Why are we hating on ourselves? Malaika Mushandu
Malaika Mushandu

Malaika Mushandu

Chipo Mapondera Fashion
Like every woman, black women are naturally fanatical about their looks. The unnatural thing is why this often equates to trying to change ourselves.
Comedian Chris Rock investigated our addiction to relaxing, straightening and weaving our hair in his documentary Good Hair. “Hair crack” was the term he came up with, likening it to an unhealthy addiction to crack cocaine.

Nigerian pop star Dencia launched her Whitenicious line of skin lighteners in January, revealing her own drastic transformation as a result, while butt and breast enhancers, implants and padded undergarments give us a false sense of “booty” to rival Nikki Minaj.

All this not only costs us a fortune, but it can be borderline unhealthy and dangerous!

If you follow popular media you might wonder if black is considered beautiful. The image presented, of luscious, long locks and pale complexions, excludes many of us.

In recent years we celebrated greater inclusiveness in fashion as we saw a new breed of Chinese models take to the international catwalks and advertising campaigns.

Unfortunately this thinly-veiled attempt was merely a response to the booming Asian luxury market, resulting in brands attempting more directed communication strategies. This became more evident as black models remained few-and-far-between.

TYRA BANKS

TYRA BANKS

African-American activist, Bethann Hardison wrote a series of open letters in September 2013, denouncing big-name brands including Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Moschino for the lack of black models on their runways. Perhaps it worked, as the recent Fashion Weeks saw more black models crop up with Calvin Klein featuring six and four at Armani, and Prada’s Fall/Winter 2013 campaign heralded Black-British model Malaika Firth as the first Black face to represent the brand.

Leafing through the latest issue of US Vogue, fronted by Rihanna (last year there were only two black cover stars — Beyonce and Michelle Obama), I count seven editorial features out of about 50 that put a black individual front-and-centre,and eight advertising campaigns featuring black women. This is a small but great step in the right direction as these numbers were previously at zero.

In her Editor’s Letter, Anna Wintour speaks on diversity saying, “There is simply no excuse for fashion to continue ignoring the heterogeneous makeup of the world.”

Rightly so, as not only is it a false representation, but it is bad for business. Black-American buying power is expected to reach us$1,7 trillion by 2017, and on the African continent, the luxury market is increasing at an exponential rate.

Needless to say, both groups are demonstrating a penchant for splurging on designer brands.

I, for one, am cheering on the ascent of black African women in Hollywood, namely recent Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, and our own international television sensation Danai Gurira.

Not only are they ushering in a new era of black female celebrities with intelligence and drive, they are proof that there is beauty in our ebony complexion and Afro hair.

On both counts stars like Beyonce and Ciara simply pale in comparison.

The question of black hair is one that is intrinsically linked to our history and identity. In our country’s past, opportunities were limited if your hair reflected too “rebellious” a nature, this included “nappy” hair and “dread” locks (correct term is Nubian locks), which were only accepted in the late 1980s. The celebrated Munyaradzi Gwisayi case fought for these rights, changing how we could express ourselves in the work place.

My mother and aunties have painful memories of straightening hair with hot stones and combs. Even I experienced Sunday mornings squirming under the comb. I fully support a woman’s right to choose what works for her and what is healthiest for her hair.

Certainly, there are safe ways to treat hair and apply extensions, and one of the great aspects of black hair is that we have such a varied choice in how we can style it.

I just often wonder why this choice is more often for straight hair or styles that look white? In fact, having recently cut my hair, it has grown out naturally. The range of reactions has gone from “You’re brave…” to “This actually suits you…” So it should, it is my hair after all.

Natural hair seems a novel idea, but one that is gaining popularity, with the advent of black hair blogs like www.kinkycurlycoilyme.com and www.curlynikki.com, and for maintaining healthy hair in any style, straight or not, www.hairliciousinc.com and local blog www.phrophro.com are favourites. The point of these blogs is starting a discussion on what really works for black hair, without the commercial aspect of black hair magazines that often push the products of big-name advertisers, despite the fact that these can be damaging to hair. It is quite refreshing to know that a lot of what works for us are natural oils and products like avocado and Shea butter. Some investigation and research into this will reveal remarkable results for your hair, and once more of us are demanding these products, they will be easier to come by on the local market.

I believe that if we see a more diverse representation of what black is, in popular culture, it will result in a healthier self-perception for us and a broader perspective of what a beautiful black woman is, for our men. We need to gain a greater share of the media and create our own images, rather than solely relying on traditionally biased titles.

Arise magazine was a great example of this. I wept at its demise. We need to do this now because, if you haven’t heard, black is the new black.

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