A Hair’s Breadth: Black Hair in Comics
Today, I’ll be engaging a topic that I’ve wanted to write about for a very long time. So often do we look elsewhere to find validation in our own appearance. Admittedly, I struggled with this as a youth. It’s something so simple, yet the cause of so much disheartening anxiety. It’s a seldom discussed topic, but it matters, and I’d like to apply it to comics. Today on th+ink comics, we think: Hair.
Part I: Politics: Meeting Us Half Way.
Black hair is political, says Melissa Harris-Perry (MSNBC). There is no hair style that you can choose that isn’t signaling something to somebody. I personally, find so much truth in those words. The way a person of color wears their hair leads us, as a society, to make so many judgments about a person’s character simply based on hair. If you wear an afro, that is saying something to somebody. If you straighten your hair, that is saying something to somebody. Speaking from experience, as a black man with dreadlocks, someone always has something to say about whom I am or what I’m about.
Black hair is inherently counter-culture. We have American history to thank for that. So, just having it is problematic in the eyes of mainstream society, and as children we’re taught to dislike our hair how it naturally grows out of our heads. Imagine that, told a completely natural thing we have no control of is ugly or undesirable. Sentiments that are clearly echoed by television, movies, games, and print media. When we think good, we don’t think black. When we think of beauty, we don’t think kinky or curly.
I’ve spoken before, in past editions of th+ink comics, about the importance of representation and how empowering it can be to see yourself represented in the media. Though we are seeing more and more (yet still not enough) black figures in the media, we shouldn’t be content with only being included. We are only being met half way. There still exists an overwhelming social rejection of our hair. So much so that a child in the presence of President Obama, would ask him to touch his hair to validate that it, in fact, did feel like his own.
Part II: That, Which Defines Us, Demonizes Us.
Hair is such an important aspect of character design. I think that any creative that tells you they didn’t give a second thought to their character’s hair would be lying through their teeth. Our hair identifies us. It makes us who we are. Hair has the power to define generations or condemn them.
We are defined by our hair. Superman, Goku, Naruto, Thor, and so many others are recognized at a glance by what they have on top of their heads. When we begin talking about black characters, we can see how swiftly things fall to the wayside. In popular culture, we’re constantly told there is nothing heroic or valorous about black hair. You’d be hard pressed to find a black hero without a buzzed cut. It’s rare that black inspired hair styles are not used for villainous characters. Often they’re used to make a non-black character even more devious, like the predator or Tezzeret the Seeker.
This creates the illusion that to be the hero; we must despise our hair the way it grows out of our heads. By comparison, it is quite clear that white hair in its natural state more often than not makes a rugged protagonist. I challenge you to describe to be a black person’s designated role with equally eloquently disheveled hair.
Our hair is something that, in comics and other media, is more often too horrific (humorous) to display in any sort of serious context.
I reached out to one of my favorite Natural Hair Blogs, carefreeteee, and asked her opinion on the topic of natural hair in comics. T, being a fan of comics, had a lot to say about how damaging the casting for the movie adaptations for comics can be. She talked about Storm, and how Storm is depicted in the comics as a dark skinned African woman, yet in the films they cast a light-skinned American woman for the role. The lightening of Storms skin was clearly pandering to a wider audience, making her "more acceptable" as a heroine. Though, Storm, even in her comic book adaptation is a clear case of only meeting us half way. Storm in most every canonical rendition has hair with texture and color that meets typical European standards of beauty. (dandehbeast)
T and I agree that there is a strong double standard when it comes to casting and depicting women of color in comics and their movie adaptations. We’re not saying that there needs to be an unwavering political stance taken with afros and black-power fist picks, this is far from the point we’re trying to get across. It would be enough to acknowledge the breadth of which black hair can be styled, instead of trying to constrain and conform it to appear more "white".
Part IV: They Exist, Those Who Fight the Good Fight.
Despite black hair being political, it is still our hair. We all know that natural hair comes in all different textures, colors, sizes, and styles. It’s not just about how we feel about our hair. It’s about how society allows us to feel about our hair. If more creatives thought of including black characters and giving those characters natural hair, children would have more profound heroes to look up to. More importantly, they'd have heroes who truly look like them. It would be a beautiful thing to see happen. To finally see power, beauty, and strength represented with you in mind, as T put it.
It was Stan Lee himself (not that I am a huge fan) that said that bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today.
It starts with us. I look to blogs like carefreeteee for inspiration. I grew up not seeing natural hair as an option when it came to character design. So, as embarrassing as it may be, drawing natural hair styles does not come natural to me. It’s just something that didn’t exist in comics I read.
The resources are out there. Don’t let powers that be tell us what options we are limited to when we create our worlds. The more of us that refuse to let our characters be put into a box, the more doors we open for the admirers of our work. Special thanks to carefreeteee, and all my friends who provided me with much need direction on this short exploration into a seldom discussed, but ever so important topic. Thanks for th+inking comics.
Edit 11/06/2014: Revised Part III: The Storm, credit @dandehbeast
__________________________________________________________
th+ink comics is an attempt to dynamically discuss the sociopolitical side of comics and sequential art. Feel free to engage. Your comments are welcomed.
__________________________________________________________
kaledo-art
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner
