In Americanah,
Adichie uses hair– an obvious physical difference between races– as a way to
investigate deeper-rooted implications of race and culture, as well as to
invite the reader to see everyday biases existing in majority-white
countries. Adichie’s unique approach to examining these issues serves as
an effective educator, illuminating arbitrary prejudices faced by black people.
Throughout
the book, Adichie exemplifies that to prosper in a country where kinky-haired
people are in the minority, African women must alter a significant trait to fit
white standards of beauty and professionalism. These women must spend
copious amounts of resources, and endure relaxer burn, oozing scabs, and hair
loss to meet these standards (Adichie 251-252, 257). Adichie illustrates the plight of black women
in a white workplace through Ifemelu’s experience of needing to relax her hair
rather than display her Afro in order to be considered “a ‘wonderful fit’ in
the company” (Adichie 252). Ifemelu explains to Curt that to look professional,
her hair must either be straight or “the white kind of curly” (Adichie 252),
emphasizing that if she were white these modifications would not be expected.
Adichie’s
examination of the politics of black hair facilitates an investigation of
racial and cultural prejudice in the United States and England. She uses
examples of racial profiling– such as Nicholas being denied a taxi ride because
of his blackness or Dike being the first accused of hacking school computers,
despite being out with his mother all day– to demonstrate the constant scrutiny
that Africans endure (Adichie 341, 433). These incidences emphasize the
vigilance required of black people in the U.S. and England, whereas white
people have no concern about hailing a cab or being falsely accused simply
because of their whiteness. White skin
permits a more carefree attitude than dark skin, which is also evident in the
levels of maintenance required to have “professional” black hair versus
“professional” white hair.
Adichie’s
overarching comparison between black hair and black people has everything to do
with representation. In Ifemelu’s blog post titled “A Michelle Obama
Shout-Out Plus Hair as Race Metaphor”, she states that beyond being considered
unprofessional or unrefined, kinky hair is “just not damn normal” (Adichie
367). Ifemelu is led to believe that in the United States, having kinky
hair is a rare trait that must be eliminated to foster success. She does not see women of her hair type being
served or represented in Princeton, and
has to ride a train to Trenton to find a braiding salon (Adichie 3). The
stigmatization of black hair due to lack of representation carries over to a
lack of black representation in the media overall. Ifemelu proves this point when she shows Curt
“two thousand pages of women’s magazines” and finds only three black women,
none of whom are dark (Adichie 365). Representation matters, and Adichie
uses issues surrounding this fact to illuminate inherent biases, as well as
using Ifemelu’s blog to educate readers on steps towards remedying centuries of
racial and cultural division.
I really like what you are saying about what hair represents in Americanah. I think that you are right that Adichie uses hair as a means of exploring race relations in majority white societies. I also think that Ifemelu's relationship with her own hair represents her attempts of self love and her tendencies of nonconformity. The way our culture forces black woman to conform to our standards of acceptability pushes them from expressing themselves through their hair. Taking away that choice is both systemically racist as well as anti-feminist. On page 258 Ifemelu chooses to go back to natural hair because the relaxer she was putting in was causing her hair to fall out. At first she is hates the change, up to the point that she stays home from work. However, after discovering the forum HappilyKinkyNappy.com, she eventually begins to love the change. Adichie writes, “she looked in the mirror, sank her fingers into her hair, dense and spongy and glorious, and could not imagine it any other way” (Adichie 264). Although the people around her are not as accepting of her new hair, Ifemelu does not care. She has never really cared about conforming. By going back to her natural hair Ifemelu is taking a piece of her own life back. Similar to when she abandoned her fake American accent, she is taking back a part of her blackness, a part of her African-ness.
ReplyDeleteI really like what you’ve pulled from the text here. I remember Adichie mentioning in the interview we watched a couple weeks ago that the book is about hair, and I think it’s a really interesting way to point out the systemic racism in America. I like that you pointed out that, at the core, it has to do with representation. The scene from 365 in which Curt is so quick to call out Ifemelu’s magazine on “racial bias” and still not see that in an ordinary magazine really drives home that point. The fact that he’s been conditioned to recognize large groups of colored women as abnormal but look at an equally large group of white women without seeing fault is a really important moment in the book for showing the incredible lack of representation for colored women. I think what really made her point stick out though is when Ifemelu writes on her blog that, if Michelle Obama were to let her hair be completely natural, “Obama would certainly lose the independent vote, even the undecided Democrat vote” (368). The significance of this is, again, the fact that natural hair on a black woman is so unusual that it has become synonymous with unprofessionality. The idea that a natural characteristic of a back woman is deemed unprofessional when a white woman with curly hair isn’t really goes to show the depths of the racial bias that exists deeply ingrained into American culture.
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