"Getting to the roots" : a critical examination into the social construction of hair amongst Coloured women living in Cape Town.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the social construction of head-hair impacts the lived experiences of a small group of 'Coloured' women living in Cape Town. In the first part, the dissertation argues that colonialism stigmatized the bodies of 'non-whites' as inferior; establishing racist, sexist, and classist perceptions of the human body in comparison to a 'white' imagery. The Apartheid regime in South Africa, in part, heightened these beliefs through social and structural means. All though not static, the influences of these racist ideologies remain prevalent in 21st century South African society and are prevailing in perceptions of hair. The thesis then reviews literature from a Euro-American context –concentrating on the 'black' American experience; to display the ways, in which straight and coarse hair textures are imbued with racist, sexist, and classist perceptions and meanings.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Sociology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Richardson, Denisha

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Pande, Amrita
• Daitz, Emma

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11081

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11081