Semester:
Offered:
Instructor: Jonathan Square
Meeting time: Wednesday, 12:00 - 2:00
The history of black beauty culture mirrors the complexities of both African and Afro-diasporic cultures. People of African descent have always used their African roots and their own artistic ingenuity to create styles and standards that reflect unique black cultures. Black beauty culture has also been in dialogue with other aesthetic traditions, most notably European and Eurocentric beauty standards. Black is beautiful, yet people of African descent have often had to struggle to craft a self-presentation that is both acceptable to themselves and larger society. In this class, we will explore various facets of black beauty culture. Topics will run the gamut from hair maintenance during slavery, the rise of the black beauty industry, black beauty pageants, barbershops, skin bleaching, extensions, weaves, and wigs, braiding, black models, the natural hair movement, queer black aesthetics, and more. Course material will cover the African Diaspora in its full complexity, including the United States, Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and even Europe.