We live in a world full of expectations. We live in a world where numerous migrations, have spread whites, blacks, Asians, south Asians and aboriginals around the globe. We speak numerous languages in our daily lives. We eat sushi for breakfast, pizza for lunch and daal for dinner all in one day. We cross time zones on hundreds of flights per hour.
Yet we’re still constrained by certain basic understandings or social norms. We’re faced with a necessity to meet expectations in our appearance, our dress, and our use of language.
Why is business around the world conducted in the clothing styles provided by the west? Why are remnants of our colonial slavehood still present in our lives?
Why don’t business men in other parts of the world (or hell here) wear clothes more indicative of the culture they come from? Why are brothers in Punjab sporting suits n ties when trying to look professional?
Why is it a Sistah feels the need to get a weave or straighten her hair? (http://www.lyricstop.com/i/iamnotmyhair-india.arie.html)
Followup:
“It's common knowledge that Black women are sensitive to issues concerning our hair. We were in an uproar when Bo Derek was credited with originating cornrows. Yet we grapple with whether it is politically correct to straighten our hair, and we struggle in corporate America when we decide to have braids or dreads. But as my friend Martel says, if we allow people to control what is on our heads, we allow them to control what is in our heads.
No group's hair holds as much interest or fascination as Black women's. I once had a supervisor who asked me patronizing questions each time I changed a style. At first she just assumed my hair had to be artificial. When I changed it to curls, she actually had the nerve to put her hands into my hair for her own inspection. (I should have sued her for harassment!) Another ignorant supervisor pulled my ponytail off in front of a crowd. When I reported her, the incident was dismissed as an "accident." The truth is: To have your hair scrutinized, handled or critiqued by a White person is an indignity no sister should suffer.” (Sophia Sayers, Oct. 1995)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment