Sunday, April 9, 2017
April 10th blog
In the two articles they both are talking about restrictions on hair and by their race. In Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling on the Brain, Walker talks about how her hair is what restricts her and that her hair prevents her from having certain freedoms. In When Black Hair is Against the Rules, it says that America has put a ban on "black hair" which is basically for black women who have cornrows, Braids, dreads, etc. In the first article, Walker is mainly trying to tell her audience that she has been just because she is a certain race, she is underpriveleged and is not privleleged like the white race. Her spirit is lost because she has to struggle more than a white woman in order to succeed for the future. In the second article, the authors are trying to show how it is wrong how they are reverting back to their old ways in which they are trying to ban "black hair" and they show how before "black hair" was seen as sheep wool and was less human than white people's hair. This is unhuman because people should not be judged by their hair or by their race. The American Army should be more focused on protecting America and not focused on "Black hair" and instead of oppressing the hair they should accept it. Black women should not have their spirits crushed just because their hair is different than white people's hair. And the races should be equal to one another and not have certain privileges just for being a certain race.
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ReplyDeleteIn “Oppressed Hair puts a Ceiling on the Brain” by Alice Walker, the author talks about how her hair held her back from growing and becoming herself. In this article, she talks to young adults nearing adulthood, which makes her speech important as she talks about growing and change knowing that these students are about to start their lives. By walker sharing her story of growth within her hair and self it persuades her audience to grow and look within themselves for anything holding them back from breaking out of the soil. I think that a good point of Walkers was to also bring light to her oppressed hair in a way of finding herself in her hair, that isn’t necessarily considered normal and appreciating the beauty in its stubbornness. While continuing the topic of hair Ayana Byrd and Lori L. Tharps brings upon a different kind of growth and change in “When Black Hair Is Against the Rules.” The authors talk about the newly placed rules that the military had placed on hair, oppressing black women from wearing hairstyles that are more manageable in the field. By the authors stating the bias against black hair, their argument is toward the army to change their policy. The authors make the reader understand that it would seem pointless if you don’t have or haven’t experienced black hair but states that, this policy is equivalent to the “black majority military telling its thousands of white soldiers that they are required to have dreadlocks or afros.” The authors try to get the army to understand their point of view by flipping the problem, so it can be relatable. Both of these articles talk about change and acceptance for the better within the topic of hair. Although Walker’s speech was given in 1987 and Byrd and Tharps in 2013 black hair is still an issue in society. I think that accepting your natural hair shouldn’t be as controversial as it is today. A woman shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not she will be fired or hired based off biased hair standards that only fit one race or hair texture. I absolutely think that society needs to be more accepting and less ignorant to black hair in order for the black community to grow in accepting themselves, similar to Walker, along with society.
ReplyDeleteIn the article " Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling on the Brain" by Alice Walker she starts off telling her audience that she used to be in their shoes. She was a student herself going through what they are going through. She then moves to talking about how she wanted to free her spirit but her hair was holding her down so she cut it all off. She felt so free having removed the part of her that was holding her back from discovering herself. While letting her hair grow back she discovered so many new things about herself and her hair. Her hair was like her it wanted to be free of restrictions no one could tell her what her hair should look like or do not even her. Her audience is that of young people who are about to begin the next chapter in their life that are going to face the same struggles she did when they are trying to find themselves. In the article " When Black Hair Is Against the Rules" by Ayana Byrd she takes a more direct stand she addresses how in the military women with hair in things such as cornrows or braids weren't allowed to have their hair like that because it wasn't under code. These women were willing to give their lives for the country they loved but the people of that country didn't like their hair. Even though the only way to control their hair was to put it in things such as braids and cornrows. The author moves on to talk about how a worker was killed by her job because of the way her hair was styled. She then talks about these children that were suspended because their hair didn't follow code and was distracting to other students. The audience she is going for is the army and for them to understand that the women that they are oppressing because of their hair can't control their hair unless put that way they need to change their policy because they are willing to fight too. Both articles are trying to help women who are oppressed by their hair the society which they live in and the world need to understand that hair should not be oppressed.
ReplyDeleteIn both articles, they discuss how black hair is often a "disadvantage" in society. Both authors discuss how their hair restricts them from living without feeling oppressed, but in different perspectives. In "Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling on the Brain", by Alice Walker, she takes a more personal perspective. She emphasizes personal growth and how her hair helped her become who she is today. The story brought light onto young people especially, and how sometimes their struggles are their enlightening moments in their lives. She basically pushes the audience to embrace what is not the "norm" of society, because it helped her as a person. However, in "When Black Hair is Illegal", by Ayana Byrd and Lori L. Tharps, the article starts off with facts and statistics, emphasizing how serious the issue of black hair is to society. The authors bring awareness to the issue by addressing it with military women and the unfair treatment they got as soldiers, just because of their hair. The authors take a more serious and formal stance, making sure the audience is aware of the oppression (especially women) black people face for something they can't help- the texture, look, styles of their hair. Both articles take a good hit at society's views and how they should be understood especially from a viewpoint of general oppression.
ReplyDeleteIn “Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling On the Brain”, Alice walker is speaking at a college, so her audience is very relatable to our age group. She said at the beginning that she does not intend to speak on things like war, the economy, and sexism, and instead she intends to speak of something we all know, hair. Walker talks about feeling stuck in her growth emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. She realizes one day that the thought of her hair and what others thought of it was holding her back. After she had it braided she realized that hair itself has a true self and that it “wanted to grow, to be itself, to attract lint, if that was it’s destiny, but to be left alone by anyone, including me, who did not love it as it was”(Walker, 1987). Walker relates hair to our every day lives. She proves that self love is everything and if you can’t show yourself love then it will be hard to grow in any aspect of life. Ayana Byrd and Lori Tharps’ write on the subject completely differently. Their article is direct and assesses an issue within the U.S. that must not be taken lightly. The women address the policy change in military law and cases in which black hair has been considered illegal. They advocate for equality among the hair community, more so, people that have hair… which is a lot. We need to realize that this discrimination is a problem and work to change that.
ReplyDeleteThese articles show two different perspectives about how having "Black Hair" brings a societal disadvantage. I found it interesting reading about this issue from two viewpoints that were so different. Alice Walker speaks to an audience of students in a humorous manner about how simply changing her attitude towards her own hair resulted in a better overall outlook on life itself. Bryd and Tharps however, discuss American society's oppressive behavior towards "black hair" in an aggressive call to action. As they discusses the discriminating policies in the AR 670-1, their targeted audience seems the men and women affected by this policy. The rules and requirements listed within the AR 670-1 are completely biased towards white people, and they prove the absurdity of the act by pointing out that this is "equivalent of a black majority military telling its thousands of white soldiers that they are required to have dreadlocks or Afros." I found this article more eyeopening because it really does show how ignorant some groups within American society can be towards privilege and oppression. The AR 670-1 completely lacks the variety of natural hair types and textures that people of color have. It's so irritating to me that the people who write these policies are so incapable of taking other racial and ethnic groups besides the white majority into account.
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