Noble Rank: long hair.
- Noble Rank after the conquest:  short hair
-Boys in ancient Greece cut their hair
-Hindu boys shaved their heads when they reached adolescence
• Religious Significance

-   the shaved heads of Christian and Buddhist monks: renunciation of the world;
-   England in the 17th century: cropped hair and long curling locks
• Last changes in hairstyles
     • Influence of fashion
     -    Changes through the years
-    Class
-Today: women and men in all classes can choose the style and colour of their own hair, or of a wig

Afro textured hair
      Afro-textured hair is a term used to refer to the natural hair texture of certain populations in Africa, the African diaspora, Australia, and Asia, when this hair has not been altered by hot combs, flat irons, or chemicals (through perming, relaxation, or straightening). Each strand of this hair type grows in a tiny, spring-like helix shape. The overall effect is such that, despite relatively fewer hair shafts compared to straight, wavy or curly hair,afro-textured hair appears and feels denser.

Politics of Black hair
      It became a fundamental tool of the Black movement in America, and “hair came to symbolize either a continued move toward integration in the American political system or a growing cry for Black power and nationalism.”Prior to this, the idealized Black person (especially Black women) “had many Eurocentric features, including hairstyles.” However, during the movement, the Black community endeavoured to define their own ideals and beauty standards and hair became a central icon which was “promoted as a way of challenging mainstream standards regarding hair.” During this time, black hair “was at its height of politicization,”and wearing an Afro was an easily distinguishable physical expression of black pride and the rejection of societal norms. Jesse Jackson, a political activist and well-known cultural icon, says that “the way [he] wore [his] hair was an expression of the rebellion of the time”.


Modern perception and controversies
      During August 2007, American Lawyer Magazine reported that an unnamed junior Glamour Magazine staffer did a presentation on the "Do's and Don'ts of Corporate Fashion" forCleary Gottlieb, a New York City law firm. Her slide show included her negative comments about black women wearing natural hairstyles in the workplace, calling them "shocking," "inappropriate," and "political." Both the law firm and Glamour Magazine issued apologies to the staff.
      In 2009, Chris Rock produced Good Hair, a film which addresses a number of issues pertaining to African-American hair. He explores the styling industry, the variety of styles now acceptable in society for African-American women's hair, and the relations of these to African-American culture.
      The Kenya model Ajuma Nasenyana has criticized a trend in her native Kenya that rejects the indigenous Black African physical standards of beauty in favour of those of other communities.
What does this show us?
Different people throughout the world have different ideas of what beauty is
One is not necessarily better than the other
Your hairstyle is not the only way to look great