Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair Extensions Anatomically, hair consists of dead skin cells that sprout from one’s skin to protect the body from sunlight. However, hair that flows from the scalp acquires a more significant status on the head of another person. People typically refer to these borrowed locks as hair extensions. Hair extension use runs rampant within first-world countries like the United States particularly. Due to the long conceived notion that long, thick hair equals beauty, coupled with increasing amounts of celebrity endorsements, hair extensions have become a staple of the hair care industry. Within the African American community, hair extensions provide women with the “good hair” that they strive for. But is the Rapunzel-like
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Because of the rising demand for hair extensions and hair care services, several women in the deprived regions of India and Russia can obtain jobs in the hair industry. Specifically in India, more middle and upper-class women have begun to adhere to a global pop culture where they see hair salons as modern routes to the highest attainable form of beauty rather than the “frivolous and narcissistic symbols of a decadent Western lifestyle” that the older generations believe them to be (Carter, Steiner, and McLaughlin 366). This recent interest in hair has “lead to new forms of vocational education (beauty schools) and employment for the urban poor” (Carter, Steiner, and McLaughlin 366). These beauty schools offer classes and training so that poor or unemployed women will be able to become employed as beauticians after the course is completed. Additionally, the international attention that Indian hair receives transforms the sale of hair for extensions into a large source of income for the country. Most Indian hair comes from temple offerings and in 2008, the temples earned a combined $300 million for the hair sold to make extensions. This temple money is funneled into charitable organizations and other humanitarian projects …show more content…
African American women represent a substantial sector of the consumer base that purchases hair extensions, as well as large portion of the demographic that develops traction alopecia and varying degrees of scalp disorders from hair extensions. Traction alopecia is baldness induced by constant pressure or pulling on the hair follicles (Yang et al).In Good Hair, Rock explains how black women go about achieving “good hair”: hair that is straight, long, and not kinky like their natural hair. A key method of obtaining “good hair” is through hair extensions. Grunzweig and Keys present a case study where a young African American woman develops full-scalp necrosis within a couple of months after a weave placement. Other published literature shows that incidents of scalp alopecia have been associated with hairstyles like weaves and extensions that involve adding traction to the hair (Grunzweig and Keys). And although natural hair can pull heavily on the scalp if the hair is extremely lengthy, hair extensions add extra pressure to the scalp through the application process. As Grunzweig and Keys point out, the “concentric nature of the spiral pattern braid” that a hair dresser uses as a base to hold the weave “decreases blood flow toward the vertex like a series of tourniquets”; restricted blood flow coupled with the weight of the extensions
Because of the rising demand for hair extensions and hair care services, several women in the deprived regions of India and Russia can obtain jobs in the hair industry. Specifically in India, more middle and upper-class women have begun to adhere to a global pop culture where they see hair salons as modern routes to the highest attainable form of beauty rather than the “frivolous and narcissistic symbols of a decadent Western lifestyle” that the older generations believe them to be (Carter, Steiner, and McLaughlin 366). This recent interest in hair has “lead to new forms of vocational education (beauty schools) and employment for the urban poor” (Carter, Steiner, and McLaughlin 366). These beauty schools offer classes and training so that poor or unemployed women will be able to become employed as beauticians after the course is completed. Additionally, the international attention that Indian hair receives transforms the sale of hair for extensions into a large source of income for the country. Most Indian hair comes from temple offerings and in 2008, the temples earned a combined $300 million for the hair sold to make extensions. This temple money is funneled into charitable organizations and other humanitarian projects …show more content…
African American women represent a substantial sector of the consumer base that purchases hair extensions, as well as large portion of the demographic that develops traction alopecia and varying degrees of scalp disorders from hair extensions. Traction alopecia is baldness induced by constant pressure or pulling on the hair follicles (Yang et al).In Good Hair, Rock explains how black women go about achieving “good hair”: hair that is straight, long, and not kinky like their natural hair. A key method of obtaining “good hair” is through hair extensions. Grunzweig and Keys present a case study where a young African American woman develops full-scalp necrosis within a couple of months after a weave placement. Other published literature shows that incidents of scalp alopecia have been associated with hairstyles like weaves and extensions that involve adding traction to the hair (Grunzweig and Keys). And although natural hair can pull heavily on the scalp if the hair is extremely lengthy, hair extensions add extra pressure to the scalp through the application process. As Grunzweig and Keys point out, the “concentric nature of the spiral pattern braid” that a hair dresser uses as a base to hold the weave “decreases blood flow toward the vertex like a series of tourniquets”; restricted blood flow coupled with the weight of the extensions