Do you have to have good hair to be taken seriously? More specifically, is this why African-American women treat their hair so harshly?
These are questions USF St. Petersburg student Monica Parkin will answer at her presentation at the Society for Applied Anthropology conference in Denver next month.
In her research, Parkin focused on the “hair food” that women use in their hair. Not only the use of actual food, but the way advertisers and companies use food as ingredients in hair products.
Parkin defines society’s idea of good hair for African-American women as hair that has been chemically treated so that it is softer and easier to maintain. However, these harsh chemicals can burn scalps, weaken hair and cause hair loss over time.
There are many product options on the line aimed at black women and their hair that don’t require any chemically altering. Some of these include the hair foods discussed in Parkin’s research.
“It’s great that there are so many options, but it’s not great that there has to be,” Parkin said. “Why do women do this?”
The answer she found is some women do this because they feel they are not taken seriously if they leave their hair natural, especially in a professional environment. Some women feel that it’s just easier to maintain treated hair.
Parkin began her research for a class project in an anthropology research methods class. Intrigued by the beauty world and its impact on women, Parkin set out to do research on hair in general, due to the availability of literature on the subject.
After doing the class project and receiving positive feedback, a professor suggested that she present her work to the USFSP Undergraduate Research Symposium. After getting more positive feedback at the symposium, she was asked to submit her findings to the USFSP Digital Archives. The publication of her findings in the Digital Archives inspired her to propose to the SFAA in hopes of presenting at a higher level.
To help raise money for her travel expenses there will be a fundraising event at the Tavern on March 6. A dollar of every beer purchased will go to Parkin and there will be a raffle to help send her to Denver.
Parkin, 27, will be the third USFSP student to present at the conference.
