Naturalista Research Paper

What is a naturalista? According to the post on naturalistadaily.com, the definition of a naturalista is “a female who takes pride in herself. Whichever hair type, ethnicity, or skin color she may identify with, she loves and accepts herself because she understands and celebrates the beauty of her natural anatomy.” (naturalistadaily, “What Is a Naturalista”) This term mean everything to the black community. For year, black women have been told how their hair needs to be kept, styled, and maintained; if you go against that, you are usually labeled in a negative way or overlooked altogether. A black woman who wears her hair out in an Afro in the 60s or 70s you would be automatically associated with the Black Panthers movement and possibly seen

The combination of this and slavery has brainwashed the black community to think they are not as valuable as non-blacks. “Black women need to be empowered so that they can protect themselves against the negative messages that they receive from their environment.” (Bryant, 89) The naturalista niche is essentially the black community uniting to let the world know that the Eurocentric idea of beauty may not include them but they are not the ones who need to change to become beautiful. The definition of beauty is “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit” (Merriem-Webster), saying that black women are not beautiful is implying that there is nothing about her that stimulates one’s senses in a positive way. When someone is told continuously that they are not worth anything, nor will they amount to anything, over time they will begin to believe it and treat others who look like them the same way. The naturalista niche is a movement that aims to empower the black community and to educate them on how to take care of themselves, mainly hair care. Many believe that hair is a person’s primary way of expression but for black women they have not been given many choices on how they can do that. Rather, they are told that the natural state of their hair is not okay and needs to be “tamed” in order for society to accept them. A black woman with an Afro or cornrows may have the same or more qualifications than a Caucasian woman with long hair but the typical prejudice is the black woman is unprofessional and cannot represent their brand the same way the Caucasian woman can. Though it is not blatantly stated there is a tone that has been set by many companies that have influenced the black community to build within itself.