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XULAneXUS

Publication Date

12-2020

Abstract

Since slavery, African Americans have been negatively impacted by Eurocentric beauty standards in America which favors the White majority. This has caused for natural hair to be discriminated against for centuries. As time has passed, African Americans have learned to appreciate their culture, beauty, and hair. The Natural Hair Movement on social media has improved society’s view on natural hair, but Eurocentric beauty standards are still very much present on all media platforms. I hypothesize that a lot of time spent on social media negatively influences views on natural hair compared to non-natural hair on African American women. Participants are mainly African American women who are freshmen to senior students from Xavier University of Louisiana. This study is a non-experimental correlational study done explicitly online, and two surveys were used to measure the two variables. The correlation between social media usage and ratings of natural and non-natural hairstyles on African American was found insignificant. Significance was found within the difference between the hairstyles ratings. One natural hairstyle is found to be the most beautiful and attractive while the other natural hairstyle received the least positive ratings in all categories. The non-natural hairstyles were rated the most formal and professional. Based on the results, progress has been made in regards to natural hair discrimination, but not all natural hairstyles are being accepted. In future research, the focus should be on how natural hair is viewed in the workplace and at formal events by participants of various ages, races, and genders.

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