Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effect social media has on the black hair community. The paper firstly talks about the history of black people and their hair and how their hair patterned was viewed years ago. They had to cover their hair in a certain way as they had no proper hair care at that time and they had to protect themselves from lice. Furthermore, the paper the paper discusses how they were discriminated in their workplace and in public places. Secondly, the work addresses about how people using hashtags on Social networks such as Instagram around the Natural hair movement, has made the bonds within the black hair community, those who have natural afro-textured hair, tighter, both online and offline. The purpose of my paper is to share what I’ve learned about how black people with patterned hair cope in society. The use of specific hashtags has opened the road for more promising times in the future, as the African community gained much praise and encouragement from people worldwide on the social networking site such as Instagram. With these hashtags, a great number of internet users has shared images showing themselves proudly accepting their naturally textured hair. Lastly, we will see how the black people are using social media to become entrepreneurs and create their own brands to meet the needs of their own people. Some brands also work together with influencers and bloggers to gain visibility online and mainly help those who are transitioning and willing to switch to their natural hair texture.
Introduction
Hair is probably what mostly determines our ethnic backgrounds or cultural group, as well as a form of expressing oneself. The media conveys and supports beauty for all women, including standards for what hairstyles are appropriate and inappropriate; however, encouraged standards for African women harm not only mental and physical beauty, but also ethnical beauty and acknowledgment. As a consequence of this, “her natural self becomes even more difficult to love.” (Ellington, 2014). Social media has become an indispensable part of everyday life, revolutionizing the way we share information, interact, and share data. Social media has had an important impact by empowering communities that were marginalized in the past, including the black hair community. For several decades, black hair has faced prejudice and stereotypes that are unfavorable, but social media has enabled the black hair community to speak out against these assumptions and honor their hair in all of its power. In this essay, we will explore briefly the history of black hair and how social media has played a role in the empowerment of the black hair community.
African skin color and hair type have been associated with racism and prejudice since slavery. Hair that was deeply styled represented marital status, religion, ethnic identity, age, and rank. As slaves, women were wearing clothes or scarfs over their hair to preserve it from lice infestations and the outdoors, as well as to identify themselves as slaves. Slaves were not provided with the appropriate equipment for hair care, so their hair was frequently not well taken care of. (Byrd & Tharps, 2001). Furthermore, many White people dismissed the importance of such maintenance, claiming that Africans wore wool on their heads instead of hair (Ellington, 2014). Europeans used hair types in order to establish a system of castes in plantations , Black people with straight hair were privileged in domestic work and Black people with kinky and coily textures were assigned to hard manual work in the fields. Regulations were even implemented to prohibit Black women from wearing their coiled or kinky hair which was their natural hair in public places. (Byrd & Tharps, 2001)
One of the most important ways that the internet has played a role in the empowerment of the black hair community is through representation. For several decades, black hair was largely left out in popular media, and when it was, it was frequently represented negatively. Social media, on the other hand, has empowered black people to take charge of their own image by sharing photos, clips, and narratives that highlight the splendour and variety of black hair. This has contributed to oppose the negative assumptions related to black hair and enabled black people to see themselves in an optimistic manner (Canella, 2020). The establishment of black hair communities on the internet has enabled the establishment of a sense of belonging among those involved. The natural hair movement for instance, which began in the 2000s contributed to the establishment of one’s own standards of beauty and the beauty of natural kinky and coily hair. For many years, black people with hair that was textured hid their naturally patterned hair, owing to various racial prejudices and irrational prejudices. (Versey, 2014). People with kinky and coily hair had been subjected to a lot of discriminatory prejudice and irrational preconceptions, making them victims of inequity and denial. According to Davis et al (2019), a lot of Black women switching to their natural hair were rejected by their relatives, romantic partners and suffered from discrimination at their workplace. Because of its collaborative culture, media has encouraged participatory culture. People on Instagram have played an important role in the acknowledgment and empowerment of natural textured hair. Many people, afros, big and loose curls, and coily curls have joined to express themselves and narrate their experiences with their natural hair, whether by sharing pictures and clips with their textured hairs as proof along with appropriate hashtags or by encouraging an optimistic message about their textured hair in their stories on Instagram on a daily basis (Williams, 2017).
