Cheveux crépus et identité : démêler les attitudes des femmes d'origine africaine vis-à-vis de leurs cheveux

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.