78CULTURE The ConversationFRAN MONKS“The Afro was popularised by
Black Power but, as it became
increasingly commodified, its
political intent diminished”
history of the Ashanti [of what is now Ghana] and Yoruba
peoples, artifice was actually an aesthetic norm. Just ‘leaving’
your hair wasn’t really the beauty standard: what was consid-
ered beautiful was the skill of manipulating your hair into
braids and so on. So, because it was a reaction to western
culture, it can be argued that the Afro is situated more in the
countercultures of European societies than in Africa itself- which is unexpected.
The Afro is a style that, in popular culture, is often
associated specifically with the 1970s. Why is that the
case, and what led to it subsequently diminishing as
a cultural symbol?
The Afro was popularised by Black
Power and, initially, the Black Panthers’
revolutionary anti-consumerist, anti-
capitalist, socialist moment. But the hair-
style became increasingly commodified –
and with its commodification, a lot of the
political intent behind it diminished.
Also, maybe the beauty standard had
never really shifted. By the 1980s and the
end of Black Power, straighter hair had
re-emerged as the default, ‘normal’ style
for black women – and men, too. The 80s
saw the emergence of a range of different
texturising treatments and hairstyles, such
as the Jheri curl and the S curl, which
resulted in a looser hair texture.
It was only with the birth of what’s
called the Natural Hair movement in
the 2000s that people again started
rejecting relaxer en masse and stopped
straightening their hair. The difference
between today and the Black Power
period, though, is that a lot of people
today are adamant that their decision not
to straighten their hair isn’t primarily
politically motivated.It seems, though, that you think that hair is political in this
context – and that there are ways in which people today can
use it as a political symbol.
Well, I don’t want to argue that anyone should do anything.
Black people’s bodies are so heavily policed anyway, I don’t
want to take that further and say: ‘you should wear your hair
this way and not that way’. Everybody has their own reasons
and motivations for how they wear their hair, and there is
so much creativity in black hairstyling culture and so many
different types of hairstyles that you can choose from.
But for me, personally, making the decision to stop relaxing
my hair was political. I know that I was doing it because of the
shame that I had associated with my hair texture, so I had to
undo all of that and embrace that texture.
I actively sought out other ways of
grooming and maintaining it, and I now
embrace a whole range of traditional
braided hairstyles.In your book you discuss cultural
appropriation, which is an idea that’s
attracted a lot of attention recently.
How do the ideas we’ve been discussing
interact with the ways in which black
hairstyles are co-opted by people from
other backgrounds?
We’ve seen several flashpoints – notably
when white people, often white celebri-
ties, have adopted traditional black
hairstyles. If there was a level playing field
between black people and white people,
there wouldn’t be an issue – anyone
should be able to style their hair any way
they want to! – but when you look at the
historical context, there isn’t a level
playing field.
Hairstyles for which a white celebrity
would be celebrated and lauded in high
fashion circles and in the media are the“In everything from
advertising to TV
and children’s books,
there’s an association
of long, flowing hair
with femininity and
beauty. It’s a message
spread across society”
Hear more of Emma’s thoughts on
our biweekly podcast
historyextra.com/podcastsИЗП
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