Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. If one were to look at the definition of what hair is, you’d be told that hair is a protein filament that grows follicles in the dermis. It comes in many different forms, shapes, and textures. Not only is hair good for keeping our heads and bodies warm. Much meaning has been given to hair through centuries, where it has played a significant role within culture and history. Especially within African culture and history, where hair has had a significant role in ancient African civilization.
Not only did hair keep bodies warm, but it was also a way to communicate tribe, social status, and hierarchy, background, marital status, spirituality. Moreover, the hair also could show a woman’s level of fertility. It was perceived that the longer and thicker a woman’s hair was, the higher the chance that she was able to bear children, as it was a symbol of fertility. A woman with a head full of hair was perceived as the ideal woman, and with the head being the most elevated part of the body much attention has been given to it, as part of African culture. For this very reason, African culture is packed with various hairstyles that carry their own significance, traditions, symbolization, as well as different messages. One example of this are dreadlocks from the Himba tribe of Northwestern Namibia.
Different hairstyles have different meanings and signify different things, and the dreadlocks from the Himba tribe are no different. These dreadlocks indicate a number of things; age, marital status as well as which stage of life one may be in. This specific hairstyle does require exterior things in order for it to be completed – A mixture of ground ochre, butter, weave, and goat hair is needed in the process. Messages are sent through these dreadlocks by how you wear them. Teenage girls bring their dreadlocks forward to the front of their faces to show that they have entered puberty. On the other hand, women who are ready to marry will tie their dreadlocks away from their faces, so that men can see them. Married women and mothers wear headdresses, made out of animal skin, as a way to show that they are off the market. Men wear one single braid, but once they marry they cover their hair and do not show their hair in public again.
Slavery
Just like how identity could be derived from the dreadlocks from the Himba tribe, so it is with many different African hairstyles. They are loaded with much meaning to be interpreted. Because of the high location of the head, it was even seen as divine and as a way to interact with the spiritual. Unfortunately approximately 11,640,000 africans were forced to leaved their country behind due to slavery, and one of the things they held on to was their culture around hair. But this did not last very long as the view and perception surrounding african took on a negative connotation. The sacred and beautiful view of african hair was quickly ruined and instead it was seen as a burden and the reason for inferiority within western culture and society. Due to oppression many have caused many to hide their hair.
African hair culture has been thrown for a loop, but more and more people are accepting and recognizing the beauty of natural hair and embracing it, giving it positive connotations again.
Bibliography
Africa.com. (2020, January). Africa.com. Retrieved from A History Of African Women’s Hairstyles: https://www.africa.com/history-african-womens-hairstyles/
Jahangir, R. (2015). BBC News. Retrieved from How does black hair reflect black history?: (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-31438273
UHAI. (2020). UHAI. Retrieved from The History of Hair in The African American Community - Brought To You By Uhai Haircare: https://uhaihair.com/blogs/news/hair-history-a-short-story-on-the-evolution-of-hair-in-the-african-american-community