Hair Matters: Beauty, Power, and Black Women's Consciousness

by Ingrid Banks

Overview

Substantive, ethnographically informed research on the politics of Black hair

Drawing on interviews with over 50 women, from teens to seniors, Hair Matters is the first book on the politics of Black hair to be based on substantive, ethnographically informed research. Focusing on the everyday discussions that Black women have among themselves and about themselves, Ingrid Banks analyzes how talking about hair reveals Black women's ideas about race, gender, sexuality, beauty, and power. Ultimately, what emerges is a survey of Black women's consciousness within both their own communities and mainstream culture at large.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814713372
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2000
Pages:	197
Sales rank:	1,012,798
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Ingrid Banks is Assistant Professor of Black Studies in the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at Virginia Tech.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction: Unhappy to Be Nappy	1
1.	Why Hair Matters: Getting to the Roots	21
2.	The Hair "Do's" and "Don'ts" of Black Womanhood	41
3.	Splitting Hairs: Power, Choice, and Femininity	69
4.	Women and Girls Speak Out: Five Hair-Raising Sessions	99
5.	Black Hair, 1990s Style	139
	Conclusion	147
Appendix I	Methods, Methodology, and the Shaping of Hair Matters	157
Appendix II	Defining Black Hair and Hairstyling Practices	171
Appendix III	Interviewee Demographics	175
	Notes	179
	References	185
	Index	193
	About the Author	197

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

-,

"Introduces the audience to consider the value of the insider/outsider relationship in another's culture"

-National Women's Studies Association Journal

Editorial Reviews

"Grab your copy at your local bookseller and get hip to what your hair is saying to others with regards to beauty, culture and politics. Learn about how culture has a love for coifs, because after all, so do you!"

Sophisticate's Black Hair Styles Guide

"Long hair in the 60s, Afros in the early 70s, bobs in the 80s, fuschia in the 90s. Hair is one of the first attributes to catch our eye, not only because it reflects perceptions of attractivenes or unattractiveness, but also because it conveys important political, cultural, and social meanings, particularly in relation to group identity. Given that mainstream images of beauty do not privilege dark skin and tightly coiled hair, African American women's experience provides a starkly different perspective on the meaning of hair in social identity."

National Women's Studies Association Journal

Introduces the audience to consider the value of the insider/outsider relationship in another's culture.

Women Studies Association Journal

For this discussion on the politics of black hair, Banks, a professor of black studies at Virginia Tech, interviewed over 50 women, from teens to seniors, to determine how hair shapes ideas about race, gender, sexuality, beauty, and power. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"Long hair in the 60s, Afros in the early 70s, bobs in the 80s, fuschia in the 90s. Hair is one of the first attributes to catch our eye, not only because it reflects perceptions of attractivenes or unattractiveness, but also because it conveys important political, cultural, and social meanings, particularly in relation to group identity. Given that mainstream images of beauty do not privilege dark skin and tightly coiled hair, African American women's experience provides a starkly different perspective on the meaning of hair in social identity."

-National Women's Studies Association Journal

"Grab your copy at your local bookseller and get hip to what your hair is saying to others with regards to beauty, culture and politics. Learn about how culture has a love for coifs, because after all, so do you!"-Sophisticate's Black Hair Styles Guide

From the Publisher