Cheveux crépus et identité : démêler les attitudes des femmes d'origine africaine vis-à-vis de leurs cheveux
Name
1223041970-MIT.pdf
Size
9.27 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
5313143ecf3c30c24f8247542cb6d072
Author(s)
Yakpo, Sefa A.
Advisor(s)
M. Amah Edoh.
Alternative Title
Démêler les attitudes des femmes d'origine africaine vis-à-vis de leurs cheveux
Date Issued
2019
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
This thesis concerns the question of the relationship that women of African origin have with their hair. Based on an analysis of the perceptions and attitudes of these women towards their hair, the thesis attempts to answer the question: what standards do they hold for their hair, and what factors contribute to that? To respond to these questions, I analyze two media sources created by African women, for a female, African audience -- postcolonial-era magazine, AWA: la revue de lafemme noire, and the modern-day YouTube channel of a young Franco-Senegalese woman, Aïcha Danso. The analysis raises questions about identity and its construction, and the meanings hair holds for black women. It leads to the hypothesis I propose: that natural, kinky hair is fundamentally racialized, and that the ways in which black women choose to style it -- although imbued with meanings that are multidimensional, profound, and personal -- come under structural factors such as the ideals of feminine beauty.
Description
Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Global Studies and Languages, 2019
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. "February 2019." Vita.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 67-69).
Subjects
Global Studies and Languages.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Global Languages
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Humanities
Terms of Use
MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.
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