Women's Hair and J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere

I remember when I was in Tokyo and every weekend I was going to The Muse, a club/lounge filled with expats, mostly guys from Europe and America, and some Japanese. I went every weekend with my friend Tara. We had fun meeting different guys, especially Tara. I met my husband pretty early on, so I wasn't really dating. One night we went out and I straightened my hair. I used to like to do that sometimes, but rarely do it now. Tara noticed that guys were looking at me differently. I wasn't too surprised.

“Whether it is working backstage at Fashion Week or styling a client’s hair at the salon, straight hair has always been in-demand look for women,” says Rodney Cutler, owner ofCutler/Redken Salons. - http://talkingmakeup.com/haircare/redken-straight-collection-straight-hair-for-all-hair-types/- I think that this quote supports the idea that straight hair is a symbol of beauty in this country. Within all of the mass media influencing our lives, beautiful women are most often depicted with straight hair. I think some men are not conscious of why they prefer women with straight hair and other men are conscious of the whole issue and can see through that.

I used to hate my hair and wish I had straight hair. I remember one girl in my high school who burned her hair trying to get a reverse perm and damaged her long curly hair that went down to her waist. Some black women go through a lot to get their hair straight, adding chemical [reverse] perms and using hot irons, both can burn the scalp. When black women do style their hair with braids and dreads, I must say, I love it. There are so many cool things black women do with their hair, which brings me to what made me start this post.

When I went to the AIPAD I saw a book showing the work of - J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere - http://www.gallery51.com/index.php?navigatieid=9&fotograafid=12 - I was recently reminded of these pictures in sculpture class because Tina is making a paper mache wig for a sculpture of a black woman. I don't know how famous he is, but he photographed over 1000 women with different hair styles, depicting them as artistic sculptures.... so cool!