NATURAL

A sociologist offers an exploration of the practices and politics that inform the modern natural hair movement among Black women.

In its malleability, writes Johnson, “hair almost always expresses social dynamics.” This is especially true for Black women, who learn from childhood that straightening hair is essential to “doing Black girlhood respectably.” Drawing on her experiences and on interviews with women in the U.S., Europe, South America, and South Africa, Johnson examines the politics of Black women’s hair in the context of the modern natural hair movement. She observes that during the Jim Crow era, for example, adhering to Eurocentric ideals of beauty helped Black American women better succeed in a society created not only to serve white people (especially men) but also (white) capitalism. “Going natural” during the civil rights era and experimenting with transatlantic Afrocentric styles in the ’80s and later became a way for Black women and men to express cultural pride. Johnson traces the return to natural hair for Black American and European women during the 2010s and 2020s to a worldwide rise in xenophobia. This movement saw transitioning, the act of purging straight hair, as part of a new politics of authenticity that privileges health, wellness, and self-care. The author further suggests that the modern natural hair movement, in aligning with other global ones like the green movement, has given rise to Black-owned “naturalpreneur” businesses committed to serving Black women worldwide but also circulating profits within Black communities. Ambitious in scope, this book interweaves personal, historical, political, and transnational reflections about Black women’s hair and beauty culture into a nuanced academic study with strong interdisciplinary appeal.

A provocative study about an overlooked but important cultural movement.