Theodora Johnson

Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01

Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

1


An Ideological Criticism of Chris Rocks movie Good Hair and The Black Womans Quest for
Good Hair
Actor/comedian Chris Rock set off a litany of rhetoric in communities across America
and other parts of the world with his movie/documentary Good Hair. Rock probably never
considered himself as a rhetorician, but through this movie, he has brought a worldwide view to
one of the most controversial ideologies of the African-American culture, and his audience is
talking about it. The very title of the movie has been enough to raise the proverbial kitchens on
many a black womans neck. Commentaries and diatribes about the movies subject matter that
started with an innocent questionDaddy, why dont I have good hair? from his teary-eyed
daughter Lolaare showing up in magazines, blogs, Face book statuses, in hair salons and
barber shops. The movie depicts Rocks search for the answers to these questions: What is good
hair? Where did the concept of good hair come from? Why is this golden fleece such an
obsessive quest for so many African-American women? How did good hair rise to become the
ideology for hair in the Black community? In his quest to find the answers to these questions,
Mr. Rock has stirred up a hornets nest and his audience is buzzing about this documentary. Did
he find an answer for his daughter and for all the other daughters of the Diaspora? I wonder.
According to the definition in Rhetorical Criticism by Sonja Foss, ideology is a pattern of
beliefs that determines a groups interpretations of some aspects of the world. These beliefs
reflect a groups fundamental social, economic, political or cultural interests,(Foss 209). The
ideology of good hair and the acceptance of straight hair as the norm take form in many
artifacts such as magazines, movies, and television. Recently as I flipped through an issue of
Essence magazine, whose chief audience is African American women, I couldnt help but notice
that the majority of the pictures made up of celebrities and models featured Black women with
long, flowing, straight tresses that fell past their bust lines and shoulder blades in colors varying
from blonde to dark brown. Now, those pictures are certainly not how an average woman looks
on a daily basis. What these photos emphasized was the Americanuniversalideal: women
with long, full-bodied, silky, straight hair. This is hair that does not come naturally to the larger
Theodora Johnson
Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01
Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

2

percentage of African-American women but hair that carries out the hegemony of good hair.
As I flipped through the pages of the magazine, I could see how advertisers sell young,
impressionable girls on this beauty standard by showcasing celebrities like Beyonce, Tyra Banks,
or Queen Latifa wearing styles that fit the ideal; or how they push a mediocre-looking, insecure
woman to spend thousands of dollars on hair instead of paying her rent to pursue this standard
for herself in an effort to measure up to these beauties.
In the Beginning
Women of African-American descent have been on the quest for good hair since being
brought to American shores and feeling the pull to assimilate to the European beauty standard
smooth and straight--as opposed to their own coarse, thick, wooly hair. Many of the slave
women were forced to be their mistresses hairdressers, so they became very familiar with the
thinner texture and styling ease of their mistress hair. This was not, however, the only forced
actions for the slave women. Esther Armah says this about the issue:
Good Hair equals a celebration of rape. Thats the unspoken truth of this funny, painful
documentary by Chris Rock. The origins of that phrasegood hairspeak to terrifying
moments of enslaved African womens intimate relationship with sexual violence by
white men, producing nigger babies whose hairas well as their complexionscame to
symbolize divisions between women that turned into discussions that linger to this
day(Armah).
As the fruit of miscegenation began to show up in the children born with hair that had
taken on the qualities of their master/fathers hairhair that was softer and easier to manage--the
concept of good hair was born and the possessors of this good hair became the favored ones.
This slavery-born philosophy carries over to this daythat to rise professionally, the black
woman is strongly encouraged to straighten her hair because as Karla Henderson says Even
non-black people know that nappy hair sends a different message than straight and to some
audiences, that message is not a positive onegood =straight, fine, long and the further removed
from that, the worse the hair is; it is bad and not in a good way. Bad=course, nappy, and
generally short(Henderson, Good, Nappy Hair).
Its Unbe-weave-able
Theodora Johnson
Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01
Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

