CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
STUDY BACKGROUND
Hair is a mutable part of the human body, which lends itself as a symbolic representation embedded in many social and cultural settings (Mazrui, 1972:18). Hair relates to aesthetics and symbolic values for negotiating feminine identities particularly among women. A woman‟s hair provides her the medium to express her identity and social status particularly with the ways in which women wish to be seen and admired. Most women are usually obsessed with their hair. Therefore, a woman‟s hair preference is crucial and varies depending on the cultural settings she identifies with. This preference provides the opportunity to investigate and examine such representation of women‟s expressions of identity. Whether or not the wearing of natural hair is appropriate in everyday life within a given cultural setting, the study of hair needs to be considered. In Ghana, various forms of natural hair can be identified. These include Afro-hair, plaiting/threading, cornrow and braids/twist and locks. It has been observed that before colonisation, textured hair or perming as it is called in Ghana and associated styles were not common.
However, with the increasing interaction between local people and Europeans the natural hair lost its popularity to the straightened hair that is produced through perming, hot combing and chemical relaxing (Desmond, 1993; Can-Tamakloe, 2011; Osewele, 2012; Sobze, 2013). Over the past two decades there has been a change from permed hair to natural hairstyles. However
there is paucity of research data on how this change occurred and the various factors that influenced it.
Over the past two decades Ghanaian women have shown preference for natural hair as a means of expressing themselves. Wearing of natural hair has become a common phenomenon resulting in the springing up of specialist salons for natural hair throughout the country. This has also brought about the development of many Internet blogs and social media platforms that provide free maintenance advice plus recommended products for natural hair. There appears to be an increasing number of Ghanaian women desiring of the natural hair for various reasons. Hair is thought to be the richest endowment of women (Luther, 1962). Hair is also said to be a woman‟s glory, which she shares with her family as a source of strength of her beauty and treasure (Angelou, 2009). Some hairstyles have been in vogue over the centuries, some changed significantly and others have gone through multiple changes over time while some faded away into obscurity. Natural hair in this study is identified as naturally textured, without the use of texture altering chemicals.
In Ghana, hair has held significant roles since the pre-colonial period. It has been used as a language and communication system that expressed religious belief and part of the local cultural fabric knitted into public celebration. „Ritual‟ in this context is not limited to mystical beings or powers but is referenced to formal and informal daily behaviours enacted for occasions (Turner, 1977). Before colonial territorialisation of the Europeans in Africa, the manner in which hair was groomed and the processes associated therewith-reflected deeper social structures of status, gender relation, leadership role, personal preference, and individuals in society. For instance whereas the straightened hair was thought to reflect a more civilized
woman, within the colonial set up, the „African kinky hair‟ was imagined as a style that was
„unkempt‟ (Johnson and Bankhead, 2014). Depictions of hairstyles in anthropomorphic documentations and collections by colonial administrators, missionaries, and travellers have emphasised the diversity and visual richness of the African hair. Writings and descriptions by most of these early scholars (for example, Bowdich, 1817; Rattary, 1927; Sieber, 2000) demonstrate the in-depth significance of hair to the Ghanaian and African societies.
Can-Tamakloe (2011) and Lester (2000), suggest that African women started looking down on their type of hair texture when they were taking care of their slave masters‟ children hair, which was easy to comb. Also, the silky feel of the children‟s hair made them feel their own African kinky hair was inferior. Therefore, they started desiring to have the same type of textured hair, and this brought about the straightening of the African hair with chemicals. The chemicals or hair relaxers for the African hair were invented by Augustus Garrette Morgan Sr. (Koppelman, 1996). He discovered that the chemicals used to repair sewing machines could relax kinky hair curls (Can-Tamekloe, 2011). After the discovery, Madam C. J Walker was the first woman to sell the relaxer to other women from door to door. She later became a millionaire and popular through the hair relaxer business. This was the period when most African women in America were most uncomfortable with the toughness of the natural hair (Koppelman, 1996; Can-Tamakloe, 2011).
The centrality of hair to „diasporic aesthetics‟ and hair as a symbol of black resistance to oppression opened up awareness for dialogue on the understanding of historical art designs in Africa (Dash, 2006). Africans treasure their hair and value it irrespective of whatever condition under which they find themselves. The desire and willpower of enslaved Africans to style their
hair with broken bottles under extreme dehumanizing conditions on slave ship decks is admirable (Dash, 2006:27; Mintz and Price, 1992:48). The meanings of hairstyles are contextual and often ambiguous because hairstyles cannot be preserved in the absence of drawings, sculptures and photography. Bartlett (1993) posits that hair conveys status, attitudes and plays a role in everyday life. Hair is also an important part of the human body that has diverse communication functions.
Ethnographic information from the first quarter of the nineteenth century gave accounts of the significance of hair to the Ashanti of Ghana as demonstrated in their burial rituals. Various forms of hair are represented on some Akan terra cotta funerary figurines, sculptures and in early photographs. The Akan terra cotta funerary figurines are portrayals of human forms in the nineteenth century. The depiction of people in the anthropomorphic documentation such as terracotta figurines collected by travellers highlights the various forms and attention that was given to hair in the past. The deceased royals or important personalities among the Akan were represented by terracotta figurines called nsordia, and accompanied with a ceremonial family bowl called Abusua Kurawa (see Fig.1.1 and Fig. 1. 2). The nsordia was commissioned to exhibit as much as possible the identity of the deceased person. It is a form of traditional portrait (Davies, 1956).
Recounting the works of Sieber and Herreman (2000) cited in Dzramedo (2009), in the 1880s the closest family members of the deceased within Akan traditions shaved off their hair as a sign of grief and as offering to the soul of the deceased. In the case of women, on days of rejoicing, the shaving of hair from their head was seen as an offering to deities as a sign of respect and honour. In the account of Rattary (1927), the hair of family members of the deceased are shaved off and placed in the Abusua Kuruwa (see Fig 1.3 and Fig 1.4). These are
sent to the cemetery called asensie in Twi with the spoken words: „Here is food, Here are (hairs from) our heads. Accept them and go and keep them for us’ (Rattary, 1927:cited in Bellis, 1994).
This cultural practice provides us with some insight into how hair was used to express family ties. Again the different hairstyles that are evident on the nsordia could be conveniently considered to represent diverse hairstyles in pre historical times (see Fig 1.3; Fig 1.4).
Fig.1.7 Young women during coming-of-age ceremonies. Wearing the Tekua Fante, Ghana, 1964. Photo: Roy Sieber.
The threading and plaiting of hair in Ghana have their roots in proverbs and events, which also serve as a means of communication among the women. This process is of great importance to women because it helps them in growing their hair in long length (Arnoldi, 1995: Dzramedo, 2009).
Meanwhile, there were changes in hair types from the 1960s onwards when people were relaxing their hair into Jelly curls with added extensions of coconut fibre. Today, women relax and braid their hair with several extensions and wigs. Nevertheless, many women are going back to what is called „natural hair‟ (Dzramedo, 2009).
