Natural Type I & Type II

I knocked out 2(!) interviews today and I have 2 more planned tonight, give me a handclap because I'm on a roll:) While gathering my list of interviewees, I've been stressing over finding enough "naturals" to interview. Both of my interviews today were with women who are "natural", but not in the sense I usually think of. Both women have what would be considered "good" hair by most members of the African-American community. My project is centered around the notion of good hair, and yet I ignored what good hair is defined as in the black community. The women I interviewed are natural, in the sense that they have never had relaxers, but they aren't considered natural in the "traditional" sense. Most of the time when women have to declare "I am natural" it is because they have coarse, kinky hair. Women who are natural because they have "good" hair are not usually considered natural. This "revelation" has caused me to recognize how my "preconceived" ideas may limit research. This new found information has caused me to wonder how I can define this new category into my research because Type I natural, or good hair, is not stigmatized in African-American community. African-Americans come in many flavors with an array of ethnic heritages, which is often evident in the variety of hair textures seen within the African-American community. Good hair is celebrated in the African-American community, and the premise of my research is that natural hair is stigmatized among members of the African-American community and even society as a whole. This development adds an interesting twist to my research question and has opened a new area for exploration.

Once you go natural you can't go back???

Recently I told a friend I am considering straightening my hair, but not with chemicals just a simple flat iron. She told me she doesn't think this would be a good idea because it goes against everything I believe in. This statement suggests that how you wear your hair reflects a person's worldview and is also a lifestyle choice. I agree that a person's hairstyle preference may also relate to their lifestyle choice. For instance, some African-American women don't leave the house on rainy days because of water's threat of returning their relaxed hair to its natural state. But, I don't consider my choice to wear my hair natural as a worldview. I think my friend's statement implies that if I wear my hair straight I will be saying that "I want to look white" and by wearing my hair natural I am rebelling against the system. BUT SHE WEARS HER HAIR STRAIGHT... I guess she's letting me know we believe in different things also:) I think my intentions have been misunderstood by a lot of people. I do not think there is anything wrong with a person choosing to wear their hair straight, because as India Arie sang "I AM NOT MY HAIR." A reiteration my initial purpose: Black hair should not be stigmatized. I believe the stigmatization of black hair makes black hair political. Telling little girls that they need straight hair in order to succeed in the world and that their "nappy" hair is inferior to straight flowing hair is what makes hair political. The history of denying black women the right to even reveal their natural hair, being forced to conceal their "naps" beneath "Aunt Jemima scarves" is what makes hair political. Choosing to straighten my hair one day for "something different" in no way goes against the idea that black hair is JUST BLACK HAIR, nothing more nothing less. By using a flat iron in order to wear my hair straight for a couple of days is like deciding to wear a tank top over a graphic tee, just another way to accessorize for the day.

Interviews

I'm still scheduling people for interviews. I had two interviews lined up for last week, but one person dropped at the last minute but I was still able to interview one person. Now, I just have to transcribe the interview and compare it to my previous interviews. With the exception of one person, all of my interviews thus far have been with women in their early 20's. I realize that I need to find more age ranges to gain a better understanding of how beauty ideas vary with age. I have an interview lined up for Thursday and hopely I can schedule more between now and tomorrow. So far, I have interviewed two women who wear their hair natural and two women who wear their hair relaxed. The responses have been somewhat similiar, although the women wear their hair differently. I think my interviews will be more telling once I have more of a variety.

Updates

It has been a while since I last blogged, but there has been a lot of work in the background. I attempted to organize a focus group, with young college aged African-American women and older career oriented women, but I was not able to compliment everyone's schedule. I have decided to revert to the individual interview format because it will be easy to work around people's schedule. I have an interview scheduled for today and Friday and I am in the process of scheduling more for the weekend. I have also read more literature on the topic of beauty and hair in the African-American community. The authors who I have read contribute the stigmatization of African features to slavery. I will explore this more in depth in a seperate blog, but I realize it will be a fundamental part of my final paper. I have also been searching for statistics related to African-Americans spending habits compared to other ethnicities. I believe this will be a good link for establishing the issue of beauty among the African-American community.

Selling Beauty...

I've started reading a new book Style and Beauty... So far, the discussion is about the impact of advertising on the African-American community in the early 20's. An interesting fact is that white owned companies made up fictious characters and fronts to suggest they were black owned and influence black patronage. As I read this I thought about the Dr. Miracle commercials and I did some research into the company. Dr. Miracle commercials and products state they are black owned and used by Dr. Miracle's family, but actually the company is owned by a successful white businessman. Interesting to see that the marketing techniques from the early 20's are still present today. I have also been working on a focus group for next week with black female Centenary College students.