"Today I understand that since I was a child my body has been controlled by white people, who are violated in many ways, such as questions like: how do you wash your hair? How do you comb your hair? Can I have it? Wow, it's soft, clean and fragrant."
A girl in her eight or nine years old accompanies her mother to the beauty salon for the first time, when she sits down on a cozy sofa, the first question arises: is she your daughter? Same? Don't want to moisturize or straighten her hair? The mother is embarrassed and says no. Years later, when the same girl turned 14 years old , she was convinced to go to another salon, a "special one", which was only for people with curly hair, or bad hair, as it was called at the time. pulling on her head, burns on her scalp, she couldn't even see herself in the mirror because of so much smoke and the strong smell of formaldehyde. There were several people inside and there was barely room to walk. The result was approving looks, but when she saw herself in the mirror, she felt ugly and distant from herself, something wasn't right.
Black people's bodies are invaded in so many ways, hair is just one of them. The writer, psychologist, theorist and artist, Grada Kilomba, addresses the subject in her book 'Memories of the plantation: episodes of everyday racism': “(…) it is not different, it becomes different through a process of discrimination. The difference is used for an invasion mark ” .
If we look at the historical context, Nilma Lino Gomez, a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), anthropologist, post-doctorate in Sociology and Education, makes the following statement in her book 'Sem lose the root': “ Since slavery Black people live with the challenge of deconstructing the negative view of their body and hair. A look that permeated the various body techniques developed by African descendants ”.
A practical example of what the authors talk about is the Tô de crespa YouTube channel . The profile's highlight video is the capillary transition from straightened to natural . When the content creator, Amanda Mendes, cuts her last strands of hair chemically, she touches them with emotion, smiling and the first question she asks herself is: “ Cable? !”. Just started. This first video shows signs of decolonization in relation to white “norms”.
The girl mentioned in the first paragraph is the same one who wrote to you, Patricia Ressurreição, and who still doesn't go and doesn't frequent beauty salons. I tell this story from my childhood memories. Today I understand that since I was a child my body has been controlled by white people, who are violated in many ways, such as questions like: how do you wash your hair? How do you comb your hair? I can catch? Ours is soft, clean and fragrant. Yet, in the 21st century, I hear this kind of questioning, as well as racist jokes behind my back about my hair.
As the Brazilian philosopher, writer and academic, Djamila Ribeiro, said in an interview to Boitempo's blog: " to this day, society denies us, black women, the place of a symbol of beauty, beauty ."
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Patricia Ressurreição graduated in Theater at Colégio Estadual do Paraná (2015), Technology in Scenic Production at the Federal University of Paraná (2020), MBA in Dance - Management and Cultural Production. She studied Photography at the Portfolio school, where she was awarded an Honorable Mention in Barcelona. Danced at Dancep, dancer at Téssera Cia de Dança Moderna at UFPR. Founder of Púrpura Produções (2018), photographic model, active in advertising, film maker, producer at events and currently presenter of the Soul Black Web Program .
Cover photo:Tati Photography
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1 comment
Material lindo Patrícia!!! Show de bola… Parabéns… Beijossss