Description
Book SynopsisWe all know there is a politics of skin color, but is there a politics of hair?
In this book, Noliwe Rooks explores the history and politics of hair and beauty culture in African American communities from the nineteenth century to the 1990s.
Trade ReviewRooks's excellent book is a welcome entry in the feminist debates about American 'beauty culture'... Readable, accessible, and helpfully illustrated. * Choice *
Rooks dig deep to describe how beauty and culture have politicized African American women and demonstrates that Western definitions of beauty are often not endorsed by African American women. Compelling. * Booklist *
Hair Rising is insightful, engaging, imaginative, and even musical. Rooks harmonizes her voice as a scholar analyzing hair with her voice as a black woman talking politics with other black women, in salons and parlors, to the rhythms of combing, brushing, braiding, and straightening... This a must-read! -- Gloria Wade-Gayles * Professor of English and Women's Studies, Spelman College, and author of Pushed Back to Strength: A *
Rooks deconstructs dominant cultural notions of femininity and/or beauty with humor, dignity, and a defiant sassiness. Read this book! -- Joanne M. Braxton * Frances and Edwin L. Cummings Professor of America Studies and English, The College of William and M *
Table of ContentsNappi by nature: afros, hot combs, and black pride
Beauty, race, and black pride
Advertising contradictions
Broadening representational boundaries
Gender, hair, and African American women's magazines
In search of connections
