In the bustling and fast-paced business world, an underrepresented group stands out against the grain: black women with natural hair. The stigma around black women wearing their natural curls has been heavily discussed in recent years. Studies have shown and proven that natural hair bias is in fact relevant and a real issue in our society.
Source: Naturally Curly
Everywhere black women have to adapt to their work environment by turning to straighteners or chemicals to appease their bosses. A study conducted by Perception Institute titled “The Good Hair Study” identified some of these biases that women face in many different work environments. Four thousand people were interviewed using an online IAT (Implicit Association Test) which showed photos in rapid succession of black women with smooth or natural hair and associating words. The results showed that “ a majority of people, regardless of race and gender, hold some bias towards women of color based on their hair.”
These truths are evident in certain workplace scenarios where black women with natural hair are asked to ‘tame’ their kinks and curls or cut off their dreadlocks. Even federal courts rule that companies have the right to fire people just for having dreadlocks in the business place, as in the case of Chastity Jones. Christina Cauterucci of Slate stated that Chastity Jones, a black woman applying for an insurance claims processing company, lost her employment offer after refusing to change her hairstyle. Rooted deeply in underlying racism, these rulings are not uncommon.
Chastity Jones, Source: Slate
Here on Central Michigan’s campus, there is an array of bright black women on campus who want to take the business world by storm. They were asked their take on the stigma around natural tresses in the workplace and their personal opinion on the biases that can be found as well.
Faithe Simpson, Sophomore has gotten comments in the workplace that has made her uncomfortable with wearing her hair natural.
"I’m not sure if they understood how their reactions made me feel. But when I would get a comment every 10 minutes during an 8- hour shift, it made me self-conscious," Simpson said. "I don’t feel like hair should matter in getting a job, but in a lot of cases it does. I know for me personally, I find myself putting my hair in an up-do whenever I had an interview because I want to look “polished."
Working for a photo company at Legoland and Sea Life, where the management and administration were predominately white women, Jene’a Johnson, Junior felt that her fro was under constant scrutiny.
"To a certain extent, I believe hair should matter in getting a job. You have to look the part, or at least be presentable. However there needs to be some cultural and personal exemptions and definitions for what “professional or presentable” even mean because as of now, it is very prejudiced and unfair."
In the past four years, Christina Carter, Sophomore went from wearing her hair with only straight weave to only wearing her natural hair with clip-ins for volume. She then realized how she became more unaccepted by customers.
"When I used to work in fast food, I often would get bad looks from customers when I would wear my hair in a big puff. They told me my hair needed to be tamed despite the fact that my hair was in a high puff on top of my head. I was given a hair net while my white coworkers would just swing their hair everywhere. This made me feel bad for the hair that I have. I believe that hair shouldn’t matter ( in getting a job) unless it is in the way or distracting. People often assume that black hair is unmanageable or dirty looking, but if we would stop assuming then we would realize how foolish that sounds."
Alexis Copeland, Sophomore believes that while presentation do matter, natural hair does not give off non-business like vibes.
"Why make that a restriction too? I think it is important to remember that people who think natural hair isn’t acceptable in the workforce are the same people who don’t possess hair of the kinky curly qualities. So, the decision to rule it out in the workplace is based off ignorant exclusionary principles."
Though the outside world and the corporate world try to displace these women on campus, they are pushing past the stigmas of black women and their natural hair and reclaiming their rightful place in the business world.
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