Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Diversity
    • Gender
  • Authors
  • English
    • Español
Cabello Afro

The right to wear MY HAIR

July 25, 2018 Por Autor invitado 4 Comments


 

By Laurence Telson*

My hair is mine and not mine. It is quite boring, some part wavy some part coarse, it grows fast and wild. Yet it tells the story of who I am (Caribbean of African descent), my social background (middle class), and my racial DNA (a medley of all that trampled the Continent). For me, it is not just hair.  My “Black-Hair” stands for the historical weight that I bear as an Afro-Caribbean woman.

It is a story of the American continent and colonialism. First, let us start with the slave trade. Shaving the hair of enslaved African women (and men), explained under the banner of preventing the propagation of head lice after the Middle Passage, was also strategic as it meant a loss of tribal identity. Shorn, our African ancestors were turned into slaves. For enslaved African women, rape was a constant reminder of the racial and gender power imbalance in the colonies. Incongruously, mixed-raced children, consequences of these rapes, had features that appealed to white society. Longish curly black/brown hair was one of them. In the pecking order of the plantations, these mixed raced children were fortunate, given less strenuous work, a bit of schooling and, if their white progenitors were assailed with moral doubts, the possibility of freedom. Post-slavery era gave rise to a mixed-race class holding to their privileges by the threads of a complicated hair identity. Hair became a social trademark as “Black-Hair” was associated with slavery.

Fast forward a few centuries. In the early 20th century, African-descendant women’s entry to the formal labor force was a hard-won fight in most countries, because of their race and sex and, in some cases, national identity.  Everything else equal, hair became a working strategy as African-descendant women with straight hair, natural or straightened by chemical process, were less threatening to whites. LFor African descendants, the 60’s and 70’s civil rights gave rise to freedom, and natural hairstyle became a political and politicized statement. The Afro represented black identity, a definition of self outside of that determined by mainstream ideal of beauty. Mainstream society continued to associate the Afro and all other natural hairstyles with civic unrest. During the civil rights era, faced with entrenched and overt racism outside and in the workplace, African-descendant women felt pressured to straighten their hair once again.

The beginning of the 21st century saw a resurgence of “Black-Hair” as a symbol for and of identity, even in places with complicated racial identities. This hair empowerment has led to a backlash in mainstream society, with discrimination and micro-aggression common in the workplace. A study undertaken by the Perception Institute confirmed that there is explicit bias toward against black women’s textured hair. “It is rated as less beautiful, less sexy/attractive, and less professional than smooth hair.” Certain hairstyles have been often deemed unprofessional, unclean, and unkept and African-descendant women and girls have been punished for wearing their hair natural at best or have lost their jobs.

On this 25th of July, the International Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean & Diaspora Women’s Day, let us look forward to the day when our hairstyles will not be used as a justification to discriminate against African descendants in politics and the workplace.   My Black-Hair is an expression of myself and a tale of my history. It communicates our diversity as we continue to call for our inclusion in the political, social and work spaces. It is the story of our resilience, self-acceptance, identity; that alone is cause for celebration.

 

laurenceLaurence Telson is a US Citizen and a native Haitian. She currently works at the Inter-American Development Bank’s Gender and Diversity Division.


Filed Under: Diversity Tagged With: Afrodescendants, afrodescendientes

Autor invitado

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. sonika says

    September 3, 2019 at 4:32 pm

    This is so amazing and true!!
    And what a piece of delight information that “African-descendant women’s entry to the formal labour force was a hard-won fight in most countries”

    Reply
  2. Soledad says

    February 26, 2021 at 2:40 am

    Hi Laurence
    What a beautiful piece! I enjoyed reading it and learning from it as well.
    Thank you!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Related posts

  • Hidden figures
  • Closing Racial Gaps in Employment in Latin America
  • The power of Black women
  • Exposure and Inequalities: African Descendants During COVID-19
  • The effects of money, gender and race on electoral success

Tags

accesibility African Descendants Day Afrodescendants afrodescendientes Capacity-building Coronavirus COVID-19 Data discriminación diversity Employment Entrepreneurship female employement female leadership Gender Gender Equality gender equity Gender gaps Government igualdad de género Inclusion income gaps Indigeneous economic development Indigenious development Indigenous identity Indigenous People Indigenous peoples Indigineous entrepeneurship Inequality Intimate Partner Violence jobs Labor Markets labour markets liderazgo femenino oportunidades económicas people with disabilities pueblos indígenas racial gaps Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación Vaccines Violence against women violencia contra la mujer Violencia de género violencia sexual y basada en género Women in STEM

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

Google Analytics

Blog posts written by Bank employees:

Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


For blogs written by external parties:

For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



Privacy Policy

Derechos de autor © 2023 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

Aviso Legal

Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

facebook
twitter
youtube
This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
To learn more about cookies, click here
x
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT