Black hair politics : the representation of African women on True Love magazine front covers and hair advertisements

Abstract

The literature about race and gender includes extensive research on the representation of black women. However, most of these studies have been conducted in the West; only a few have been done in Africa in general and in South Africa in particular. To address this gap, I use quantitative content and visual semiotic analysis to examine selected examples of South African True Love magazine?s front-page covers and hair advertisements and how these represent black African women. Paying particular attention to hair, this thesis examines the hair products, hair types, lengths, colours and hairstyles that feature prominently in the visual texts. By doing so, it seeks to uncover the myths and ideologies that are constructed and promoted. This study also employs focus group interviews to find out to what extent the images on the covers and advertisements influence the respondents? self-esteem and hair styling practices, while also exploring their own perceptions of black hair. The results of the semiotic analysis and quantitative content analysis showed that True Love has increased the visibility of black African women. Through a survey questionnaire and focus group interviews, this study found that respondents attached different meanings to hair. My study found that the intersectionality of race, gender and class impacted on the selected black African women?s notions of black hair. In terms of their hairstyling practices the study found that the respondents embraced both Westerncentric and Afrocentric styles. However, with respect to hair types and styles featured on True Love covers and advertisements, a quantitative content analysis suggests that the Westerncentric ideal of long, straight hair dominated. Additionally, hair altering and enhancement products featured prominently, as if to suggest that black hair is only beautiful when it is altered. The respondents? perceptions provided new insights on black hair and styling. My research suggests that hair styling among black African women is a complex issue. Black hair is a politically charged subject, and hairstyling and hair care routines are governed by social, cultural, religious, economic and political factors. For instance, it emerged that the reason for relaxing hair has little to do with emulating „white? standards or copying ideals promoted in True Love; it is mainly associated with maintenance as most respondents pointed out that they relaxed their hair to make it easier to comb and style. In addition, some wear long hair for professional reasons, while others adopt long weaves to attract men. Furthermore, True Love presents the different faces of black African women by portraying them as mothers, wives, married and single, and as glamorous, independent and successful career women. Nevertheless, the magazine still uses stereotypical tropes by objectifying, infantilising, and hyper-sexualising them in many cases. The findings support the claim that the dominant ideologies of patriarchy, capitalism and consumerism are a consistent pattern throughout the covers and advertisements. Additionally, from the above it is clear that the magazine presents contradictory messages about black femininities owing to its diverse readership and various factors such as global trends, commercial considerations and ownership structure, which influence the content that is published. These findings provide insights that have implications for hair brands that advertise in True Love.