Is the Fashion Industry Pushing Black Women to Shave their Heads?
By Ayekpa Anne-Laetitia
This blog post first appeared on Sub Saharan Princess.
In episode 9 of the Afropolitaine La Web Série, we tackle the recurrent theme of the stereotypical and restrictive approach of modeling agencies when targeting aspiring black models. Yes, we did have to go there because we are tired of this myopic view of black beauty, one that only allows certain beauty standards to be walking the walk on the catwalk. (That’s a lot of walking right there!)
Firstly, let's take a moment to salute the show creators Aline and Soraya Milla for paving the way for other creators to voice real-life situations, champion black actors, change the conversation and contribute to altering the vibration Afro-descendants were thirsty for! Oh, yes, they did!! That is the definition of Black Girl Magic right there!
For anybody new to the program, Afropolitaine La Web Série is an avant-garde "Afro-French touch" show you don't want to miss out on. Navigating the life of and challenges faced by two sisters originally from Africa and born and raised in Paris. Yvoire assimilates Frenchness to the core while Janis' unapologetically pro-black attitude means they often come to blows... Well, not exactly. Let me just say their fundamentally opposed views of life makes their endearing personalities easy to identify with. Trust me, you are either Team Janis or Team Yvoire. You ought to let me know! Also, the series, which aired its finale on, has a bonus: Your girl stars in it.
Now let's get back to business...
...this is a rather peculiar theme as this issue is so often encountered by many models and actresses cataloguing it on socials and in real life.
Indeed, black models in the selection process seem to often be categorized by having to possess certain traits. As a matter of fact, beauty (obviously), a dark complexion and most importantly (wait for it…) a bald hair cut.
What grinds my gears is the “compulsory” component, that this hairstyle is the essential go-to, if not the only attribute to even dream of being considered. Alas, this infamous short hairstyle comes across as the secret ingredient to be ticking all boxes when it comes to succeeding in auditions.
Models will be “required” to either be bald or ensure they get the haircut to have a chance of securing the bag, similarly to Yvoire in this very episode. Quite unfair and bittersweet as she had to give up her hair to make her agency happy.
I just want to make something crystal clear. I do not have anything against short-haired models/celebrities/ordinary women per se. I do heart a good old pixie cut Jodie Turner Smith style or a short, natural Lupita Nyong’o's style. I actually took the leap of faith myself a few years back and your girl was so...
However, the issue lies in the fact that it seems a bald head is the ultimate requirement of the fashion world to champion black females in the industry. Wouldn’t you agree? Seemingly, black women can win if and only if they have no hair. But why is that? Truthfully, we do encounter more and more black models, even though it’s extremely hard for them to get gigs as opposed to their white counterparts, but when we see them, most sport this haircut on the cover of big magazines or runways.
Check out Adut Akech Bior, Anok Yai or even the most famous Alek Wek. Again, there’s nothing wrong with short hair, but why does it feel like this is the key requirement for black models when other women don’t have such restrictions: White and mixed-raced women are exempt as pointed out by Janis in the episode’s prelude Bonus Gossip Columns IG stories/posts. (Go check them out. They are hilarious by the way ;)
Let's get back on track now!
One has to question why? Why is there such rule (written and unwritten) in place? It reveals so much about the so-called agencies and the fashion industry as a whole. It most definitely has to do with obsolete beauty standards. Who actually sets these standards? Does beauty only exist in a certain part of the world, and why should a woman have to have a certain look to be considered beautiful due to the color of her skin? Can you guys smell this distinctive pungent white privilege eau de parfum?
Historically speaking, shaving off a group of specific women’s heads was pretty symbolic. (Hint hint.) I can’t help but wonder whether that’s what they are trying to achieve with us?
Now, women choosing to shave their head is a choice, and I truly respect it, but not when it’s imposed on them in order to qualify to be part of a certain industry. I just don’t think fashion houses should use this as a qualification. And it doesn’t necessarily rhyme with politics, it can solely be for aesthetic reasons, to feel sexy and because they merely fancy having no hair.
Why so many codes?
Additionally, since black women’s hair meant something in the past and still does. Many places in Africa used braids patterns to communicate with each other. The “Afro-revolution” pertaining to the Civil Rights movement meant black people were proud to show off their curls as a protest to the oppressive US government as well as self-acceptance, and more recently, the “unapologetically black” trend of back to one’s roots, so to speak, and yet again championing and learning to love one’s curls, fighting pre-conceived ideas of beauty standards. This whole process is a journey of reconnecting with ourselves and getting rid of toxicity, such as trying to meet the requirements of Western beauty standards we would automatically be disqualified from. Are they trying to control and silence us by removing our hair, something so meaningful to us?
Although I disagree with this direction, I absolutely appreciate the fact that actors sometimes have to change their appearance for their roles. This is entirely different, as this is not just for a type of women or men in its own right. This "bald-head trend” is both discriminatory and limiting since it is directed at a certain type of women. Period.
The fashion and beauty industries intertwine, and codes tend to change over time. Nowadays, "plus-size" models are gaining more credit, taken more seriously and acquiring deals they would have never been able to 20 years ago. Anyone who grew up in the 90’s will remember that “fat shaming” was actually a trend. (I am guilty of watching Friends and Moesha in which they profusely normalized it, and honestly, 2020 me feels somewhat uncomfortable when these scenes come up.)
