Naomi Johnson

STRAIGHT HAIR, BROWN SKIN, AND A KILLA’ SHAPE: BEAUTY STANDARDS FOR YOUNG BLACK GIRLS A senior thesis presented by Naomi Simone Johnson to The Department of Cultural Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the subject of Cultural Anthropology Duke University Durham, North Carolina April 2011 Abstract My goal in conducting this research is to include black adolescent women in the discourse on body image, respond to the shortcomings of the literature and research attempting to speak on behalf of black adolescent wo me n , and empower black adolescent wo me n to address and complicate these prevailing misconceptions by encouraging them to speak on their own behalf. Although I cannot speak on behalf of all black women, based on the research that I conducted with the 7th and 8th grade young black girls participating in “Girl Talk”, I found that there is a recognizable standard of beauty that young black girls desire to live up to. The girls identified straight, long, flowy hair, medium skin, and a curvy but skinny shape as an approved template for attaining beauty. On the other hand, the girls felt insecure when they did not have their hair done, were poorly dressed, or felt that their skin was too dark. As the girls actively negotiated black womanhood, they remained both connected and disconnected to a legacy that preceded them. The issues that the girls were facing such as a desire for agency, self-definition, inclusion and mobility were very similar to the desires of black women in the past. As the girls navigated beauty ideals, their awareness of the battle they were simultaneously fighting against racism (and the extent to which their social norms have been intoxicated with white ideals) remained vastly underdeveloped. i Table of Contents I. Chapter One: Introduction………………………………………………………..1 II. Chapter Two: “The Politics of Respectability”………………………………….12 III. Chapter Three: “My Hair Is My Beauty”…………………………………..……33 IV. Chapter Four: “Because It Brings Men”……………………………………...…57 V. Chapter Five: “The Darker the Berry”…………………………………………..81 VI. Chapter Six: Being Black AND Beautiful…………………………………….…95 ii Acknowledgments Thank you to Professor Laurie McIntosh for your ongoing patience and support. Without the high expectations that you set for your class, we would have never accomplished everything that we did. Your ability to remain positive throughout the year and cater to each of our individual needs was extremely impressive and much appreciated. You are a great role model of diligence and excellence. Thank you to Professor Bayo Holsey. I recognize that agreeing to serve as my primary advisor was a huge undertaking. I appreciate your willingness to work with me in spite of all of the obstacles that surfaced throughout our year together. The time and energy that you invested in my growth and development as a student and a scholar has continued to mean a lot to me. Thank you to Wahneema Lubiano. I truly appreciate your willingness to serve as my secondary advisor. Thank you for believing in my research aspirations and my ability to reach the finish line. Thank you to the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship as well as Duke’s Mellon Mays coordinators Dr. Kerry Haynie and Deborah Wahl. Mellon Mays has been a blessing and a truly enriching experience. The abundance of resources and support provided by the Mellon Foundation made all the difference. Thank you to Dr. Zoila Airall. Since the moment I took a seat in your Anthropology and Education class my freshman year, you have been an endless source of inspiration. You have always believed in me, always supported me, and always looked out for me. That has made all the difference. I cherish our relationship and the love that you’ve given me over the past four years. Thank you for checking in on me and continuing to motivate me through my frustration and exhaustion. Thank you to Marc Hardy and Durham School of the Arts. “Girl Talk” would have never come to fruition without you. I admire the passion and dedication that you bring to Durham School of the Arts and am so happy that you found value in the work I was able to conduct with the 7th and 8th grade girls. Thank you providing me with the space to learn from your students and grown as a person truly hoping to affect change and progress. I knew that I could come to you and count on you and never once did you disappoint me. Thank you for always going above and beyond. I can’t begin to explain how much I appreciate that. Thank you to Ms. Brantley. “Girl Talk” would not have run as smoothly as it did without your help. The resources that you were able to provide made all of the difference. I always looked forward to encountering your bright smile and upbeat energy. Thank you to Heather Hindin and the Emily K Center. Thank you for recognizing “Girl Talk” as an experience that Emily K girls could truly benefit from. The opportunity to work with the girls was incredibly refreshing and rewarding. I appreciate your trust and support as I worked to provide the girls with any experience that would be valuable and enriching. iii Thank you to Martina Eason. “Girl Talk” at the Emily K Center would not have been possible without you. I appreciate your support and flexibility as well as the encouragement along the way. Your presence in the room throughout Girl Talk sessions was always something I could count on. I admire the relationships that you have with each of the girls and appreciate you being an advocate for me throughout the Girl Talk experience. Thank you to The J Team: Dad, Mom, and Monet. I trust that you recognize that none of this would have been possible without you. The way that all of you pitched in to help me get the first draft of my thesis done was such a humbling reminder of how much love we have for each other and how amazingly blessed I am to belong to a family that is so willing to sacrifice. Between hot tea, study buddies and proof readers, I had everything I needed. Most importantly, thank you so much for your optimism, positive energy, and prayers. Thank you to Brian Clement. You’ve been incredibly supportive and someone I can always depend on to field my random questions and concerns. Thank you to my other colleagues: Michelle, Deena, Christie, and Bengisu. Thank you to the Lambda Omega Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Thank you to Tangere Hoagland and Amanda Morrall for being great study buddies. Thank you to Stephanie Darand for reading and copy editing my thesis. Thank you to Taylor Burch for always being there for me in the clutch. Thank you to Kelly Pugh for being such an incredible roommate. You all manage to love and support me when I need it most. Words will never be able to describe how much I appreciate you. iv Chapter One: Introduction “There just isn’t a black standard of beauty to live up to” - Mikki Taylor, beauty director at Essence Magazine (1980- 2010) My interest in writing a senior thesis was triggered by a quote from Mikki Taylor, reigning Beauty and Cover Director of ESSENCE magazine, a publication designed to exclusively cater to African American women, from 1980-2010. Within an article titled, Black Women Ignore Many of Media’s Beauty Ideals, Taylor makes the following claim, "There just isn't a black standard of beauty to live up to” (Smith 2004). Taylor continues, "We celebrate our uniqueness, whether it's different skin hues, or different hair. Unlike mainstream culture, there is no one standard that is going to make us feel inferior" (Smith 2004). Taylor’s statement argues that black women do not feel pressure to look a particular way or live up to an approved model. I find it difficult to believe that black wo me n do not experience pressure to change or conform to a beauty standard, especially considering the images and content produced through media outlets such as television and the Internet. The belief that black women do not experience anxiety about how they should look can only exist as a result of oversimplifying what it means to be a black wo ma n . 1 As white feminism and white feminist literature remain at the forefront of efforts to understand and abolish the oppressive ideology of beauty and appearance, the exclusion or oversimplification of the experience of black women is not a new phenomenon (Lovejoy 2001). Research and literature that manages to include the experience of black women, still fails to properly provide a voice for black women to tell their story and express their grief. There are two primary reasons for this dearth of representation. First, the majority of researchers fail to understand and account for cultural differences that exist between white Americans and black Americans living in the United States. With white Americans as the oppressor and black Americans as the oppressed, different cultural values and standards have emerged for each community. Failing to understand the difference between the dominant narrative of white Americans and the counter-narrative of black Americans results in a failure to understand why explanations for one group are not simply transferable to the other. For example, the discussion of body image in relation to white women generally yields the consideration of weight, exclusively. However, Anne Marie Witkege’s qualitative study of body image in relation to black women yields the inclusion of topics such as hair, shape, complexion, and phenotypic features, in addition to weight (Witkege 1996).

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