so's i heard chris rock interviewed On the Q today re: his doc Good Hair (got to stay connected to the Canadia just a smidgen). apparently 80% of hair products are bought by Black women in the US (whilst comprising 7.5% of the pop) while korean and white bigwigs control the industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m-4qxz08So
a whole new world. went with a friend to go pick up some weave in Manchester- you can imagine- or you can't because i sure couldn't. Princess brand i think; the hair of my oriental brethren and boy o boy an eye opener it 'twas. above and beyond the material sacrifices (literally thousands of dollars, hour upon hour with the 'miracle workers', sitting with often corrosive chemicals on your scalp for extended periods of time, dealing with the repercussions of a bad job: headaches, scabbing) is the amount of mental energy expended on deciding how to strip down and re-construct that which was naturally bestowed upon you. feel bad about yourself cos you ain't perfection? well you should and if you don't we can sure make you. if you buy our product you will be one step closer to something that does not resemble the natural you. in other words: sunshine lollipops and happiness incarnate. tale as old as time. true as it can be.
interesting clip from Tyra show (me knows, mawkish at times, yes, but the girl is willing to get the general populace to self-reflect, pulling teeth all the way) where a strong black woman gets down to the core of the issue. welcome to social de-construction, viewers. denial is not just a river in egypt. 3:42
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBoBR20n8S4&NR=1
the part that particularly stings is how the 3,4,5 year-olds have so internalized the cultural stigmas associated with being...themselves. 1:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0DgVijM7Z8&feature=related
it's easy to look at how we've been wronged or suffered or mildly inconvenienced. much harder to acknowledge the ways in which we uphold an insidious mix of unattainable ideals and social inequities and even benefit from them.
i've never been one to complain about a bad hair day- heck, i don't even comb my mess. but i'll be darned sure to appreciate not having to grapple with the fundamentals of my ethnic make-up somewhere in between rolling out of bed and brushing me toofs.
a slick segue to cultural appropriation and my phreshly established goal of eliminating the usage of ghetto from my vocabizzle... tomorrow's topic. fo sho.