Nonetheless, as we continue to make progress, I can’t help but wonder, why with so many cultural advancements, these industries still seem to be out of touch with black women?
I want to talk about white privilege, for starters, which encourages the oblivious way these women are targeted and what constitutes a beautiful black woman to the fashion industry.
But I beg to differ. A dark-skinned woman can be pretty with short, long or no hair. Period! Maybe people spearheading these conglomerates should “Pull Up For Change” to allow more diversity on their boards and within companies to avoid such bad strategies. We could reverse roles and try to see if all or most white models had short hair, what would that be like? Would it be acceptable? Is it just ignorance or fear of not being able to deal with black women’s beauty care? Do they simply not care? (There she goes again…)
On the other hand, one could also argue that top paid dark-skinned models include both Naomi Campbell and Alek Wek. Two different styles and two beauty queens. So why is it that this versatility is not palpable on the catwalk. Why is it that dark-skinned beauties equal no hair in fashion. Do these people think black women have no hair unlike other women, or is it that they have to have no hair to be considered beautiful? Could it simply be because they don’t want to embrace the versatility black women have to offer? (Amen to that!)
I heard so many stories about how black models and actresses while being backstage had to apply their own make-up or do their own hair, simply because make-up artists/hairstylists had no clue what to do with an afro or didn’t have matching foundation. Do they think the "unkept" look for black women is appropriate for catwalks or movie sets? (They must be having a laugh!)
What exactly does it say about these agencies or furthermore the fashion world to only take on bald dark-skinned models? Do they believe black women can only be beautiful or marketable with no hair? Moreover, I feel there is a bit of fetichism involved, the idea of black women’s beauty and aesthetics. The normalizing of "bare looks" with practically no make-up or leopard skin attire screams a stereotypical idea of "savage beauty" ever so present in these industries.
They want the “African” (or what they understand it to be...) in black women to reveal itself, and the only way to do this is with minimal or outrageous make-up styles coupled with a bald cut. What makes black women beautiful (all complexions considered) is the versatility of their hairstyles: weaves, wigs, short hair, bald head, twists, afros, braids, long permed hair, etc... All of these styles make up the black women of today. In fact, one black woman can be so many women at a time, thanks to the different hairstyles she wears.
The fashion world has yet to grasp this fact...
During slavery, black women had to wear head wraps in order to hide their crown from the white man’s gaze, which white women were jealous of. This also brings me to more recent times with the normalization of hair discrimination across the globe at work, school and on the catwalk. Black women have to fight to exist and be themselves in a world predominantly oblivious of them being magical. It’s like black hair scares to the point that they need to segregate us by suppressing it altogether.
Yet I do have hope, that with all these lockdowns in place, in the wake of Black Lives Matter and police brutality around the world, industry officials will start to understand the asset black people can become. After all, black women are the most educated group in America, and in my generation, children of immigrants born outside of the motherland are the most educated ever. Consequently, better education means better livelihoods and disposable income to spend on fashion and beauty brands. So, they can win, but by neglecting to understand black models, they in turn lose a prominent and promising market, one looking for brands to identify with, which is essential for marketing.
However, we are generationally unapologetically black; in other words, we are not looking for any validation and understanding per se. We will choose brands that are pro-black, but who also "put their money when their mouth is." We are the generation who "buys black" and is happy to visit and even settle back in Africa. They simply have nothing on us anymore. The only way is forward, with knowledge and recognition of the industry’s privilege adversely affecting black woman, with having black women in more senior and key roles throughout the chain of command to eradicate this “bald-headed trend.”
Perhaps, it is time for companies to seriously hold panels or interviews with models and black people in the industry for more insight. We all saw the difference with British Vogue when Edward Enninful took over as Editor-in-Chief, the impact of Black Lives Matter on magazines story lines in general, thereby implicating more black people stories and models. Nevertheless, more recently, those efforts have started to stagnate as protests diminished.
We still have a long way to go, but we can make the difference by making ourselves more visible and taking ownership, just like the French TV show Afropolitaine La Web Série this year. It stars two beautiful, black girls who are educated and well-spoken, thereby breaking stereotypes and normalizing blackness on TV, or actress Zendaya casting only black models in Tommy Hilfiger’s show in the USA in March 2019 and Tyler Perry acquiring his very own production company in Atlanta, competing with big Hollywood Studios, Nofi Stores educating afro-descendants about all things African past and present, championing blackness as a whole and owning the ability to tell our own stories.
And last but not least, the "returnees" trend sparked by Ghana's Year of the Return along with cross-cultural collaborations between Africans and the diaspora (a theme I will explore more in depth in my next blog post) can only help with the realization that we are living in the Africa 3.0 era. As Senegalese-American singer Akon vividly asserts: Africa is now, and we (the diaspora) are running late, as we have to invest now to avoid missing out on opportunities (Capital Xtra, London, 2019). The property business is how we can build generational wealth indeed; that's what differentiates us from others by making us sustainable. This is the way forward.
You can view more blog posts by Ayekpa Anne-Laetitia on her blog The Subsaharan Princess. Take a look.