Black Beauty: Aesthetics, Stylization, PoliticsPrevious work discussing Black beauty has tended to concentrate on Black women's search for white beauty as a consequence of racialization. Without denying either the continuation of such aesthetics or their enduring power, this book uncovers the cracks in this hegemonic Black beauty. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research amongst British women of Caribbean heritage, this volume pursues a broad discussion of beauty within the Black diaspora contexts of the Caribbean, the UK, the United States and Latin America through different historical periods to the present day. With a unique exploration of beauty, race and identity politics, the author reveals how Black women themselves speak about, negotiate, inhabit, work on and perform Black beauty. As such, it will appeal not only to sociologists, but anyone working in the fields of race, ethnicity and post-colonial thought, feminism and the sociology of the body. |
Contents
1 | |
Or Does It? | 17 |
The Matter of Hair | 35 |
Shade | 53 |
4 The Shame of Beauty is its Transformative Potential | 79 |
5 The Browning Straighteners and Fake Tan | 99 |
6 Hybrid Black Beauty? | 123 |
Is it all Stylization and Is There a Need for Black Beauty Citizenship? | 145 |
Transcription Conventions | 161 |
163 | |
173 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
21st century acceptable affect african agency beauty comes beauty shame become Black anti-racist aesthetics Black atlantic diaspora Black beauty Black community Black mixed race Black women blonde body browning called chapter clear colour context continue critical cultural culturally instituted desire diaspora discourses discussion dominant embodied emerged example exclusion exist extensions face fake feeling Further girls hair hairstyles hybrid iconic idea ideal identification identity important individual Jamaican judgement light live look means melancholia mimicry models natural never normal norms object once performativity politics position possibility practices present produced question racialized recognition seen shade shows significant skin social society space speaks straight straightening structure struggle style stylization surface talk things thought transformation translation trying turn ugliness wear whilst white beauty woman yeah