natural AND professional, oh my!

photo: getty images

That the appropriateness of natural (and yes, in many cases nappy) black hair in professional environments is still  questioned and debated,  says it all:  We may have come a long way baby, but we are nowhere near there yet.  In a lot of ways we have simply moved sideways and not forward.  Over at Black Enterprise, a recent article tackles the subject, stating:

"The reality is that your chances for getting a job and getting promoted are lessened when you don’t conform/assimilate to an ideal, predefined standard of appearance in certain industries. Is it right? No. Is there something you can do about that? Yes. If you’ve demonstrated that you have an incomparable work ethic, you can tame your company’s most challenging projects, and you’ve dotted every I or crossed every T on your resume but you still aren’t getting hired or promoted, then you have three choices: 1) Change industries 2) start your own company or 3) conform and straighten your hair and/or cut your locs."

It's sobering to remember how real the third choice is.  I have walked out of interviews that seemed to have gone beautifully, not heard back and wondered if my locs had anything to do with it.  It's an unspoken thing.  A thing you notice at random times, like when your white co-worker catches herself saying something about how dry her hair got, after she colored it for the second time over the weekend; when she touches her hair, her eyes fall on your long dreadlocks and her voice trails off just as she finishes saying  "It had the most horrible texture."   

It was only four years ago that former Glamour magazine associate editor, Ashley Baker stood before a room full of lawyers and presented a slide show on dos and don'ts of corporate fashion, during which she reportedly made remarks about dreadlocks being "truly dreadful ... No offense, but those 'political' hairstyles really have to go." (Howard University News Service)  The ensuing media storm included myriad debates on racism, and Baker's resignation (which says nothing about whether or not she has come to see that the way my hair coils out of my scalp is just as natural as the way her hair grows).  And then, just like that, everyone moved on.

We've come a long way, but we are still right here.  The law may say companies can't discriminate in their hiring practices, but let's not get it twisted:  The only place racism has gone is officially out of style.  If the person interviewing you or the one in charge of your promotion has some deep seeded view that hair is 'appropriate' or 'kept' or 'beautiful' or 'professional looking' only when it it straight and flowy, then you (and your locs, 'fros, twists, etc...) are out of the running, unless you conform and change your hair.  

Here's hoping you never have to.

from the mouths of beauties: anais nin

"Luxury is not a necessity to me, but beautiful and good things are."

Anais Nin

2 subscriptions for $9?!

See?  Here is how they get you:  There you'll be, minding your own business, cutting down on paper, preparing yourself for the nook, the I-pad and all their descendants.  Then, on your way to the shredder, you'll notice something in the papers in your hand.  Wait, what?  Both Marie Claire and Bazaar for $9?!  Has it come to this?  Yes, it has.  The future of magazine publishing has been running towards the virtual world for quite some time.  These super cheap subscription rates that are filling your mailbox are the death throes of paper and ink magazines.

So what is an old-school magazine junkie like you supposed to do?  Well, what choice do you have?  You and your paper-loving kind, are the last ones left.  You are now historians of some sort.  Corners in your homes that were once typical have become mini-museums for today's kids.  What do you do?  You detach the top portion of the ad in your hand, check the appropriate boxes, stick it in the postage-paid envelope provided, seal it, walk it to your local post office before it closes at 5pm, and stick it in the mailbox.  That's what you do.  And that, is how they get you.

ah, beyonce (in blackface)

Okay. The March issue of French fashion magazine L'Officiel marks its 90th anniversary.  The celebration features Beyonce on the cover, and includes photos of her in blackface.
Yuh hunh.
L'Officiel writes, "[It is] A return to her African roots, as you can see on the picture, on which her face was voluntarily darkened. All the pictures will be available in the collector's edition, on sale at the end of this month."  (Jezebel)
In addition to celebrating African roots, the issue is also supposed to be a tribute to Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti.  Now, can anybody explain how images of Beyonce in blackface have anything to do with any of this?   And isn't it interesting that the magazine needs to let us know that the darkening was voluntary?  Check out the video.  What do you think? Like it?

saturday special: man beauty, "luther" (idris elba)

... Oh I'm sorry was I supposed to write some text for this post? Because I got a bit distracted ... Carry on.

beauty music: de la soul

allure turns 20 and i want it. (i think)

I haven't purchased an actual (paper) issue of Allure magazine in quite some time.  You gotta trim the subscription addiction  habit somehow, and I have been good: Now I only get Elle, Ebony, Bust, Oprah, Time Out, and New York magazines.  But I just read that Allure turns 20 years old with its March issue (on stands February 22), AND that part of the celebration includes a survey that reveals diversity as the new standard of beauty in America.  Come on.  Sold.  I'm even tempted to re-introduce the magazine to my subscription fold, even if only for nostalgia's sake.

It's precisely because I would make such a move that my partner has been "threatening" to buy me the nook.  "The nook is coming honey," he'll joke, every time he hands me a magazine from the mailbox, "so you should just get use to the idea, it's coming."  We end up in stitches laughing our asses off, with him reminding me that somebody must have felt like me when they invented the wheel.  Can you believe him?  The wheel.


Low blow.
But kind of true.
And I may not have the most solid argument, (ahem!) on paper, but am I the only one who still enjoys thumbing through a paper magazine? Am I the last one?  Do you subscribe to any magazines in paper form?  Have you switched to a digital reader? Howcome?