Afro
The afro is a hair style created by
combing out natural growth of afro-
textured hair, unlike "fro" which is a
hairstyle that can be achieved by
curly or straight textured hair with
tools or products. [1][2] The hairstyle
can be created by combing the hair
away from the scalp, dispersing a
distinctive curl pattern, and forming
the hair into a rounded shape, much
like a cloud or puff ball.[1][2][3][4][5]
Musician Billy Preston with an afro
Woman with an afro
For people with wavy or straight hair,
the hair style is created with the help
of permanent hair structure-
changing creams or gels and/or other
solidifying liquids to temporarily hold
the hair in place. Particularly popular
in the African American community of
the late 1960s and early 1970s,[3][5]
the hairstyle is often shaped and
maintained with the assistance of a
wide-toothed comb colloquially
known as an Afro pick.[2][3][4]
Etymology
"Afro" is derived from the term "Afro-
American".[2] The hairstyle is also
referred to by some as a "natural"—
particularly the shorter, less elaborate
versions of the Afro—since in most
cases the hair is left untreated by
relaxers or straightening chemicals
and is instead allowed to express its
natural curl or kinkiness.[3][5]
History in the United
States
Circassian beauties
One of P. T. Barnum's
Circassian beauties wearing
an afro
In the 1860s, a hairstyle similar to the
afro was worn by the Circassian
beauties. Sometimes known as
"Moss-haired girls", they were a
group of women exhibited in
sideshow attractions in the United
States by P. T. Barnum and others.
These women claimed to be
descendants of the Circassian people
in the North Caucasus region, and
were marketed to White audiences
captivated by the "exotic East" as
pure examples of the Caucasian race
who were kept as sexual slaves in
Turkish harems.[6][7] It has been
argued that this portrayal of a
Caucasian woman as a rescued slave
during the American Civil War played
on the racial connotations of slavery
at the time so that the distinctive
hairstyle affiliates the side-show
white Circassian with African-
American identity, and thus:[6]
... resonates oddly yet
resoundingly with the rest of her
identifying significations: her
racial purity, her sexual
enslavement, her position as
colonial subject; her beauty. The
Circassian blended elements of
white Victorian True Womanhood
with traits of the enslaved black
woman in one curiosity.
African-American hairstyles
prior to the 1960s
Global hair texture distribution
During the history of slavery in the
United States, most African
Americans styled their hair in an
attempt to mimic the styles of the
predominantly white society in which
they lived.[2][8] Afro-textured hair,
characterized by its tight kinks, has
been described as being kinky,
coarse, cottony, nappy, or woolly.[8][9]
These characteristics represented the
antithesis of the European American
standard of beauty, and led to a
negative view of kinky hair. As a
result, the practice of straightening
gained popularity among African
Americans.[8]
The process of straightening the hair
often involved applying caustic
substances, such as relaxers
containing lye, which needed to be
applied by an experienced hairstylist
so as to avoid burning the scalp and
ears.[3] Those who chose not to
artificially treat their hair would often
opt to style it into tight braids or
cornrows.[8] With all of these
hairstyling methods, one ran the risk
of damaging the hair shaft,
sometimes resulting in hair loss.[10]
1960s and 1970s
Angela Davis (center, no glasses)
enters Royce Hall at UCLA for her
first philosophy lecture in October
1969.
