In the past few days as I logged into Facebook, I had been seeing a lot of people post and share an article titled, "Can I Touch It?", by Endia Beal on my newsfeed. Curious to see what it was about I clicked on it and began to read.
Beal did this photo blog to open up discussion topics such as race, gender, and differences between generations as a part of a five week residency for the Center of Photography at Woodstock. For this she chose white women in their 40's but was hoping to get mostly baby boomers and gave them "Black hairstyles" that would be worn in a profession portrait even if they ladies did not like them. Most of the ladies thought they'd be sporting braids or cornrows, but to their surprise Endia chose finger roles and not the type worn in the 20's.
Endia knew her hairstyle might cause some issues in corporate America, but she did not feel like it should be up to just her to fix them and that's the reason for the project. During the experience the women, some from Woodstock, NY and others from North Carolina, were excited to learn about the products and styles being done and used on their hair. Many of the women also were taking and posting pictures to Facebook and they seemed to take to Beal after the experience was over. Beal is considering having the women, the ones based out of North Carolina, wear their styles to work and make video about their experience.
*Endia Beal's website will be up on November 1st (endiabeal.com)*
Center for Photography at Woodstock
Facebook Story
Photo Blog
I saw this article a few days ago. Admittedly, as a white female, I've never given much thought to the idea that my hair might be unacceptable in a corporate environment. Aside from shaving my hair off completely or dying it an obnoxious color, there are probably very few ways that my blonde hair would warrant touching or pulling.
ReplyDeleteI admire Endia for viewing the office rumors as an opportunity for learning instead of reacting negatively to her curious coworkers. I also applaud her for not giving in to stifling corporate expectations of how a working woman, black or otherwise, should look.
Originally when I saw the article, before looking at the pictures, I thought it was referring to the New York live exhibit where black women allowed people to touch their hair.
DeleteAfter reading though, I also admire her on how she handled the rumors and from a black female perspective I don't and haven't been bold enough to not worry about thoughts about my hair outside my braids. I experienced working in an office this summer without them and at first it was unnerving but my supervisor, another black female, help me understand the people we were working with were used to seeing black hair not straightened, in braids, etc.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I had not heard of this article until reading your blog. Like Kelsi, I had never really thought about how hair could change how co-workers may perceive you in a professional environment. I love seeing black women with their natural hair and it's entirely unfair that in such a "progressive" time they may still be criticized for being themselves. No one should be pressured to change something that is truly a part of themselves due to outside pressures and it's so impressive to see someone stand up to these ideas.
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