Hair style
The
afro
is a hair style created by combing out natural growth of
afro-textured hair
, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally
curly
or
straight
hair.
[1]
[2]
The hairstyle can be created by combing the hair away from the scalp, dispersing a distinctive curl pattern, and forming the hair into a rounded shape, much like a cloud or puff ball.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
For people with wavy or straight hair, the hair style is created with the help of
permanent hair structure-changing
creams or gels and/or other solidifying liquids to temporarily hold the hair in place. Particularly popular in the
African
community of the late 1960s and early 1970s,
[3]
[5]
the hairstyle is often shaped and maintained with the assistance of a wide-toothed comb colloquially known as an
Afro pick
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Etymology
[
edit
]
"Afro" is derived from the term "
Afro-American
".
[2]
The hairstyle is also referred to by some as a "natural hairstyle". In most cases the hair is left untreated by
relaxers
or
straightening
chemicals and is instead allowed to express its natural curl or kinkiness.
[3]
[5]
History in the United States
[
edit
]
Circassian beauties
[
edit
]
In the 1860s, a hairstyle similar to the afro was worn by the
Circassian beauties
. Sometimes known as "Moss-haired girls", they were a group of women exhibited in
sideshow
attractions in the United States by
P. T. Barnum
and others. These women claimed to be descendants of the
Circassian
people in the
North Caucasus
region, and were marketed to
White
audiences captivated by the "exotic East" as pure examples of the
Caucasian race
who were kept as sexual slaves in Turkish harems.
[6]
[7]
It has been argued that this portrayal of a Caucasian woman as a rescued slave during the
American Civil War
played on the racial connotations of slavery at the time so that the distinctive hairstyle affiliates the side-show white Circassian with African-American identity, and thus:
[6]
... resonates oddly yet resoundingly with the rest of her identifying significations: her racial purity, her sexual enslavement, her position as colonial subject; her beauty. The Circassian blended elements of white Victorian True Womanhood with traits of the enslaved black woman in one curiosity.
African-American hairstyles prior to the 1960s
[
edit
]
During the history of
slavery in the United States
, most African Americans styled their hair in an attempt to mimic the styles of the predominantly
white
society in which they lived.
[2]
[8]
Afro-textured hair
, characterized by its tight kinks, has been described as being kinky, coarse, cottony, nappy, or woolly.
[8]
[9]
These characteristics represented the antithesis of the
European American
standard of beauty, and led to a negative view of kinky hair. As a result, the practice of
straightening
gained popularity among African Americans.
[8]
The process of straightening the hair often involved applying caustic substances, such as
relaxers
containing
lye
, which needed to be applied by an experienced hairstylist so as to avoid burning the scalp and ears.
[3]
Those who chose not to artificially treat their hair would often opt to style it into tight
braids
or
cornrows
.
[8]
With all of these hairstyling methods, one ran the risk of damaging the hair shaft, sometimes resulting in
hair loss
.
[10]
1960s and 1970s
[
edit
]
The effect of the
Civil Rights Movement
brought a renewed sense of identity to the African?American community, which also resulted in a redefinition of personal style that included an appreciation of black beauty and aesthetics, as embodied by the "
Black is beautiful
" movement.
[9]
[11]
This cultural movement marked a return to more natural, untreated hairstyles. The afro became a powerful political symbol which reflected
black pride
and a rejection of notions of assimilation and integration?not unlike the long and untreated hair sported by the mainly
White
hippies
.
[2]
[8]
[9]
To some African Americans, the afro also represented a reconstitutive link to
West Africa
and
Central Africa
.
[3]
However, some critics have suggested that the afro hairstyle is not particularly African:
[3]
[12]
In his book
Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies
, cultural critic Kobena Mercer argued that the contemporary African society of the mid-20th century did not consider either hairstyle to denote any particular "Africanness"; conversely, some Africans felt that these styles signified "
First-worldness
".
[3]
Similarly, Brackette F. Williams stated in her book
Stains on My Name, War in My Veins: Guyana and the Politics of Cultural Struggle
that African nationalists were irritated by the afro's adoption by African Americans as a symbol of their African heritage; they saw this trend as an example of
Western
arrogance.
[13]
The afro was adopted by both men and women and was a hairstyle that was easier to maintain by oneself, without requiring frequent and sometimes costly visits to the hairstylist as was often experienced by people who chose to braid, straighten or relax their hair. Due to the kinky pattern prominent in
Afro-textured hair
, as it grows longer it has a tendency to extend outward from the head, resulting in a
domelike
hairstyle which is easily molded and sculpted into the desired shape.
[2]
[9]
While the afro was a much less invasive and time-consuming hairstyle choice for many African Americans, some chose to achieve a more voluminous version of the afro by
backcombing
or teasing the hair, a practice that can result in damage to the hair and scalp.
