Embracing natural hair

This paper reports on the use of online blogs as spaces where Black South African women create sisterhoods and self-define. Using online blogs, the women learn about natural black hair, affirm blackness and resist hierarchal ideologies of beautiful hair. Whereas predominantly, existing studies find...

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Main Author: Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2022-10-01
Series:Communicare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1534
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author Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani
author_facet Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani
author_sort Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani
collection DOAJ
description This paper reports on the use of online blogs as spaces where Black South African women create sisterhoods and self-define. Using online blogs, the women learn about natural black hair, affirm blackness and resist hierarchal ideologies of beautiful hair. Whereas predominantly, existing studies find that media representations of beauty and beautiful hair are defined via whiteness and that Black women also participate in self-production in ways that suggest an acceptance of the hierarchy that locates Black looks at the margins, very little research has been done about Black women who resist the hegemonic representation of and assumed superior status of white looks in general and flowing hair specifically. Drawing on two theories: whiteness and Africana womanism, and using purposive sampling, this study examined 17 qualitative interviews with Black South African women and Chocolate Hair Sisters, Natural Sisters, and FroChic three online blogs started by Black South African women advocating for natural hair. The findings indicate that online spaces have become sites of resistance, learning, positive Black affirmation, and support for and by Black women – sisterhood nets. In interviews, women narrated stories of how they had to learn to nurture and love their hair, something they were not taught from an early age. The absence of knowledge about dealing with natural hair led women to the online blogs where they found e-learning communities of sisters. This study’s focus is how social hierarchies of appearance are contested online and overflow to offline spaces to affirm physical features of a race long-marginalised in social understandings of beauty.
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publishDate 2022-10-01
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spelling doaj-art-bab2531db98f4cf7b22b451c087abd0c2025-01-20T08:56:30ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0138210.36615/jcsa.v38i2.1534Embracing natural hairLindani Mbunyuza-Memani0Southern Illinois University This paper reports on the use of online blogs as spaces where Black South African women create sisterhoods and self-define. Using online blogs, the women learn about natural black hair, affirm blackness and resist hierarchal ideologies of beautiful hair. Whereas predominantly, existing studies find that media representations of beauty and beautiful hair are defined via whiteness and that Black women also participate in self-production in ways that suggest an acceptance of the hierarchy that locates Black looks at the margins, very little research has been done about Black women who resist the hegemonic representation of and assumed superior status of white looks in general and flowing hair specifically. Drawing on two theories: whiteness and Africana womanism, and using purposive sampling, this study examined 17 qualitative interviews with Black South African women and Chocolate Hair Sisters, Natural Sisters, and FroChic three online blogs started by Black South African women advocating for natural hair. The findings indicate that online spaces have become sites of resistance, learning, positive Black affirmation, and support for and by Black women – sisterhood nets. In interviews, women narrated stories of how they had to learn to nurture and love their hair, something they were not taught from an early age. The absence of knowledge about dealing with natural hair led women to the online blogs where they found e-learning communities of sisters. This study’s focus is how social hierarchies of appearance are contested online and overflow to offline spaces to affirm physical features of a race long-marginalised in social understandings of beauty. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1534Black South African womensisterhoods and self-definenatural haironline blogsresistanceBlack affirmation
spellingShingle Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani
Embracing natural hair
Communicare
Black South African women
sisterhoods and self-define
natural hair
online blogs
resistance
Black affirmation
title Embracing natural hair
title_full Embracing natural hair
title_fullStr Embracing natural hair
title_full_unstemmed Embracing natural hair
title_short Embracing natural hair
title_sort embracing natural hair
topic Black South African women
sisterhoods and self-define
natural hair
online blogs
resistance
Black affirmation
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1534
work_keys_str_mv AT lindanimbunyuzamemani embracingnaturalhair