Abstract
The black body, including skin color and hair texture, has served as markers of Otherness separating Black people from people of other racial groups. Because of this, the black body especially that of the female, is frequently subjected to the interrogation by non-black people. This study examines the effects of that interrogation as it relates to black women’s hair. Two critical questions are explored: 1) What role does white privilege play in the questioning and touching of Black hair? and 2) Do these questions signify the innocent quest of information for understanding and coexistence or are they assertions of power and privilege concealed within seemingly trivial personal communication interactions? The following narratives of black women’s experiences of hair interrogation highlight the complex effects associated with seemingly harmless interracial communication interactions.
Recommended Citation
Collier, Zakiya
(2021)
"“Don’t Touch My Hair”: An Examination of the Exercise of Privilege and Power Through Interracial Hair-Centered Communication Interactions,"
Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association: Vol. 2017, Article 11.
Available at:
https://docs.rwu.edu/nyscaproceedings/vol2017/iss1/11
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, International and Intercultural Communication Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons