Cornrows (also called canerows) are a style of three-strand braids in which the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to make a continuous, raised row. [1] Cornrows are often done in simple, straight lines, as the term implies, but they can also be styled in elaborate geometric or curvilinear designs. They are considered a traditional hairstyle in many African cultures, as well as in the African diaspora. [2] [3] [4] They are distinct from, but may resemble, box braids, Dutch braids, melon coiffures, and other forms of plaited hair, and are typically tighter than braids used in other cultures. [5]
The name cornrows refers to the layout of crops in corn and sugar cane fields in the Americas and Caribbean, [1] [6] where enslaved Africans were displaced during the Atlantic slave trade. [7] According to Black folklore, cornrows were often used to communicate on the Underground Railroad and by Benkos Biohó during his time as a slave in Colombia. [8] They often serve as a form of Black self-expression, [9] especially among African Americans, [1] but have been stigmatized in some cultures. [4] [10] Cornrows are traditionally called "kolese" or "irun didi" in Yoruba, and are often nicknamed "didi braids" in the Nigerian diaspora. [11]
Cornrows are worn by both sexes, and are sometimes adorned with beads, shells, or hair cuffs. [1] The duration of braiding cornrows may take up to five hours, depending on the quantity and width. [12] Often favored for their easy maintenance, cornrows can be left in for weeks at a time if maintained through careful washing of the hair and natural oiling of the scalp. Braids are considered a protective styling on African curly hair as they allow for easy and restorative growth; braids pulled too tightly or worn for longer lengths of time and on different hair types can cause a type of hair loss known as traction alopecia. [13]
Modern cornrows originated in Africa, [1] where they likely developed in response to the unique textures of African hair, [14] [15] and have held significance for different cultures throughout recorded history. [16] [17] [18] Early depictions of women with what appear to be cornrows have been found in Stone Age paintings in the Tassili Plateau of the Sahara, and have been dated as far back as 3000 B.C. A similar style is also seen in depictions of the ancient Cushitic people of the Horn of Africa, who appear to be wearing this style of braids as far back as 2000 B.C. [19] In Nubia, the remains of a young girl wearing cornrows has been dated to 550–750 A.D. [20] Cornrows have also been documented in the ancient Nok civilization in Nigeria, [21] in the Mende culture of Sierra Leone, [22] and the Dan culture of the Côte d'Ivoire. [16]
Women in West Africa have been attested wearing complex hairstyles of threaded or wrapped braids since at least the 18th century. These practices likely influenced the use of cornrows and headwraps (such as durags) among enslaved Africans taken to the Americas. [15] In Ethiopia and Eritrea, there are many braided hairstyles which may include cornrows or "shuruba", such as Habesha or Albaso braids, and Tigray shuriba. [23] [24] Though such hairstyles have always been popular with women, Ethiopian men have also worn such hairstyles. In 19th century Ethiopia, male warriors and kings such as Tewodros II and Yohannes IV were depicted wearing braided hairstyles, including the shuruba. [25] [26] [27]
Cornrow hairstyles in Africa also cover a wide social terrain: religion, kinship, status, age, racial diversity, and other attributes of identity can all be expressed in hairstyle. Just as important is the act of braiding, which passes on cultural values between generations, expresses bonds between friends, and establishes the role of professional practitioner. [21] [14] Braiding is traditionally a social ritual in many African cultures—as is hairstyling in general—and is often performed communally, as White and White explain:
In African cultures, the grooming and styling of hair have long been important social rituals. Elaborate hair designs, reflecting tribal affiliation, status, sex, age, occupation, and the like, were common, and the cutting, shaving, wrapping, and braiding of hair were centuries-old arts. In part, it was the texture of African hair that allowed these cultural practices to develop; as the historian John Thornton has observed, "the tightly spiraled hair of Africans makes it possible to design and shape it in many ways impossible for the straighter hair of Europeans." [14]
There have been a number of examples of European art and sculpture described as similar to modern cornrows, [29] such as plaits, the melon coiffure and sini crenes. [30] [31] [32]
The oldest of these depictions are the statues known as the Venus of Brassempouy [29] [33] and the Venus of Willendorf, [31] [34] [35] which date between 23,000 and 29,000 years ago [36] and were found in modern day France and Austria. Whether these statues feature cornrows, another type of braids, headdresses, or some other styling has been a matter of vigorous debate — most historians rule out cornrows, however. [29] [31] [37] The Venus of Brassempouy is often said to wear a wig or a patterned hood, [37] while the Venus of Willendorf is said to be wearing plaited hair or a fibrous cap. [31]
Since the early 5th century B.C., Ancient Greek and Roman art shows men and women with a characteristic melon coiffure, especially in the "Oriental Aphrodite" tradition, which may be confused with cornrows. [38] [39] [32] The traditional hairstyle of Roman Vestal Virgins, the sini crenes, also incorporates two braids that resemble cornrows. [40] [41] [30]
The first recorded use of the word "cornrow" was in America in 1769, referring to the corn fields of the Americas. The earliest recorded use of the term "cornrows" to refer a hairstyle was in 1902. [lower-alpha 1] [1] The name "canerows" may be more common in parts of the Caribbean due to the historic role of sugar plantations in the region. [6]
As in Africa, grooming was a social activity for Black people on the American plantations; the enslaved Africans were reported helping each other style their hair into a wide variety of appearances. On his visit to a plantation in Natchez, Mississippi, New Englander Joseph lngraham wrote, "No scene can be livelier or more interesting to a Northerner, than that which the negro quarters of a well regulated plantation present, on a Sabbath morning, just before church hour." [42] Hairstyles were so characteristic of a person, even when their appearance and behaviour was otherwise heavily regulated, that they were often used to identify runaways, and enslaved Africans sometimes had their hair shaved as a form of punishment. Generally, however, slaveholders in the British colonies gave their Black slaves a degree of latitude in how they wore their hair. [14] Thus, wearing traditional hairstyles offered a way to assert their bodily autonomy when they otherwise had none. [43]
Enslaved Black people may have chosen to wear cornrows to keep their hair neat and flat to their scalp while working; the other styles they developed alongside cornrows blended African, European and Native American trends and traditions. [44] African-American, Afro-Latino and Caribbean folklore also relates multiple stories of cornrows being used to communicate or provide maps for slaves across the "New World". [8] [45] Today, such styles retain their link with Black self-expression and creativity, and may also serve as a form of political expression. [9] [46] [47]
Cornrows gained in popularity in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and again during the 1990s and 2000s. In the 2000s, some athletes wore cornrows, including NBA basketball players Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, and Latrell Sprewell. [48] Some female mixed martial artists have chosen to wear cornrows for their fights as it prevents their hair from obscuring their vision as they move. [49] [50] [51]
Colonial attitudes and practices towards Black hairstyles have traditionally been used to reinforce racism, exclusion and inequality. [52] For example, during the 18th century, slaves would sometimes have their hair shaved as a lesser form of punishment. [14] Eurocentric beauty standards, which often denigrate Black hairstyles, can lead to internalized racism, colorism, and marginalization, which negatively affect Black people—and Black women in particular. [47] [53] [54] Related valuations of hair texture—which portray straighter hair as "good hair" and curlier hair as "bad hair"—are emphasized through the media, advertising, and popular culture. [53] [55] These attitudes to hair can devalue African heritage and lead to discrimination. [53] [56] The unique type of discrimination that arises from prejudice towards Black women's hair is called natural hair discrimination. [57] [58] [59] Despite these challenges, cornrows have gained popularity among Black people as a way to express their Blackness, creativity and individuality. [52] [53] [60]
Over the decades, cornrows, alongside dreadlocks, have been the subject of several disputes in U.S. workplaces, as well as universities and schools. Some employers and educational institutions [60] have considered cornrows unsuitable or "unprofessional", and have banned them. [48] Employees and civil rights groups have countered that such attitudes evidence cultural bias or racism, and some disputes have resulted in litigation. [52] [61] In 1981, Renee Rogers sued American Airlines for their policy which banned cornrows and other braided hairstyles. Other cases, such as Mitchell vs Marriott Hotel and Pitts vs. Wild Adventures, soon followed. [62] Since other traditional Black hairstyles are also often banned, Black women may be forced to straighten their hair or emulate European hairstyles at significant additional cost. [56] The intersection of racialized and gendered discrimination against Black women is often called misogynoir. [63] In California, the CROWN Act was passed in 2019 to prohibit discrimination based on hair style and hair texture. [64]
In 2011, the High Court of the United Kingdom, in a decision reported as a test case, ruled against a school's decision to refuse entry to a student with cornrows. The school claimed this was part of its policy mandating "short back and sides" haircuts, and banning styles that might be worn as indicators of gang membership. However, the court ruled that the student was expressing a tradition and that such policies, while possibly justifiable in certain cases (e.g. skinhead gangs), had to accommodate reasonable racial diversities and cultural practices. [65]
In some African nations, regularly changing hairstyles can be seen as a sign of social status for a woman, while advertising continues to promote straighter hairstyles as fashionable. Braids provide a way for women to maintain their hair, and are sometimes used with Chinese or Indian wigs to rotate hairstyles. [55]
A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the hair may be seen in carved "Venus figurines" such as the Venus of Brassempouy and the Venus of Willendorf. The creation of different hairstyles, especially among women, seems to be common to all cultures and all periods and many past, and current, societies use hairpins.
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut, or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.
Dreadlocks, also known as dreads or locs, are a hairstyle made of rope-like strands of hair. Dreadlocks are created by either manually twisting the hair or by allowing it to mat naturally. Over time, the hair will form tight braids or ringlets.
The afro is a hair style created by combing out natural growth of afro-textured hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair. The hairstyle can be created by combing the hair away from the scalp, dispersing a distinctive curl pattern, and forming the hair into a rounded shape, much like a cloud or puff ball.
African-American culture, also known as Black American culture or Black culture in American English, refers to the cultural expressions of African Americans, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. African-American culture has been influential on American and global worldwide culture as a whole.
Black is beautiful is a cultural movement that was started in the United States in the 1960s by African Americans. It later spread beyond the United States, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko in South Africa. Black is beautiful got its roots from the Négritude movement of the 1930s. Negritude argued for the importance of a Pan-African racial identity among people of African descent worldwide.
An eponymous hairstyle is a particular hairstyle that has become fashionable during a certain period of time through its association with a prominent individual.
Long hair is a hairstyle where the head hair is allowed to grow to a considerable length. Exactly what constitutes long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in some cultures may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair in some of the same cultures would be said to have long hair.
Kinky hair, also known as afro-textured hair, is a human hair texture prevalent in the indigenous populations of many regions with hot climates, mainly African and some areas of Melanesia, and Australia. Each strand of this hair type grows in a repeating pattern of small contiguous kinks which can be classified as tight twists and sharp folds. These numerous kinks make kinky hair appear denser than straight, wavy, and other curly hair types.
Black women generally refers to women of sub-Saharan African, Aboriginal Australian, and Melanesian descent.
Hairstyle fashion in Rome was ever changing, and particularly in the Roman Imperial Period there were a number of different ways to style hair. As with clothes, there were several hairstyles that were limited to certain people in ancient society. Styles are so distinctive they allow scholars today to create a chronology of Roman portraiture and art; we are able to date pictures of the empresses on coins or identify busts depending on their hairstyles.
African-American hair or Black hair refers to hair types, textures, and styles that are linked to African-American culture, often drawing inspiration from African hair culture. It plays a major role in the identity and politics of Black culture in the United States and across the diaspora. African-American hair often has a kinky hairy texture, appearing tightly coiled and packed. Black hair has a complex history, culture, and cultural impact, including its relationship with racism.
Discrimination based on hair texture, also known as textureism, is a form of social injustice, where afro-textured hair or coarse hair types, and their associated hair styles, are viewed negatively, often perceived as "unprofessional", "unattractive", or "unclean". This view can lead, for example, to some school students being excluded from class.
The natural hair movement is a movement which aims to encourage people of African descent to embrace their natural, afro-textured hair; especially in the workplace. It originated in the United States during the 1960s, and resurged in popularity in the 2000s.
Box braids are a type of hair-braiding style that is predominantly popular among African people and the African diaspora. This type of hairstyle is a "protective style" and is "boxy", consisting of square-shaped hair divisions. Box braids are generally installed by using synthetic hair which helps to add thickness as well as helping the natural hair that is in the braid. Because they are not attached to the scalp like other similar styles such as cornrows, box braids can be styled in a number of different ways. The installation process of box braids can be lengthy, but once installed they can last for six to eight weeks. They are known for being easy to maintain.
Braids are a complex hairstyle formed by interlacing three or more strands of hair. Braiding has been used to style and ornament human and animal hair for thousands of years in various cultures around the world.
A protective hairstyle is a term predominantly used to describe hairstyles suitable for Afro-textured hair. These hairstyles are designed to minimize manipulation and exposure of the hair to environmental elements. Factors such as extreme temperatures, humidity, and precipitation can adversely affect hair health. Protective hairstyles are beneficial in mitigating these effects by keeping the hair tucked away and reducing its exposure to potentially damaging conditions.
Pamela L. Ferrell is an American entrepreneur, pioneer and advocate in the natural haircare field. She is best known for the pivotal role she played in assisting the United States (U.S.) Army and Navy with their review of hairstyle policies and regulations. She is the first known and documented African-American to help shape hair policies within the United States Armed Forces.
Rogers v. American Airlines was a 1981 legal case decided by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York involving plaintiff Renee Rogers, a Black woman who brought charges against her employer, American Airlines, for both sex and race discrimination after she was dissuaded from wearing her hair in cornrows due to the airline's employee grooming policy. Rogers believed that this hair policy was a violation of her Title VII rights.
The Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2022 was a bill in the United States Congress intended to prohibit discrimination based on an individual's hair texture or hairstyle by classifying such discrimination illegal under federal law. It applied to federally assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment. The act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) on March 19, 2021. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced a companion bill in the Senate on March 22, 2021. The CROWN Act of 2022 marked the second time the legislation was introduced in Congress.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)