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Being An American Woman Essay

440 Words2 Pages

In Western culture, the ideal woman is supposed to have distinctly Caucasian features. A lot of black women are afraid of appearing "too black". Think of the black celebrity women that are considered beautiful: Halle Barry, Tyra Banks, Rihanna, and Beyoncé. None of those women have very black features. This is because Whites make up most of the West and created an ideal standard of beauty that is aligned with Caucasian features. In the Black Community having long, straight hair is associated with “good” hair and having short kinky hair is “bad” hair. As long as hair is clean, healthy and well taken care of, it is good hair. According to society, if it isn 't white, it isn 't right. Natural kinky hair seems too eccentric for a professional …show more content…

Black hair is beautiful and very diverse. It can be worn in many different styles. In the American society there have been instances where braids, dreads, cornrows and natural hair were discriminated against. In this day and age people of color with natural hair can fight back. We no longer have to assimilate and can sue for being discriminated against. Natural hair is slowly making more progress in the work area. Why should black women feel they have to straighten their hair on a job interview? This is mostly in the Corporate America. The media also hasn 't helped by portraying curly and nappy hair as wild, dirty, nasty, and crazy. It all dates back to slavery. Black hair was reviled and it was so different, it was assumed to be bad. In order to fit in, Black women tried to look more White and become more Eurocentric. Though, no one forces black women to straighten their hair, it has always been taught the white man 's standard of beauty is ideal. It 's the norm that White mainstream America is just used to. Society should be accepting of all shades, hair types, and features as beautiful not just the straight silky blonde hair and blue eyes. It is up to individuals to challenge that norm. Take a stand and wear his/her hair how he/she likes. If a person is articulate, earnest, solid, hardworking and honest, he/she should get to where he/she is trying to go, regardless of his/her hair. Every black person who does this becomes one more living example for White America, that

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