Furthermore, social media The role of social media in the education of women with naturally textured hair has been enormous. It has provided black women and the general black hair community with an abundance of knowledge and resources on natural hair maintenance, care and styling. There are videos on YouTube, blog posts, and Instagram accounts devoted completely to Black hair care methods. The increasing number of hair treatment content has made Black hair appear more frequently than ever before, with these types of videos educating about Black hair textures and techniques, care treatments, and products. YouTubers teaching about black hair care have made many improvements to tactical and intellectual work. They have raised understanding about the use of chemical substances in cosmetics for hair and why such substances may not be suitable for all kinds of hair, in line with the increasing popularity of shampoos labelled as ‘sulphate fee and paraben’. Social media sites have helped and educated people from the black hair community learn about the truth concerning their hair and not made-up stories. For example, Black hair maintenance Youtubers and bloggers also contribute to eliminating the false belief that only straight, bouncy, and shiny hair is naturally beautiful, whereas type 3 and 4 hair which are kinky, coily or afro are characterized as dry, broken, disordered, and uncontrollable. YouTube has also helped people learn about hair care using simple products and techniques they can do themselves. Many products, including cultural goods like shea butter and coconut oil, have become popular in shampoos and conditioners used by people of all hair types of thanks to do-it-yourself (DIY) hair care procedures. How-to videos additionally demonstrate Black women how to nourish and style their curls in a variety of situations, such as in hot and humid, wet, dry, polluted, and other weather circumstances; for time management during the workdays and the weekends; or to satisfy the demands of several hair patterns within the same household (Yusuf & Schioppa, 2022). Education has helped many natural haired people feel a sense of inclusion and lower stereotypes and biases around natural hair.
Moreover, a new era of black hair businesspeople has emerged as a result of social media. For many years, big companies took over the black hair sector, failing to meet the specific demands of the black hair society. Social media, on the other hand, has enabled black women to create their own hair care enterprises and brands that respond to the desires of their community. Instagram and YouTube have given these people a platform to promote their goods, interact with prospective clients, and expand their companies. This has not only opened up new financial possibilities for black women, but it additionally provided them with the ability to take charge of the black hair company and make sure their demands are satisfied. One of the reasons for the online visibility of black hair product brands is the success of influencer advertising. Brands will request curly or afro-haired social media influencers to try their hair care products in order for them to recommend or review them on their accounts on Instagram. Gill (2015), says that today black women can connect to a nationwide, if not international, community online. The brands will also use popular online groups such as ‘Team Natural’ to expand their recognition. Those Instagram accounts also post photos and videos of influencers or their followers wearing natural hair products, allowing both the brand and influencers to get visibility. For instance, the famous Instagram celebrity ‘heycurlie’ is recognized for experimenting and reviewing curly hair treatments such as Creme of Nature and giving her personal feedback to her online audience (Romance, 2020). Furthermore, some people decided to become entrepreneurs and launched their own hair product lines. Aisha Ceballos-Crump, an Afro-Latina, and a beauty blogger has created and named her brand ‘Botanika Beauty’. Her aim is to target women who want to accept their natural curls.
Conclusion
To conclude, Social media has been beneficial in the development of a sense of belonging and empowerment among black women. Hair is an essential part of many black women’s identities, and the internet has enabled them to develop relationships with other women who relate to their story. We have seen how social media networking sites such as Instagram and Youtube have eradicated a lot of injustices and discrimination towards women having kinky, coily, and afro hair. Black women have used social media to share their experiences, encourage one another, and foster a sense of solidarity and kinship. This has been especially beneficial for black women who might consider themselves detached or underprivileged in their everyday life. Lastly we have seen how social media has given opportunities to black women themselves financially and allow them to help and give confidence and build acceptance to their people from the black hair community.
REFERENCE LIST
Canella, G. (2020). #blackisbeautiful: The radical politics of black hair. Visual Studies, 35(2-3), 273–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586x.2020.1789501
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Ellington, T. N. (2014). Social Networking Sites: A support system for African-American women wearing natural hair. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 8(1), 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2014.974689
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Yusuf, M., & Schioppa, V. N. (2022). A technical hair piece: Metis, Social Justice and technical communication in Black Hair Care on YouTube. Technical Communication Quarterly, 31(3), 263–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2022.2077454
Hi L, The thing is the paper is mainly concentrated on the African continent particularly.If you make an analysis of…