[1]
[5]
In the mid-1960s, the afro hairstyle began in a fairly tightly coiffed form, such as the hairstyle that became popular among members of the
Black Panther Party
. As the 1960s progressed towards the 1970s, popular hairstyles, both within and outside of the African-American community, became longer and longer.
[1]
As a result, the late 1960s/early 1970s saw an expansion in the overall size of afros.
[1]
Some of the entertainers and sociopolitical figures of the time known for wearing larger afros include political activist
Angela Davis
, actress
Pam Grier
, rock musician
Jimi Hendrix
, singer
Miriam Makeba
, and the members of the musical groups
the Jackson 5
and
the Supremes
.
[4]
[14]
In contrast, the afro's popularity among African Americans had already started to wane by the early 1970s;
[1]
[5]
the introduction of the afro to the mainstream and its adoption by people of non-African descent caused the afro to lose its
radical
, political edge.
[2]
The 1970s saw an increase in the popularity of braided hairstyles such as
cornrows
among both sexes of African Americans.
1990s and 2000s
[
edit
]
The afro saw some resurgence in both the 1990s and the 2000s.
[4]
[11]
These afros would take varied forms, some incorporating elements such as braids, beads or twists, as well as various sizes, from close-cropped natural hairstyles all the way to expansive afro
wigs
.
[11]
Some African Americans who have been known for wearing afros or afro wigs during these two decades include NBA basketball players
Ben Wallace
,
Kobe Bryant
, and
Michael Beasley
, as well as musicians
Lauryn Hill
,
Erykah Badu
,
Macy Gray
,
Ludacris
,
Questlove
,
Cindy Blackman
,
Wiz Khalifa
, and
Lenny Kravitz
.
Beyonce
also donned a large afro wig for her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in the 2002 film
Austin Powers in Goldmember
.
On July 3, 2019,
California
became the first U.S. state to prohibit discrimination over natural hair. Governor
Gavin Newsom
signed the
CROWN Act
into law, banning employers and schools from discriminating against hairstyles such as afros, braids, twists, and dreadlocks.
[15]
Likewise, later in 2019 Assembly Bill 07797 became law in New York state; it "prohibits race discrimination based on natural hair or hairstyles."
[16]
Aevin Dugas from Gonzales, Louisiana, USA, set a new
Guinness World Record
on 11 September 2022, for the largest female afro, which measures 165 cm (5.41 ft) in circumference, 25 cm (9.84 in) in height, and 26 cm (10.24 in) in width. She has broken the Guinness World Record for the largest afro three times, including in 2010 and 2021. Dugas says she began growing her afro in 1999 and learned how to style and cut it herself after an unsuccessful trip to a professional hairstylist. She states that she broke the record to personally advocate for the beauty of natural hair and to encourage self-love.
[17]
[18]
Similar styles internationally
[
edit
]
A "Jewfro" (
portmanteau
of the words
Jew
and afro) or (rarely) "Isro" (portmanteau of the words
Israel
and afro) refers to an afro when worn by Jews.
[19]
The term has its roots in the 1960s and 1970s when many prominent figures were described as sporting the hairstyle. In 1970, the
Los Angeles Times
called college football star Scott Marcus a
flower child
with "golden brown hair ... in ringlets around his head in what he calls a Jewish afro style".
[20]
The New York Times
in a 1971 article on
Harvard University
's "hairy"
basketball
team, wrote that Captain Brian Newmark "hasn't had a haircut since last May, and his friends have suggested his hairdo is a first cousin to the Afro, the style that is popular with blacks. In the case of the Jewish junior from
Brooklyn
, though, the bushy dark hair, that is piled high on his head has been called an "Isro"."
[21]
Novelist
Judith Rossner
was described in a
Chicago Tribune
profile as the "grown-up Wunderkind with an open, oval face framed by a Jewish Afro."
[22]
The
Hadendoa
Beja
of
northeastern Africa
were nicknamed "
Fuzzy-Wuzzies
" by
British troops
during the
Mahdist War
due to their large and mop-like hairstyles, which they shaped by applying
butter
or
mutton fat
.
[23]
In Somalia, some young men of the nomadic and sedentary communities would grow their hair long and carefully comb it into rather large bushes, which they would then hold in place with
ghee
.
[24]
This elaborate hairstyle was quite distinct from another coiffure found among other Somalis, who would instead grow long and fluff out their fine, straight hair and place a
chewing stick
and comb in the center.
[25]
Variations of the afro have been worn by one or both sexes in the many disparate cultures of the
African continent
. Due to the hairstyle's links to members of the
civil rights
and
Black Power
movements, the afro was seen by several outside cultures as a dangerous symbol of political unrest, including
Tanzania
where the Afro was banned in the 1970s because it was seen as a symbol of
neocolonialism
and as part of a "
cultural invasion
" from the
United States
.
