An Analysis of Black Natural Haired Women in the Media
In February 2019, the New York City Commission on Human Rights passed a law that banned discrimination based on hair. The New York Times addressed the recent legislation writing, “...the targeting of people based on their hair or hairstyle, at work, school or in public spaces, will now be considered racial discrimination...the guidelines specifically mention the right of New Yorkers to maintain their ‘natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros...’” Through opening story lines such as this, it seems that “natural hair” is being welcomed and as if issues pertaining to the natural hair community will be covered more often and accurately in the news.
The natural hair community is comprised of black and biracial women who abstain from using chemical treatments, relaxers or heat to change or alter their waves and natural curl pattern, occasionally denoted as “nappy” or “bad hair”; instead they wear their hair in unprocessed form - kinks and all. The natural hair movement first began in the late 1960s and early 70s, and eventually gained media awareness in the 80s with message boards providing style tips and a sense of community to black women who wore their hair naturally. Beyond that, according to Diane Bailey, a member of the natural hair community, “there was little to no coverage of the natural hair community because it was very new and many people did not even know what it was.” Once hair care brands like DevaCurl started to notice that women were beginning to have more conversations surrounding natural hair and that this was becoming a multi million dollar industry, companies used media as a platform to advance their commercial interests by promoting their products within news outlets, magazines, and online, suggesting women embrace their natural hair. It was really only in 2000 when the natural hair community started to become noticeable and this was due to the rise of social media and more hair care brands starting to promote the use of natural hair care products to show off black women’s curls. Since then, there has been an increase in media exposure of black women opting to wear their hair naturally.
However, people like Natasha Gaspard, founder and CEO of Mane Moves Media, a media outlet that creates lifestyle content around natural hair and beauty for women of color, argues that while there is an increase in media attention towards the natural hair community, it is not necessarily an accurate illustration of the natural hair movement or its members. "I don't think that we are in their [the media’s] eyes enough...Yes, natural hair has been in the news a lot, but not in a positive way. It's been in the news as far as situations where people have been either let go from their job, been denied employment or been denied access to schools because of their hair" states Natasha. This is seen in various articles with the headlines “What’s It Going To Take For Black Hair To Be Seen As Professional?” “Times Black Girls Were Suspended For Their Hairstyles,” “Black News Anchor Fired After Wearing ‘Unprofessional’ Natural Hair”or “A Banana Republic Employee Says She Was Told Her Box Braids Looked Too ‘Urban’.” Dariely De La Cruz, a New York University student and member of the natural hair community, recounts when she did her “big chop” a couple years back, she felt lost and uncomfortable because there was no one talking about the ‘going back to natural’ experience. She had to actively search for articles that touched upon her specific situation and even when she found some, she was left with information that focused mainly on consequential situations pertaining to natural hair and stories that referenced a different type of natural haired woman - the white one.
Nowadays, the “natural haired” woman in the news is no longer the woman with a dark complexion with tight kinky curls, but rather one being defined by journalists as a woman with “light skin and soft, bouncy, waves” or “good hair” or white women with curly hair as seen in the New York Times when it ran a story called “In Praise of Naturally Curly Hair.” It spoke about how curly hair has classically been given a ‘bad rap’ being conceived as messy or unprofessional and how that ideology is now beginning to change with well known people in society beginning to embrace their curls. The article references public figures and hollywood actors with “natural” hair to prove its point that “natural curls are slowly making their way back...” Some of the people referred to included, Chelsea Clinton, Ilana Glazer from “Broad City,” Natasha Lyonne in “Orange Is the New Black,” Sarah Jessica Parker, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, all white women. Nowhere were examples of people that actually fell into the category of natural hair like Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong’o, Ayanna Pressley, or Tracee Ellis Ross. This was again seen when PopSugar published an article with the headline, “These 3 Women Are Making a Serious Case For Rocking Your Natural Hair” but neglected the black natural haired women, only using images of white women with “curly” hair. With the media reinforcing this misconception of what it means to be “natural,” it fails to provide an accurate depiction of who is a typical woman that actually belongs to the natural hair group.
Not only is there repeated misrepresentation of who embodies the ‘natural haired woman’ in articles like “In Praise of Naturally Curly Hair”, but there is also the issue that many journalists who cover the subject of natural hair are white or don't have “natural” hair themselves. A recent study done by the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) illustrated that 1) there was a lack of diversity in the newsrooms with black women accounting for a mere 3.55% of the total print and online journalism workforce and 2) with a lack of representation in the media workforce, there is a lack in understanding and representation of minorities in the media. Throughout my research I took note of the author’s race, gender, and hair. I was not surprised to find that the majority of articles written about “natural hair” were not written by members of the natural hair community. Ginia Bellafante - white with straight hair. Stacey Stowe - white with blonde straight hair. Marisa Meltzer - white with blonde curly hair. Judith Newman - white with curly hair. Catherine Saint Louis - a light skinned woman of color with curly hair. All of these women are writers for the New York Times who wrote stories regarding natural curly hair, but only one pertained to the real natural hair community, the rest just contributed to perpetuating the “good hair” notion.
Many define the act of white journalists covering black stories as “white press.” The Kerner Report touched on this issue saying “most black people see newspapers as mouthpieces of the ‘power structure.’” The perspective in these articles about black women is based on the white author’s limited experience or knowledge of natural hair, not giving an accurate portrayal and subsequently guiding the general public’s view on the natural hair community. This supports Natasha’s point of view that readers get a distorted view of issues pertaining to black people because the issues are not being reported on by black people. Magazines like Ebony and Essence were created to cater to African American women, emphasizing the need for a black voice in the media. Having more journalists who are part of the black community and black publications would result in a more accurate and relatable portrayal of the natural hair community, and in turn, reinforce positive depictions of the people that comprise this demographic.
According to Diane Bailey, natural haired women have become a trend, “before, like, three or four years ago, the media wanted the light skinned girl with the curly wavy hair. Now, mainstream fashion is kind of going for the darker skinned woman, maybe the fuller sister with the tighter curl like an afro. In fashion, it is trending, in social media it is trending. It has illuminated and started a lot of conversation around hair bias, but it has become more of a trend than anything else.” Having the natural hair community portrayed as nothing more than a trend takes away from the real issues at hand, still leaving them as a widely underrepresented group in the media. In order to change the discussion surrounding the natural hair community, the media must look at changing the voice that tells the natural hair community’s narrative, advocate for more black publications, and not use the media to exploit the natural haired woman for economic gain or when convenient for media ratings. While there has been more discussion and coverage of natural hair in the media over the past few years, there is still a long way to go in order for the media to accurately cover this group.