Since I write about African-American natural hair all the time, I figured I should post something about the Glamour hair debacle. For those of you who don’t know what’s been going down, (former) Glamour magazine editor Ashley Baker gave a slide show to some NYC lawyers on the “Do’s and Don’t of Corporate Fashion.” Here are some notes from the show (from Jezebel):
First slide up: an African American woman sporting an Afro. A real no-no, announced the 'Glamour' editor to the 40 or so lawyers in the room. As for dreadlocks: How truly dreadful! The style maven said it was 'shocking' that some people st ill think it 'appropriate' to wear those hairstyles at the office. 'No offense,' she sniffed, but those 'political' hairstyles really have to go.
Here's more information on what actually went down: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1188161099761
No but seriously, this is the curly beautiful hair we were born with and we can wear it in however style we please. I say, as long as you take care of your hair (in whatever style you fancy), you’ll look great. And if your company has a problem with that, well maybe you’re just too good for them. In fact, you definitely are, so kick 'em to the curb.
I sent an article on the issue around to some friends and family, and wanted to post two responses.
My mother’s take (an African-American professor of linguistics):
I was unaware of this issue, but it's come up at various times in the past, since the "black-is-beautiful" era. What I remember about those times is that the "majority" society was pretty freaked out by afros, especially the really really big ones. Then more recently, the braids seemed to freak people out -- they were deemed inappropriate at the workplace. I don't know what people say about dreads these days -- probably the same.
But here's what I think (and not surprisingly):
Are these "inappropriate at the workplace" type comments racist? Of course they are. Such comments reveal an indirect racism. But it's racist nonetheless. The people who say such things are not going to come right out and say something really stupid, so instead they attack peripheral attributes -- note these attributes involve CHOOSING something to enhance a nearly inalienable attribute -- "natural" hair; language.
Reminds me of dialect stuff. People say African-American english is inappropriate in the workplace. No one, as far as I know, castigated Clinton or Carter for their southern dialects, i.e. that it is/was inappropriate for the workplace. They chose to speak the way they speak while in office. Big deal. But let an African American say something like "he be late," and everybody gets bent out of shape assigning all sorts of negativity to the speaker. Remember the whole Oakland school board controversy a few years back?
With hair, I think what's going on is that some people are freaked out when African-Americans choose NOT to adopt "majority" ways. So speaking AA (African-American) English, or wearing dreads, or dashikis appear to them to be political, i.e. threatening.
What an odd locution -- "political." What could it possibly mean? In other words, to say that dreads/breads are "political" seems to me to mask something deeper, something insidious and ugly that the person who says it really doesn't want to expose, at least not publicly.
Also when did "racially insensitive" replace "racist?"
My boyfriend’s take (a white male):
I like afros and dreads when worn with dignity. It’s a black pride thing, in my opinion.
Other interesting opinions:
Afrobella
Jezebel
Ask This Black Woman
What do you think, readers? Racist or not? Does natural hair = Black pride?
As racist as I know that comment is, in reality, that is the general mentality in corporate America but no one says it. The key to advancement seems to be assimilation, at least when you're on the bottom rungs. If there were many black women in the higher positions, this would be different. It's hard enough to find a black or female mentor on top, let alone both together. I came to Boston to job hunt with the intention of keeping my hair natural. I relaxed it 2 weeks after coming here out of frustration. I went on yelp and called everyone I found there to get it straightened with heat and the general response was "we don't work with THAT texture.'" I ended up going to a Brazilian place though it was no match for the humidity. Maybe if I ever live in LA...
Posted by: audrey | October 12, 2007 at 10:57 AM
Interesting post..
If it helps at all, Audrey... there is a website that lists businesses in all the neighborhoods in the area. You could probably find a great hair salon there.
www.citysquares.com
It is really helpful when you need to find something local.
Posted by: S | October 14, 2007 at 07:56 PM
Doing some research and came across this post and I know I'm late on this but...
Your boyfriend's comment is perplexing. "...when worn with dignity" What does that mean? Unless I am misunderstanding something that is a sort of sound bite taken from the context of a larger more critical analysis of the issue, I'm (I'd be) suspect. Further "It's a black pride thing..." Yikes. Good Luck!
Posted by: rmf | April 12, 2008 at 01:11 PM
Im late too :-D Only because I haven't read Glamour in a while and this issued was addressed in the letters to the editor. Apparently, one black woman (Sirsi Millicent: likely not her real name) agreed with Ashley's comments. This really isn't surprising to me. You tend to get more backlash from black people than from whites when you go natural. I think they're just jealous that they had to fry n' dye to get their promotions, and we don't. Sucks to be you Sirsi ;-D
Posted by: katmandu | April 13, 2008 at 10:27 AM
carter and clinton speak STANDARD AMERICAN ENGLISH with a southern ACCENT.
'accent' and 'dialect' are NOT synonyms.
"he be late." is grammatically incorrect and announces to the world that the speaker is a MORON. the fact that many black people are morons, doesn't give ebonics legitimacy in the workplace.
c'mon. you can't really be that stupid, can you?
Posted by: mobama | May 07, 2008 at 09:42 PM
"mobama" -
I would have responded to this comment directly, but apparently you are too cowardly to comment with a real e-mail address.
African-American Vernacular English is in fact a rule-governed dialect. Don’t believe me? Ask a linguist.
I’ll refrain from commenting on your overt, sickening racism. I’d advise that you turn off your television and get some perspective. That’s really all I have to say to you. Ever.
Posted by: RyanB | May 08, 2008 at 02:01 PM
Very much Interesting!
Doing these type of research can make a lot of changes and I feel to go ahead with these type of Various styles.
Posted by: Messina Steed | July 22, 2008 at 07:34 AM
thanks for sharing about it.
Posted by: Smertebehandling | September 22, 2009 at 02:22 AM