#21, 50 PoC Book Review

[brigdh]

21. Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Tharps, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America

This is a non-fiction book detailing, in vaguely historical order, the styles, meanings, and business of black hair within the United States. It focuses very little on specific hairstyles, instead describing topics like what is "good" hair versus "bad" hair, and how the attributes that make hair "good" have changed over time; various processes and products that tried to make "bad" hair into "good", and who profited economically off of them; the role and symbolism of the Afro (and other hairstyles, but that one in particular) in the political movements of the 1960s and 70s, and others. There are tons of photographs and drawings throughout the book, which showed the changes in depictions of both black people and their hair over time. I also liked how this one, seemingly small, topic allowed for discussion about expressions of racism, support for black-owned businesses, intersections of gender and race, and black people as used in advertising.

I really liked this book. My one complaint is that I would have liked it to go into more detail about some of the topics it covered, but that's not much of a problem.

Crossposted to 50books_poc

Comments

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

I still notice anyone wearing an Afro, because it was so significant an event when I was a child. Hair really was this BIG THING in ways that are hard to convey now.

[shes-unreal.livejournal.com]

Being someone with 'good hair,' I never liked that distinction between 'good' and 'bad,' as if natural African hair is some kind of curse. I don't think my hair is any less difficult to work with than kinky hair, honestly.

A song to go with the book: India Arie "I Am Not My Hair" (http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/272909329)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, definitely. They very much critique the idea that there is such a thing as "good" or "bad" hair, but they talk about things like where did this perception come from, and what factors in society continue to make people feel this way.

Thanks for the song!

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I do get it, because one of the things I study are how people use simple objects to convey complex identities (in my case, jewelry, but most of the theory concerned is the same for clothing, hair, makeup, basically anything you can wear on your person). It's really cool! Part of the reason why I wanted to read this book.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Personal adornment is one of your areas? OMG, that is cool.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Yep! :)