3

One of the most interesting discussions in the movie is that of weave and the lengths (no
pun intended) that black women are willing to go through to get it for that good hair look such
as the ones depicted in the magazine ads.
The length, texture and the style in which a black woman wears her hair is used to
measure her femininity, attractiveness, social acceptability and professionalism. ``There
isn't another group that spends the amount of money and time on changing the basic
texture of our hair in order to be considered beautiful,'' says Rooks, who examined the
effect hair has on black women in her book, Hair Raising: Beauty, Culture, and African
American Women (Rutgers, $18.95). ``For the most part, to be considered beautiful both
within and outside of black communities, black women must have hair that is long and
straight.'' And that's not easy or cheap to get or keep, says Rooks, who is associate
director for the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University. As a result,
the black hair care industry generates a staggering $9 billion nationwide and
internationally(Watson).
The question here is why? Does an 18-inch track flowing down ones back instantly transform
that woman into a beauty queen? This whole concept has reached levels of being unbe-weave-
able.
Chris Rock explores this concept in the movie as he not only interviews ladies in hair
salons but also ventures into India to trace the acquisition of Remy Indian hair. During his
interviews he learns that women spend from $1000 up to $3500 for tracks to be sewn in or
woven into scalps or crocheted caps just for the illusion of long, straight hair. We are, in spite of
everything, a people absolutely obsessed with the texture of our hair, especially when it comes to
our females. Little girls are, even in the 21st century, being taught, covert or overtly, that there is
good hair and, conversely, bad hair. Good = straight, fine, long and the further removed from
that the worse your hair is; it is Bad and not in a good way. Bad = coarse, nappy, and (generally)
short (Henderson, Good, Nappy Hair).
One of the new means of wearing weaves that look real is Indian Remy hair. Indian
women report annually to temples to have their hair shorn as a sacrifice to their gods. The hair is
gathered, cleaned, packaged, brought to America, and sold to hair brokers, hairdressers, and
beauty supply stores. Eventually, it ends up in the heads of African-American women. (Rock)
Many say they like this human hair better than the traditional synthetic and Yakki hair because it
styles better and lasts longer. Actress Nia Long said this in an interview about the Indian hair:
Theodora Johnson
Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01
Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

4

ESSENCE.COM:In the film you mention that you sometimes wear weaves made with
Indian hair. Later in the documentary, we learn how much of the Indian hair for
wigs and weaves is actually obtained from India [where women shave their heads as
part of a spiritual tradition]. How did that make you feel?
NIA LONG: When I saw those things I was like, Wow!' Women don't get that type of
information when purchasing hair or having it styled. So to actually see culturally what
was going on, I felt bad. I felt really guilty and I thought we're doing this out of vanity
and these women are doing it out of a religious sacrifice. That is just so extreme, you
know?(Taylor).
After viewing the movie, I visited a local hair store to investigate this phenomena and
found that one package of Remy is $109. It would take at least five to six bags to cover the
average womans head which equals approximately $600. Women have reportedly gone without
paying necessary bills like rent and utilities to pay for this hair keep up a faade. In her article
Black Women, Parents Recall Their Hair Wars, Jackie Jones showcases Orlane Benau of
Queens, New York, who discovered weave in 1993. Benau became a hairdresser to finance her
hair habit. I can be broke and not pay my cable bill," Benau said. "But Ill go get my weave (J.
Jones). One of the hairdressers Rock interviewed about this trend reported that she even has a
layaway plan her customers can use for their weaves(Rock).
Nia Long, who plays a key role in Good Hair and is a weave wearer herself, offers one
explanation of the weave phenomena during an interview with Essence magazine. The portion of
the interview is as follows:
ESSENCE.COM: Why do you think that in 2009, long, straight hair still seems to be the
hairstyle of choice?
LONG: In Hollywood, there is pressure for actresses to look a certain way. When you
get on set, there is usually a White hairstylist in the trailer and she was not trained to do
natural hair. She knows nothing about a pressing comb(Taylor).
Because of the way it builds on the ideology of straight hair, weave has become the new
hegemony of African-American women. Although it was once frowned upon by many, it has
become a savior of sorts to those who seek beauty through hair styles.
Marginalization: Will We Ever Be Nappy and Happy?
Theodora Johnson
Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01
Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

