African-American Culture

788 Words4 Pages
The African-American culture has been around since slavery began in America. There’s an evident difference in African-American character, color, and their hairstyles, that seem to stand out to the people the most. From the different textures, to the wide range of hairstyle names that have been given throughout the ages; African-American hairstyles carry the blessing and the burden of standing out and being different. These hairstyles have been culturally appropriated by other groups in society, but the “real thing” is that it still belongs to the original creators. For centuries, African- American hair were called these names that were degrading that would potentially cause low-self esteem. Some names that were commonly targeted towards…show more content…
These appliances first started out as two hot rods or plates, that pressed out the hair through extreme high temperatures. As technology advanced the flat irons were made out of ceramic and eventually were electrical to adjust the temperatures and to cause less damage to the hair. Certain African- Americans could change their racial classification depending on the texture of their hair. One common test to see the proximity of being white , was testing a pencil through the hair to see if it would hold or fall out. If the pencil fell out of your hair you were close to being white, but if it stayed in its place you were classified as African-…show more content…
The typical hairstyles worn by African- Americans are braids, twists, cornrows, and dreadlocks. These hairstyles are viewed as inappropriate or distracting especially in interviews; it's more acceptable to show up to an interview with straight hair, a style with less volume and less aesthetics. Outside of the professional environment, a famous celebrity Kylie Jenner displayed her new hairstyle of cornrows in 2016 on instagram calling them “birthday braids” ;There was an uproar because of the cultural appropriation presented in the picture she posted. When a non-black or caucasian wears the exact same hairstyle it is seen as trendy and urban. Kylie was also seen wearing the African-American hairstyle of faux loc, similar to the look of dreadlocks, for her cover in Teen Vogue. Once again it’s seen as trendy and harmless, and she isn’t the only one to show cultural appropriation freely, not knowing the history of our hairstyles and the significance behind each hairstyle. When African-Americans tried to express themselves through different hairstyles they were punished , told no, and that it looked messy and unkempt, but when other non- blacks do the same action it’s repercussions do not share the same results. Instead, the dominant society groups see’s it more as sharing different African-American hairstyles not so much of stealing them, therefore, it’s okay
Open Document