[1]
[2]
[26]
[27]
In the 1950s and 1960s, South African women were also known to wear their hair in an afro-type style.
[2]
The afro did not rise to the same level of popularity among the
Afro-Caribbean
community as it did in the United States, in part because of the popularity of
dreadlocks
, which played an important role in the
Rastafari
movement.
[2]
Not unlike the afro's significance among the members of the American Black Power movement, dreadlocks symbolized
black pride
and empowerment among the Rastafari of the Caribbean.
[3]
[10]
Tools
[
edit
]
The long, wide teeth of the "afro pick" or afro comb were designed to dig down to the scalp, allowing the hair to be stretched out from the roots into a desired style or shape using a picking motion.
[2]
[3]
[4]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Garland, Phyl,
"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?"
,
Ebony
, February 1973. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
Sherrow, Victoria,
Encyclopedia of hair: a cultural history
, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, pp. 21?23. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Mercer, Kobena,
Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies
, Routledge, 1994, pp. 104?113. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Hair Designing - A Complete Course
, by Various, Global Media, 2007, section 2. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Modern Living: Beyond the Afro"
,
Time
, October 25, 1971. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
a
b
Linda Frost,
Never One Nation: Freaks, Savages, and Whiteness in U.S. Popular Culture, 1850-1877
, University of Minnesota Press, 2005, pp. 68-88.
- ^
The Circassian beauty archive
A collection of historic Images - Circassian Beauties
Archived
July 3, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Moore Campbell, Bebe,
"What happened to the Afro?"
,
Ebony
, June 1982. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Boyce Davies, Carole,
Encyclopedia of the African diaspora: origins, experiences, and culture, Volume 1
, ABC-CLIO, 2008, pp. 493-495. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
a
b
Gittens, Sandra,
African-Caribbean Hairdressing
, Cengage Learning EMEA, 2002, p. 256. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
Irvine, Martha,
"The Afro Strikes Back"
,
Associated Press
, March 8, 2002. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
Rielly, Edward J.,
The 1960s
, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, p. 86. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
Williams, Brackette F.,
Stains on My Name, War in My Veins: Guyana and the Politics of Cultural Struggle
, Duke University Press, 1991, p. 260. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
Jaggi, Maya (April 29, 2000). "The return of Mama Africa".
The Guardian
.
- ^
"California bans racial discrimination based on hair in schools and workplaces"
. JURIST
. Retrieved
2019-07-03
.
- ^
"New York bans discrimination against natural hair"
.
The Hill
. 2019-07-13
. Retrieved
2019-07-18
.
- ^
"Largest afro on a living person (female)"
.
Guinness World Records
. Retrieved
2023-04-17
.
- ^
Vargas, Ramon Antonio (2023-04-15).
"
'It's about pride': Louisiana woman sets record for world's largest afro"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
2023-04-17
.
- ^
Shkolnikova, Svetlana (January?February 2011).
"The Jewfro Grows Up and Out"
.
Moment Magazine
. Archived from
the original
on April 13, 2014.
- ^
Dan Hafner, "Louisville's 'Flower Child'; Barefooted Punter Arrives in Shoes and Mod Outfit",
Los Angeles Times
, December 17, 1970. Sec III, p. G1.
- ^
Murray Chass, "Harvard's Hairy Five Makes Some Foes Bristle",
The New York Times
, February 28, 1971, p. S4.
- ^
Stephen E. Rubin, "Tempo; Judith Rossner's novel success is hard to put down",
Chicago Tribune
, September 17, 1977, p. 11.
- ^
Raugh, Harold E. (2004).
The Victorians at War, 1815?1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History
. ABC-CLIO. p. 119.
ISBN
1576079252
.
- ^
Uppsala universitet. African Studies Programme (1987).
"Working Papers in African Studies"
(33?35). African Studies Programme, Department of Cultural Anthropology, University of Uppsala: 21?22
. Retrieved
December 16,
2016
.
- ^
N. H. Wilson, Guy A. Taylor (1948).
Nada: The Southern Rhodesia Native Affairs Department Annual, Issues 25-30
. Southern Rhodesia. Dept. of Native Affairs. p. 86
. Retrieved
December 16,
2016
.
- ^
Meisler, Stanley,
"Afro Hairdo Riles Africa's Blacks"
,
The Milwaukee Journal
, September 22, 1970. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ^
"Afro Hairdo Banned by Nation in Africa"
,
The Milwaukee Journal
, August 27, 1971. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
External links
[
edit
]
- Media related to
Afro
at Wikimedia Commons
- The dictionary definition of
afro
at Wiktionary