Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Cornrows
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== Attitudes to cornrows == [[File:Nuba woman Kau.jpg|thumb|A [[Nuba]] woman wearing cornrows in a traditional styling]] Colonial attitudes and practices towards Black hairstyles have traditionally been used to reinforce racism, exclusion and inequality.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Anangonó |first=Pablo Tatés |last2=Moreno-Montoro |first2=María-Isabel |date=2024-09-30 |title=Pelo negro y dramaturgia: sentir, pensar y politizar el pelo negro mediante dos piezas cortas de teatro |url=https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/RTC/article/view/9203 |journal=Tercio Creciente |language=es |pages=111–138 (111) |doi=10.17561/rtc..9203 |issn=2340-9096|doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, during the 18th century, slaves would sometimes have their hair shaved as a lesser form of punishment.<ref name=":14" /> [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] beauty standards, which often denigrate Black hairstyles, can lead to internalized racism, colorism, and marginalization, which negatively affect Black people—and Black women in particular.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Cynthia L. |date=2011 |title=Hair as Race: Why “Good Hair” May Be Bad for Black Females |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10646175.2011.617212 |journal=Howard Journal of Communications |language=en |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=358–376 (359–360) |doi=10.1080/10646175.2011.617212 |issn=1064-6175|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-30 |title=Black Women’s Hair and Natural Hairstyles in the Workplace: Expanding the Definition of Race Under Title VII - Virginia Law Review |url=https://virginialawreview.org/articles/black-womens-hair/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=virginialawreview.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Related valuations of hair texture—which portray straighter hair as "good hair" and curlier hair as "bad hair"—are emphasized through the media, advertising, and popular culture.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2016-03-25 |title=La locura por las pelucas en África |url=https://www.elmundo.es/sociedad/2016/03/25/56f532c1ca47411e138b45a3.html |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=ELMUNDO |language=es}}</ref> These attitudes to hair can devalue African heritage and lead to discrimination.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last=Henson |first=Renee |date=2017-11-01 |title=Are my Cornrows Unprofessional?: Title VII's Narrow Application of Grooming Policies, and its Effect on Black Women's Natural Hair in the Workplace |url=https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/betr/vol1/iss2/9/ |journal=The Business, Entrepreneurship & Tax Law Review |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=521}}</ref> The unique type of discrimination that arises from prejudice towards Black women's hair is called ''[[Discrimination based on hair texture|natural hair discrimination]].''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-10 |title=Natural Hair Discrimination: Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.naacpldf.org/natural-hair-discrimination/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Legal Defense Fund}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nkimbeng |first=Manka |last2=Malaika Rumala |first2=Bernice B. |last3=Richardson |first3=Crystal M. |last4=Stewart-Isaacs |first4=Shemekka Ebony |last5=Taylor |first5=Janiece L. |date=2023-08-01 |title=The Person Beneath the Hair: Hair Discrimination, Health, and Well-Being |url=https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/heq.2022.0118 |journal=Health Equity |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=406–410 |doi=10.1089/heq.2022.0118 |issn=2473-1242 |pmc=10457631 |pmid=37638116}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Arefin |first=D Sharmin |date=2020-04-17 |title=Is Hair Discrimination Race Discrimination? |url=https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-today/2020-may/is-hair-discrimination-race-discrimination/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=American Bar Association}}</ref> Despite these challenges, cornrows have gained popularity among Black people as a way to express their Blackness, creativity and individuality.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":11" /><ref name=":13" /> Over the decades, cornrows, alongside [[dreadlocks]], have been the subject of several disputes in U.S. workplaces, as well as universities and schools. Some employers and educational institutions<ref name=":13">{{cite web|last1=Harris|first1=Sherry|title=Cornrows: History, Controversy & Freedom of Expression|url=http://sherryslife.com/cornrows/|publisher=Sherry's Life|access-date=28 August 2016|archive-date=14 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814144131/http://sherryslife.com/cornrows/|url-status=dead}}</ref> have considered cornrows unsuitable or "unprofessional", and have banned them.<ref name=":0" /> Employees and civil rights groups have countered that such attitudes evidence cultural bias or racism, and some disputes have resulted in litigation.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Alison Dundes Renteln |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zyWr3dSXUrIC&q=cornrows+in+litigation&pg=PA143 |title=The Cultural Defense |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780195154030 |page=143 |access-date=10 August 2011}}</ref> In 1981, Renee Rogers sued American Airlines for their policy which banned cornrows and other braided hairstyles. Other cases, such as Mitchell vs Marriott Hotel and Pitts vs. Wild Adventures, soon followed.<ref>DeLongoria, M. (2018). Misogynoir:* Black Hair, Identity Politics, and Multiple Black Realities. ''Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies'', ''12''(8), 39-49 (45).</ref> Since other traditional Black hairstyles are also often banned, Black women may be forced to straighten their hair or emulate European hairstyles at significant additional cost.<ref name=":15" /> The intersection of racialized and gendered discrimination against Black women is often called [[misogynoir]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mjr&l |date=2021-03-09 |title=“Professional” Hairstyles: How Title VII Protections Have Condoned the Policing of Black Women’s Hair |url=https://mjrl.org/2021/03/09/professional-hairstyles-how-title-vii-protections-have-condoned-the-policing-of-black-womens-hair/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Michigan Journal of Race & Law |language=en}}</ref> In [[California]], the [[CROWN Act (California)|CROWN Act]] was passed in 2019 to prohibit [[Discrimination based on hair texture|discrimination based on hair style and hair texture]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 4, 2019 |title=California becomes first state to ban discrimination against natural hair |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/crown-act-california-becomes-first-state-to-ban-discrimination-against-natural-hair/ |access-date=2021-05-13 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en}}</ref> In 2011, the [[High Court]] of the United Kingdom, in a decision reported as a [[test case (law)|test case]], ruled against a school's decision to refuse entry to a student with cornrows. The school claimed this was part of its policy mandating "short back and sides" haircuts, and banning styles that might be worn as indicators of gang membership. However, the court ruled that the student was expressing a tradition and that such policies, while possibly justifiable in certain cases (e.g. skinhead gangs), had to accommodate reasonable racial diversities and cultural practices.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/school-braids-ban-not-justified-2298925.htm | work=The Independent | title=School braids ban 'not justified' | date=2011-06-17 | access-date=2011-06-17}}</ref> In some African nations, regularly changing hairstyles can be seen as a sign of social status for a woman, while advertising continues to promote straighter hairstyles as fashionable. Braids provide a way for women to maintain their hair, and are sometimes used with Chinese or Indian wigs to rotate hairstyles.<ref name=":12" />
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)