5

Marginalization is defined as those beliefs, practices, and customs that are often
overlooked, discarded, ignored, oppressed, seen as not right, or unnatural or as resistance to
the dominant ideologies (Foss,210-11); therefore, if straight is the dominant ideology, then
natural (nappy) hair is marginal.
Except for a brief period during the late 1960s through the early 1980s when Afros
became popular, a black woman wearing her hair in its natural state was heavily frowned upon
not only by her peers but also by prospective employers. That nappy mane was seen by many as
a threat. In fact, for a moment the controversy surrounding Michelle Obamacaricatured with
her husbandpresidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, on the cover of the New Yorker
magazinesports an Afroalong with an assault rifle and battle fatigues(C. Jones).
Another example of going against the norm, on a more personal level, happened in 2006
when my second daughter cut off her shoulder-length relaxed hair to go natural. She started out
with twists that have now grown into locks that pass her shoulders. Its gorgeous to me, but my
mother, whos 77, had a fit. She could not understand why this child would cut off her long,
beautiful, straight hair for those twigs on her head. Shell never get a job looking like that!
was her reaction. Isis had crossed the line from hegemony to marginalization. I even depicted a
similar scene in the short story Extreme Makeover I wrote for Fiction I:
Her mother Adele always kept hers (hair) shoulder-blade length, roller set and photo-
op perfect. To Tessa, she wore her hair as a badge to tout her Native-American and Irish ancestry
even though her skin color matched that of a Hershey bar. She always thought that Adele felt that
her hair was her personal statement that Black assimilation into mainstream society was
complete, and she was more than willing to be its chief spokesperson. When Tessa went to her
mother and said she was going to cut her hair so she could wear one of those Afros the kids were
wearing now, Adele almost broke her pearls when she clutched them.
No woman that I know of in my family has EVER cut her hair, and Ill be damned
before I let my daughter be the one to break the family tradition. Tess, honey, I dont understand
this fever to cut your hair. You have beautiful hair, the kind most girls of our race would spend
hundreds in beauty shops across America for. Remember how you cried about the way girls
would try to cut your hair off at school because they were jealous of it? Your hair is your glory,
Girl. Do not cut it!
Mom, I am not my hair; it does not define me. I want to cut it to support the
movementthe move to look more natural, to look like my African ancestors.
Her mother couldnt catch her breath. She toyed with her pearls this time because the initial shock
gesture nearly destroyed them.
Theodora Johnson
Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01
Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

6

Girl, you have lost your mind! African?! How could you want to look like those
barbarians? Think of your future! Who is going to hire a young lady who looks like a National
Geographic cover model?
Tessa shook her head in amazement at her mothers backwater remarks. She knew it was going to
be a battle to convince her mother to agree, but she had no idea that Adele was so bigoted about
her own homeland (Johnson).
Adeles reaction, although in a fictionalized situation, was yet another example of how strong
the hegemony of straight hair is in the black culture.
The last argument for the natural look comes through the following poem written thirty
years ago by Karla Henderson for a people obsessed with the texture of our hair(Henderson,
Good, Nappy Hair).
HAIR
They said her hair was
Bad
But I never saw
It hurt anybody
Or Make Anyone
Cry
Except
When they tried to
Fry
It into being something it
Wasnt
They said her hair was
Good
But it never made anyone laugh
Or
Smile
Except maybe because
Someone
Wasnt always trying to change it
Into something it
Wasnt.
Now
I dont really understand
Theodora Johnson
Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01
Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

