Identity Negotiation and Perception of Hair Essay -- African American

A womans blur is often referred to as her crown and glory. Hair is a salient physical feature film of wizs self concept and how others view their level of attractiveness. One of the study intra-prejudice amongst African Americans is sensory bull texture. This stigma is especially prevalent among African American women. For African American women, hair carries an even greater psychological complexity. first from slavery, African Americans were judged by the texture and curl pattern of their hair. For example, Blacks with lighter jumble color and straight/wavy hair had certain advantages oppose to those Blacks who possess more afro-centric features, such as darker skin and kinky hair (Myrdal, 1962 Neal & Wilson, 1989 Parrish 1944 Poussaint, 1975 Reuter, 1917). eyepatch a plethora of commentaries have been written on drear hair, hardly a(prenominal) empirical studies exist that have examined the reverberating consequences of slavery, as it relates to the western indoctr ination of hair and its impact on racial identity operator/self-concept among African American women. memorial of the Complexity of Hair among Black Women The origin of the controversy surrounding African American hair dates back to slavery. It was a major phenotypic characteristic used to classify African Americans racial identity, intelligence and attractiveness (Guthrie, 1998). European culture was used as the reference group of comparison. Whiteness became identify with all that is civilized, virtuous and beautiful, whereas Blackness was deemed as inferior, rebellious, and inadequate. Guthrie (1998) reported that the hair of the black man was wool, not hair. Subsequently, this racist ideology was internalized by many African Americans, which resulted in what Jones and Shorter-G... ...al, political and economic strides African Americans have made in society, are African American women still psychologically enslaved to their hair? The spirit of this study is to examine current perceptions of hair and its importance to racial identity and self concept among African American female college students. More specifically, this probe addresses the following research question Are perceptions of African American hair related to perceived attractiveness, self-concept, racial identity, and overall happiness? It is hypothesized that 1) African American women are more likely to perceive mainstream hair texture, such as straight, permed hair, as more attractive than natural/ kinky hair 2) An interactive effect is expected between skin-tone and hair texture on the dependent variables attractiveness, racial identity, self concept, and happiness.