On a global level, people—especially women of color—have been traditionally
discriminated for their textured hair types (e.g. wavy, curly, and afro) in terms of
beauty, worth, professional/work ethic, and personal hygiene. The classification of women based on the type of hair that grows from their scalp is an outdated and dangerous expectation that has allowed the sale of permanent
chemical hair straighteners—that can cause third-degree scalp burns and alopecia—to flourish. Fortunately, the rise of the Natural Hair Movement has confronted hair texture discrimination by teaching people how to care for non-straight hair types that have been traditionally labeled as 'difficult' to style and maintain. In an attempt to educate women from Latin American and American backgrounds about the natural hair movement,
I have created an Instagram account highlighting my natural hair journey and the hair discrimination I have experienced as an Afro Latina, general natural hair care and tips, and information about the natural hair movement and its activists. My project will feature photos, videos, and captions in both the Spanish and English language to widen my audience, and will use Spanish, English, and Portuguese hashtags to increase exposure. By posting polls and questions on my stories, my followers will be able to interact, share their own natural hair experiences, and learn about the issues faced by women with natural hair. Although my project is not directly related to Clinical Laboratory Science, it does touch open hair discrimination, which is often experienced by jobseekers during interviews and in the workplace in the male and generally European-dominated science field.
The inspirations behind my project are Daily Curls and Miss_Rizos, who are Dominican natural hair YouTubers. Daily, a blogger, Photographer, and Instagram beauty guru, became natural after her Dominican-Mexican daughters were bullied for having curly hair and asked her to permanently straighten their hair like her own mane. In order to show her daughters that curly hair is beautiful, she chopped off her chemically relaxed hair and grew out her curls. Daily encourages women to go ‘natural’ and break cultural beauty standards. Miss_Rizos, also known as Carolina Contreras, is a self-image activist and the founder of the first natural hair salon in the Dominican Republic. She joined the natural hair movement in New York and was one of the first Dominican women to introduce the movement to the country. Although she was considered controversial in the Dominican Republic, she had grown her activist brand and encouraged her siblings, one of which became the first Miss Dominican Republic with natural hair, to go natural. In terms of art and activism, several Instagram accounts, have also inspired my project.
Quillqueen is a paper-artist who makes portraits of colored women using rolled pieces of paper. Although she originally limited her portraits to straight hair, she solely does textured hair types.
Straycurls is an Indian illustrator who makes comic strips about issues faced by women with curly hair. Although her culture promotes straight hair, she proudly maintains her curled tresses and educates people about life with curly hair.
Nicholle Kobi is an
Afro-French, New York and Paris-based artist who makes illustrations about colored women with natural hair. She focuses on giving such women representation from various backgrounds and situations, including those with disabilities, commuters, and women involved in the fashion industry.
Crespos_divinos is an Instagram account hosted by a pair of Brazilian friends who discuss issues faced by women with natural hair including shrinkage, DIY hair treatments, and discrimination. They produce their own art and repost other artists’ work that are related to their content.
Nemaiza is an English portrait artist and avid reader. Although she has not stated if she is involved in the natural hair movement, her portraits feature women from various ethnicities and hair types.
After conducting research about the natural hair movement, art and activism, I have decided to name my Instagram account ‘
Afropositio,’ which is a conjugation of the words ‘afro’ for my Afro Latina background and curly afro, and “apropositio,” which is the Spanish word for ‘done on purpose.’
Afroposito literally translates to afro with a purpose and means that I have purposely decided to celebrate my culture and background by wearing my hair natural. To weave in art and activism, I will be using my
modern-calligraphy handlettering skills to make posts highlighting assumptions about natural hair in the form of 'protest signs' in which I will hold index cards with a statement about natural hair against my face in both Spanish and English. I will also take advantage of story highlights to keep a visual folder of polls and opinions about natural hair.
Works Cited
Afropositio (2018). Instagram. Retrieved on October 29, 2018 from
https://www.instagram.com/afroposito/?hl=en
Crespos_divinos (2018). Instagram. Retrieved on October 29, 2018 from
Nemaiza (2018). Retrieved on October 29, 2018 from
https://www.instagram.com/nemaiza/?hl=en
Ferreira, Johanna (2018). “Why the Curly and Natural Hair Movement is So Important.” Hip Latina. Retrieved on October 16, 2018 from
https://hiplatina.com/importance-curly-hair-movement/
Kenneth (n.d.). “The Natural Hair Movement: A historical Perspective.” Curl Centric. Retrieved on October 16, 2018 from
https://www.curlcentric.com/natural-hair-movement
Lawton, Georgina (2016). “The problems with the natural hair movement.” Dazed. Retrieved on October 16, 2018 from
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/30536/1/the-problems-with-the-natural-hair-movement
Nichollekobi (2018). Instagram. Retrieved on October 29, 2018 from https://www.instagram.com/nichollekobi/?hl=en
QuillQueen (2018). Instagram. Retrieved on October 29, 2018 from
https://www.instagram.com/quillqueen/?hl=en
Straycurls (2018). Instagram. Retrieved on October 29, 2018 from
https://www.instagram.com/straycurls/?hl=en
Prezi
No comments:
Post a Comment