7

How hair
Can be
Good or Bad
I mean
Im just going to
Comb and brush it
Not
Eat
it(Henderson, Good, Nappy Hair).
Henderson remarks I wrote this poem over 30 years ago but with the release of Chris Rocks
new movie, Good Hair, it still, sadly, has relevance (Henderson).
There will be women like my daughter and others who choose to step outside the
parameters set by the chief ideology of straight hair. Ive done it, and it was a time of freedom
for me as well as an economical relief: $40 for a wash and set at the salon for the perm or $10 for
a line up on my fade. However, I married a man caught up in the good hair ideology and let my
hair grow long again. Either way, Im still beset by people wanting to pull my hair or touch it to
see if its mine or to comment on how good or pretty it is. Its sickening to hear how securely
the die has been cast in the minds of women.
Legitimation, one of the three processes by which ideology operates, means domination
operates and is accomplished more easily when those you are dominating think it is natural or
necessary. Having grown up in a society where women of all races are taught that straight hair is
best, natural, and necessary to move up in society, is hard not to stay caught up in the good hair
ideal. The dominate group in America sells ethnic Americans on the European ideal daily. Most
of the models and TV stars used in print ads, TV commercials, TV shows, and the network news
programs have long, straight (mainly blonde) hair. The dolls little girls play with have straight
haireven the Black Barbieswhich is another point of controversy. These images have bled
over into the psyche of all women with ethnic hair, but most heavily into those of African-
American women. Charisse Jones of CNN writes about her younger years, As much as I was
Black, I was also American and a girl who wanted to be called pretty, and in the 1970s, I knew
that to be cute you were supposed to have long, lustrous hair(C. Jones).
I believe the best ideology on the subject of whats good hair comes from W.E.B
DuBois in this portion of a letter to his daughter Yolande Du Bois:
Theodora Johnson
Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01
Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

8

Remember that most folk laugh at anything unusual whether it is beautiful, fine or not. You,
however, must not laugh at yourself. You must know that brown is as pretty as white or prettier
and crinkly hair as straight even though it is harder to comb. The main thing is the YOU beneath
the clothes and skin (Editors)
For all the traveling Rock did in search for answers for his daughter and for all of us daughters, his
answer is right here in Du Boiss words.





Theodora Johnson
Theories of Rhetoric and Writing 4/5301-01
Dr. E. L. Cox
Rhetorical Criticism essay
December 3, 2009

9


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Armah, Esther. 2009. 15 November 2009.
Editors, The. "To Chris Rock and Beyond: Reactions, Responses and Ruminations on 'Good' Hair." 16
October 2009. The Defenders Online. 29 November 2009 <http://thedefendersonline.com>.
Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical Criticism Exploration and Practice. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., 2009.
Good Hair. Dir. Chris Rock. Perf. Chris Rock. 2009.
Henderson, Karla D. "Good, Nappy Hair." 16 October 2009. The Defenders Online. 15 November 2009
<http://thedefendersonline.com>.
. "To Chris Rock and Beyond: Reactions, Responses, and Ruminations on 'Good' Hair." 16 October
2009. The Defenders Online. 15 November 2009 <http://www.thedefendersonline.com>.
Johnson, Theodora. "Extreme Makeover." Little Rock, 25 November 2008.
Jones, Charisse. Commentary: Why it matters how black women wear their hair. Commentary. New
York: CNN, 2009.
Jones, Jackie. "Black Women, Parents Recall Their 'Hair Wars'." 9 October 2009. BlackAmericaWeb.com.
15 November 2009 <http://BlackAmericaWeb.com>.
Taylor, Mikki. "The Root of the Issue." Essence November 2009: 136-142.
Watson, Ursula. New film puts focus on a deeply rooted issue. Miami, 26 October 2009.