“Hey! That’s Mine!”: An Ethnographic Vignette
I recently saw a video, in a slew of other videos that popped up on my Instagram timeline, of a beauty supply shop keeper assaulting a customer who he was accusing of stealing from his store. Aside from the fact that the woman was empty handed, she only had a small wristlet on her arms, barely big enough to hold anything worth accosting her for supposedly “stealing.” In the comments section below the video there was a bunch of different comments, ranging from those who thought the video was funny to those who were disgusted by the fact that a business owner would treat their customers in such a way. But one comment that stuck out to me, someone said (and I’m paraphrasing) “why are so many people of color forced to shop in beauty supply stores that cater to a predominately black customer, when we know all they think about us is that we lie cheat and steal?”
That got me thinking about why are most of these businesses (beauty supply stores) not run by black owners, especially black women? I remember when I found about the two sisters, one 19 and the other 21, who opened their own beauty supply store. Everyone praised the girls for becoming entrepreneurs at such a young age, but what had people talking was the fact that these two girls were one of a few beauty supply stores owned by black women. It is not uncommon for people to associate beauty supply stores with the hood, or “ghetto” because there are a lot of negative connotations surrounding black women, and black fashion in general. White women have been wearing wigs and extensions for years, yet black women are treated like a side show at the county fair for wearing weaves and lace fronts. A lot of the negative associations with black women’s hair care comes down to the way that they have been portrayed in the media.
A black woman with purple hair is ghetto and unemployable, but a white woman with the exact some hair is viewed as eccentric or a free spirit. Kylie Jenner has faced a lot of backlash for her appropriation of black style and culture; especially since she started dating Tyga. She was eventually called out by Amandla Stenberg who said, “What would America be like if it loved black people as much as it loves black culture?”
I think that there are still big issues we face in terms of cultural appropriation and the difficulty that women have facing the social hypocrisy surrounding fashion and style. Acrylic nails, big hoop earrings, brightly colored lipstick, hair that’s styled in a crazy or colorful way; all things that aren’t necessarily synonymous with black culture, but have become closely associated with black women; then placed onto a white woman and then carry an entirely different context. Stereotypes played out in movies and television depict black women in a negative light, usually starting with the way they are dressed or how their hair is styled; but when you see other women doing it, it becomes high fashion, trendy, or edgy.
I, personally, would appreciate seeing more black women in the beauty supply stores, because I think it’s important. Not just in terms of having more black women owning businesses, but because hair is such a big part of the black woman’s experience.
