African-American Beauty History

Physical beauty is defined as a combination of various traits and characteristics that pleases the aesthetic sense. The history of African-American hair plays an influential role in what is viewed as “good hair” in society. ”Good hair” can be shown through the cultural history of the group itself, the history of resources available, and lastly how the hair is maintained as of today. The treatment of African-Americans beginning in the six-teenth century was horrific and played an enormous role in how their hair is viewed as of today. Spanish and Portuguese explor-ers arrived in the New World with the first Africans along with them. In 1619 Africans arrived in the area that became the Unit-ed States. The captain of a Dutch man-of-war …show more content…
Because of the strug-gles that African-Americans were put through by whites and the hard fist that whites ruled them with, a majority of African- Americans began to question in a sense what beauty was, based on who was privileged at that time. The hair of African-Americans has and continues to be associated with or in comparison to the ideology of white visual conception. In fifteenth century Afri-ca, hairstyles were used to indicate a person’s marital status, age, religion, ethnic identity, wealth, and/or rank within the community (Black Women and Identity: What’s Hair Got To Do With It?). In 1441, features such as thin bodies, straight hair, and fair skin were the standards of beauty …show more content…
Type 2 hair is typically wavy hair which lies in between straight and curly and is typically prone to frizz. Type 3 hair is full-bodied, climate-dependent, has an S shape, and is damage prone. Type 4 hair is kinky hair that is tightly coiled and quite fine and fragile. Kinky hair is the driest hair type; thus it is more prone to breakage and requires a gentle touch (What are the Different Curly Hair Types to Choose From?). As of today the Caucasian community views African-American hair in different ways. A majority is very accepting of it and actually interested in it and a few number still do not deem it as acceptable or “good hair.” In the black community African American hair is viewed differently as well. There are many that completely despise their natural hair and use many different products to disguise their hair while you have others that love their natural hair but choose to use products such as the chemi-cal relaxer and extensions to ease the maintenance of their hair. Lastly there are those that love their natural hair and have started a natural hair movement encouraging girls to not use the products and grow their natural hair