The effect of the Civil Rights
Movement brought a renewed sense
of identity to the African–American
community, which also resulted in a
redefinition of personal style that
included an appreciation of black
beauty and aesthetics, as embodied
by the "Black is beautiful"
movement.[9][11] This cultural
movement marked a return to more
natural, untreated hairstyles. The afro
became a powerful political symbol
which reflected black pride and a
rejection of notions of assimilation
and integration—not unlike the long
and untreated hair sported by the
mainly White hippies.[2][8][9]
To some African Americans, the afro
also represented a reconstitutive link
to West Africa and Central Africa.[3]
However, some critics have
suggested that the afro hairstyle is
not particularly African:[3][12] In his
book Welcome to the Jungle: New
Positions in Black Cultural Studies ,
cultural critic Kobena Mercer argued
that the contemporary African
society of the mid-20th century did
not consider either hairstyle to
denote any particular "Africanness";
conversely, some Africans felt that
these styles signified "First-
worldness".[3]
Similarly, Brackette F. Williams stated
in her book Stains on My Name, War
in My Veins: Guyana and the Politics
of Cultural Struggle that African
nationalists were irritated by the
afro's adoption by African Americans
as a symbol of their African heritage;
they saw this trend as an example of
Western arrogance.[13]
The afro was adopted by both men
and women and was a hairstyle that
was easier to maintain by oneself,
without requiring frequent and
sometimes costly visits to the
hairstylist as was often experienced
by people who chose to braid,
straighten or relax their hair. Due to
the kinky pattern prominent in Afro-
textured hair, as it grows longer it has
a tendency to extend outward from
the head, resulting in a domelike
hairstyle which is easily molded and
sculpted into the desired shape.[2][9]
While the afro was a much less
invasive and time-consuming
hairstyle choice for many African
Americans, some chose to achieve a
more voluminous version of the afro
by backcombing or teasing the hair, a
practice that can result in damage to
the hair and scalp.[1][5]
In the mid-1960s, the afro hairstyle
began in a fairly tightly coiffed form,
such as the hairstyle that became
popular among members of the
Black Panther Party. As the 1960s
progressed towards the 1970s,
popular hairstyles, both within and
outside of the African-American
community, became longer and
longer.[1] As a result, the late
1960s/early 1970s saw an expansion
in the overall size of afros.[1] Some of
the entertainers and sociopolitical
figures of the time known for wearing
larger afros include political activist
Angela Davis, actress Pam Grier, rock
musician Jimi Hendrix, singer Miriam
Makeba, and the members of the
musical groups the Jackson 5 and the
Supremes.[4][14]
A young girl wearing a hairstyle of
several sections of hair bound with
elastics, a style called afro puffs
In contrast, the afro's popularity
among African Americans had
already started to wane by the early
1970s;[1][5] the introduction of the
afro to the mainstream and its
adoption by people of non-African
descent caused the afro to lose its
radical, political edge.[2] The 1970s
saw an increase in the popularity of
braided hairstyles such as cornrows
among both sexes of African
Americans.
1990s and 2000s
The afro saw some resurgence in
both the 1990s and the 2000s.[4][11]
These afros would take varied forms,
some incorporating elements such as
braids, beads or twists, as well as
various sizes, from close-cropped
natural hairstyles all the way to
expansive afro wigs.[11]
Some African Americans who have
been known for wearing afros or afro
wigs during these two decades
include NBA basketball players Ben
Wallace, Kobe Bryant, and Michael
Beasley, as well as musicians Lauryn
Hill, Erykah Badu, Macy Gray,
Ludacris, Questlove, Cindy Blackman,
Wiz Khalifa, and Lenny Kravitz.
Beyoncé also donned a large afro wig
for her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in the
2002 film Austin Powers in
Goldmember.
On July 3, 2019, California became
the first U.S. state to prohibit
discrimination over natural hair.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed the
CROWN Act into law, banning
employers and schools from
discriminating against hairstyles such
as afros, braids, twists, and
dreadlocks.[15] Likewise, later in 2019
Assembly Bill 07797 became law in
New York state; it "prohibits race
discrimination based on natural hair
or hairstyles."[16]
Aevin Dugas from Gonzales,
Louisiana, USA, set a new Guinness
World Record on 11 September 2022,
for the largest female afro, which
measures 165 cm (5.41 ft) in
circumference, 25 cm (9.84 in) in
height, and 26 cm (10.24 in) in width.
She has broken the Guinness World
Record for the largest afro three
times, including in 2010 and 2021.
Dugas says she began growing her
afro in 1999 and learned how to style
and cut it herself after an
unsuccessful trip to a professional
hairstylist. She states that she broke
the record to personally advocate for
the beauty of natural hair and to
encourage self-love.[17][18]
Similar styles
internationally
A young man sporting a 'Jewfro'
A "Jewfro" (portmanteau of the words
Jew and afro) or (rarely) "Isro"
(portmanteau of the words Israel and
afro) refers to an afro when worn by
Jews.[19] The term has its roots in the
1960s and 1970s when many
prominent figures were described as
sporting the hairstyle. In 1970, the
Los Angeles Times called college
football star Scott Marcus a flower
child with "golden brown hair ... in
ringlets around his head in what he
calls a Jewish afro style".[20] The New
York Times in a 1971 article on
Harvard University's "hairy"
basketball team, wrote that Captain
Brian Newmark "hasn't had a haircut
since last May, and his friends have
suggested his hairdo is a first cousin
to the Afro, the style that is popular
with blacks. In the case of the Jewish
junior from Brooklyn, though, the
bushy dark hair, that is piled high on
his head has been called an "Isro"."[21]
Novelist Judith Rossner was
described in a Chicago Tribune profile
as the "grown-up Wunderkind with
an open, oval face framed by a
Jewish Afro."[22]
The Hadendoa Beja of northeastern
Africa were nicknamed "Fuzzy-
Wuzzies" by British troops during the
Mahdist War due to their large and
mop-like hairstyles, which they
shaped by applying butter or mutton
fat.[23] In Somalia, some young men
of the nomadic and sedentary
communities would grow their hair
long and carefully comb it into rather
large bushes, which they would then
hold in place with ghee.[24] This
elaborate hairstyle was quite distinct
from another coiffure found among
other Somalis, who would instead
grow long and fluff out their fine,
straight hair and place a chewing
stick and comb in the center.[25]
Variations of the afro have been worn
by one or both sexes in the many
disparate cultures of the African
continent. Due to the hairstyle's links
to members of the civil rights and
Black Power movements, the afro
was seen by several outside cultures
as a dangerous symbol of political
unrest, including Tanzania where the
Afro was banned in the 1970s
because it was seen as a symbol of
neocolonialism and as part of a
"cultural invasion" from the United
States.[1][2][26][27] In the 1950s and
1960s, South African women were
also known to wear their hair in an
afro-type style.[2]
The afro did not rise to the same
level of popularity among the Afro-
Caribbean community as it did in the
United States, in part because of the
popularity of dreadlocks, which
played an important role in the
Rastafari movement.[2] Not unlike the
afro's significance among the
members of the American Black
Power movement, dreadlocks
symbolized black pride and
empowerment among the Rastafari
of the Caribbean.[3][10]
Tools
Hair pick in use
The long, wide teeth of the "afro
pick" or afro comb were designed to
dig down to the scalp, allowing the
hair to be stretched out from the
roots into a desired style or shape
using a picking motion.[2][3][4]
See also
Big hair
Conk
Jheri curl
Natural hair movement
Nubian wig
List of hairstyles
References
1. Garland, Phyl, "Is The Afro On Its Way
Out?" (https://books.google.com/books?
id=RtcDAAAAMBAJ&dq=afro+hairstyle&
pg=PA128) , Ebony, February 1973.
Retrieved February 20, 2010.
2. Sherrow, Victoria, Encyclopedia of hair:
a cultural history (https://archive.org/de
tails/encyclopediaofha0000sher/page/2
1) , Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006,
pp. 21–23. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
3. Mercer, Kobena, Welcome to the Jungle:
New Positions in Black Cultural Studies
(https://books.google.com/books?id=Qf
VzgSbjJD4C&dq=afro+hairstyle&pg=PA
103) , Routledge, 1994, pp. 104–113.
Retrieved February 20, 2010.
4. Hair Designing - A Complete Course (htt
ps://books.google.com/books?id=AGiUu
D_N1d0C&dq=afro+hairstyle&pg=PT1
3) , by Various, Global Media, 2007,
section 2. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
5. "Modern Living: Beyond the Afro" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/200501182340
39/http://www.time.com/time/magazin
e/article/0,9171,877338,00.html) , Time,
October 25, 1971. Retrieved February
20, 2010.
6. Linda Frost, Never One Nation: Freaks,
Savages, and Whiteness in U.S. Popular
Culture, 1850-1877, University of
Minnesota Press, 2005, pp. 68-88.
7. The Circassian beauty archive (http://ch
nm.gmu.edu/lostmuseum/star/) A
collection of historic Images - Circassian
Beauties (http://www.sideshowworld.co
m/BL-History-CircassianB.html)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0080703230412/http://www.sideshoww
orld.com/BL-History-CircassianB.html)
July 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
8. Moore Campbell, Bebe, "What
happened to the Afro?" (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=nmieUzO4bkQC&d
q=afro+hairstyle&pg=PA79) , Ebony,
June 1982. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
9. Boyce Davies, Carole, Encyclopedia of
the African diaspora: origins,
experiences, and culture, Volume 1 (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=P9ORpn
GJh_IC&dq=afro+hairstyle&pg=PA493) ,
ABC-CLIO, 2008, pp. 493-495. Retrieved
February 20, 2010.
