Annotated

Thesis:

According to industry statistics, Black women purchase 80% more hair care merchandise than any other ethnic group. We are raised in a society where a picture of what beauty looks like is plaster all over; is that what we are trying to convey or  this a disgusted form of self hatred and finding ways to fixed what we seem to see as a flaw. And no one really knows the true darkness behind hair politics.

1. R Berry, Esther. “The zombie commodity: hair and the politics of its globalization..” Postcolonial Studies . Vol. 11.Issue 1 (2008): p63-84. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.

 

This piece provides historical view of hair from colonial American and on going to the hair in media and even in folktales like Rapunzel. An overview of industry but also discussing society’s views on hair in the US, Europe and India. Berry conveys the importance of consumers being aware of the hair industry own profitability to the cost of getting the hair. She discusses the wages of the hair and the huge markup price of human Indian hair. Apart from the historical aspects of the hair and the industry the piece further analyzes how this industry has become a global market using Great Lengths an international hair company that sells Indian hair extensions all over from the US to China. The company had developed a process which allows the hair to mimic the person origin. This journal in detail helps the reader understand how hair becomes a huge phenomenon.

2. Haanyama, Mazuba. “Untangling the Knots: Understanding the Hair Politics of Black Women.” Web log       post. Http://thefeministwire.com/. N.p., 9 Apr. 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.             <http://thefeministwire.com/2013/04/untangling-the-knots-understanding-the-hair-politics-of-            black-women-revisited/>.

 

This article provides in the understanding of the hair politics of black femininity in a post-Apartheid context. The author presents a thesis that black women’s hair is political when looking both as power struggle and negotiations. Haanyama looks further then hair as just an appearance and looks into the affects of it when considering racial identities, class positions, and gendered constructions. In the reading states conversation about hair cannot be separated and should be considered intertwined with understandings of the body class system and gendered bodies.  She analyzes then perceptions of beauty, and contextual analyses of place and time. This works as a primary source Haamyama explains in the reading it intrigued her being of African Descent the history and story behind the Politics of black hair. She also conducts interview and speaks to women of their insight on hair.

3. Khaleeli, Homa. “The Hair Trade’s Dirty Secret.” The Guardian. N.p., 28 Oct. 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.   <http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/28/hair-extension-global-trade-secrets>.

This piece differs from the other journals I pulled from its more of an article journalism wrote about her finding when on a project to cover the European Hair trade. Homa speaks about the mindset of these people who own the hair companies and those of the women who go in willing to cut their hair for pay. She speaks on how controversial women’s hair has become from religion to even pop culture today. More in depth Homa looks in to statistics showing Last year HM Revenue and Customs recorded in UK more than £38m worth of hair, entering the country making the UK the third biggest importer of human hair in the world. Homa provides more personally experience while witness the buildup of this Multibillion dollar industry.

4. L Robinson, Cynthia. “Hair as Race. Why “Good Hair” may be bad for black Females.” Howard Journal of communication. 22.4 (2011): 353-376. Web.

This journal examines the relationship between race, hair texture and black female beauty. This study was made using narratives from 38 African American females to communicate the value of hair and what is “good hair”. This journal also pulls examples and images from the Chris Rock’s movie Good Hair (2009) to illustrate the relationship of hair and race. It looks deeper into each races view on hair and its importance or lack of importance to each race. Robinson speaks about different hair textures and what exactly is good hair and which ones do people frown against. More into the piece she questions is this a form of self hatred and how does centuries of slavery and lack of African identity cause us to dislike our own blackness.

5. Jeffries, Rhonda, and Devair Jeffries. “Cultural Signification Through Reader’s Theatre: An Analysis Of African American Girls And Their Hair.”Measurement Science Review 13.3 (2013): 1-16. Academic Search Complete. Web.

 

This interesting piece took different route instead the conventional journal about hair was more of an analysis of children’s text that addresses beauty standards. Discussing hair norms and what images literature portrays to children but more in particular African American females. The article goes into how the curriculum, cultural power of hair and impact on African American girls intertwined.  This piece looks greatly into a children book Bintou’s Braids.