What a read that was. I liked the discussion about stereotypes vs humantypes, and the incorporation of the story
Girls like me. Kiri Davis depicts a complete story using the Clark and Clark dolls test and adding footage of young women of color as they talk about their hair, bodies, and identities. That portion of the text resonates with me so much. I can vividyl remember being 7 and 8 wanting straight hair, and that was because it was all I saw on TV. There was no representation for my 4C hair. So I never though of it as pretty. Over the next few years, I had my mom relax and straighten my hair every chance I got. Up until the age of 15, thank God to social media,I have loved my hair ever since. We do not need representation on TV anymore, we can choose to follow influencers that look like us, have the same hair type, share the same culture, religion etc. I have grown to learn to take care of my curls which I did not appreciate then, but would not trade it for the world now. Every single day, I am amazed by the thickness, fullness and the curlness of every single strand of hair on my head. That is the part that damage-centered research does not show. The part where we decolonize our thoughts, and beliefs about what is beautiful and instead embrace and honor, and appreciate ourselves.
Now I am at a stage in my life where my hair is only seen by family members due to being a hijabi, and there still remains a few people in my family that will ask, "why not straighten your hair to see how long it is?" I think I genuinely see red when I hear those words lol. To think that for decades we have been made to think that our hair or even looks is less than, or that we have to keep our hair straight. Despite those few people who still think this way, I am glad to say the tides are changing, because my little younger cousins under the age of 7 know that their hair is pretty, and a few years from now maybe 3-4 year olds will choose black dolls instead, and we will as a community do research that capture desire and not the damage-centered reserach that outsiders have used to represent us.
What a read that was. I liked the discussion about stereotypes vs humantypes, and the incorporation of the story Girls like me . Kiri Davi...
I am glad that we went through past capstone projects. For some reason I had a misconception that a capstone should be a specific research...
ORGANIZATION TITLE OF RESEARCH/ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION Breakfast for Banter (Bogad, 2002) CRUST (type of research) Qualitative SAUCE (ideolo...
Aji!!! <3 I am so grateful to have stumbled upon this post and have read a bit about your journey to self-love (and through this recent reading). Not only was your point about no longer needing representation (when one can choose where to find it) so indescribably powerful but I too had to share that the book that the little picture you included is from was AN ABSOLUTE FAVORITE the few years that I worked at a social-justice rooted early childhood education space (like I promise you that I read it every. single. day. multiple. times. a. day. and ended up falling more and more in love with it and its impact each and every time).
ReplyDeleteOOUUUFFF YASSS, love reading you post. So powerful, how you connected your journey to your hair I love it. For so long, beauty was defined by what we saw on TV, and it took a lot of unlearning to see our natural selves as beautiful. I love how you tied that to moving from damage-centered research to desire. Your story shows what that shift looks like in real life: healing, pride, and self-love.
ReplyDeleteYes this is what desire based narrative looks like. Thanks for this story. I am so fascinated by the way you name influencers as part of the mechanism that freed you. This is the power of tik tok and the internet. Truly.
ReplyDeleteWOW, your honesty and transparency shine brightly in this post. Thank you for giving a window into the mind of Aji. I enjoy learning your point of view and feelings on different subject matter. Your take is thought provoking and natural!
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