10. Gittens, Sandra, African-Caribbean
Hairdressing (https://books.google.com/
books?id=AkXQy0x3dGUC&dq=afro+hai
rstyle&pg=RA6-PT71) , Cengage
Learning EMEA, 2002, p. 256. Retrieved
February 20, 2010.
11. Irvine, Martha, "The Afro Strikes Back"
(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,4
7473,00.html) , Associated Press, March
8, 2002. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
12. Rielly, Edward J., The 1960s (https://boo
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C&q=afro&pg=PA86) , Greenwood
Publishing Group, 2003, p. 86. Retrieved
February 20, 2010.
13. Williams, Brackette F., Stains on My
Name, War in My Veins: Guyana and the
Politics of Cultural Struggle (https://arch
ive.org/details/stainsonmynamewa00wil
l/page/260) , Duke University Press,
1991, p. 260. Retrieved February 20,
2010.
14. Jaggi, Maya (April 29, 2000). "The
return of Mama Africa". The Guardian.
15. "California bans racial discrimination
based on hair in schools and
workplaces" (https://www.jurist.org/new
s/2019/07/california-bans-racial-discri
mination-based-on-hair-in-schools-an
d-workplaces/) . JURIST. Retrieved
2019-07-03.
16. "New York bans discrimination against
natural hair" (https://thehill.com/homen
ews/state-watch/452959-new-york-ba
ns-discrimination-against-natural-hai
r) . The Hill. 2019-07-13. Retrieved
2019-07-18.
17. "Largest afro on a living person
(female)" (https://www.guinnessworldrec
ords.com/world-records/largest-afro-(f
emale)) . Guinness World Records.
Retrieved 2023-04-17.
18. Vargas, Ramon Antonio (2023-04-15).
" 'It's about pride': Louisiana woman sets
record for world's largest afro" (https://
www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/
15/largest-afro-guinness-world-recor
d) . The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 (htt
ps://www.worldcat.org/issn/0261-307
7) . Retrieved 2023-04-17.
19. Shkolnikova, Svetlana (January–
February 2011). "The Jewfro Grows Up
and Out" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0140413154832/http://www.oldsite.mo
mentmag.net/moment/issues/2011/02/j
ewish_word.html) . Moment Magazine.
Archived from the original (http://www.o
ldsite.momentmag.net/moment/issues/2
011/02/jewish_word.html) on April 13,
2014.
20. Dan Hafner, "Louisville's 'Flower Child';
Barefooted Punter Arrives in Shoes and
Mod Outfit", Los Angeles Times,
December 17, 1970. Sec III, p. G1.
21. Murray Chass, "Harvard's Hairy Five
Makes Some Foes Bristle", The New York
Times, February 28, 1971, p. S4.
22. Stephen E. Rubin, "Tempo; Judith
Rossner's novel success is hard to put
down", Chicago Tribune, September 17,
1977, p. 11.
23. Raugh, Harold E. (2004). The Victorians
at War, 1815–1914: An Encyclopedia of
British Military History (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=HvE_Pa_ZlfsC&pg=P
A119) . ABC-CLIO. p. 119.
ISBN 1576079252.
24. Uppsala universitet. African Studies
Programme (1987). "Working Papers in
African Studies" (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=W90MAQAAMAAJ) (33–
35). African Studies Programme,
Department of Cultural Anthropology,
University of Uppsala: 21–22. Retrieved
December 16, 2016.
25. N. H. Wilson, Guy A. Taylor (1948).
Nada: The Southern Rhodesia Native
Affairs Department Annual, Issues 25-
30 (https://books.google.com/books?id=
_bcKAAAAIAAJ) . Southern Rhodesia.
Dept. of Native Affairs. p. 86. Retrieved
December 16, 2016.
26. Meisler, Stanley, "Afro Hairdo Riles
Africa's Blacks" (https://news.google.co
m/newspapers?id=dkkoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=
VigEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3884,298650&hl=e
n) , The Milwaukee Journal, September
22, 1970. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
27. "Afro Hairdo Banned by Nation in
Africa" (https://news.google.com/newsp
apers?id=rMEdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iSgEAAA
AIBAJ&pg=5361,4056813&dq=afro+ba
nned+tanzania&hl=en) , The Milwaukee
Journal, August 27, 1971. Retrieved
February 20, 2010.
External links
Media related to Afro at Wikimedia
Commons
The dictionary definition of afro at
Wiktionary
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Afro&oldid=1172660721"
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2023, at 13:52 (UTC). •
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