Beauty and Body Image Concerns Among African American College Women

Abstract

The current study examined body image concerns among African American women. In recent years, there has been an attempt to include ethnic minority samples in body image studies (e.g., Grabe & Hyde, 2006; Hrabosky & Grilo, 2007; Lovejoy, 2001) but few specifically examine unique issues pertaining to beauty and body image for African American college age women. A total of 31 African American women participated in one of five focus groups on the campus of a large Southwestern University to examine beauty and body image. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach and several themes were identified. The majority of themes pertained to issues related to hair, skin tone, body type, and message sources. Themes included: sacrifice, ignorance/racial microaggressions, and validation and invalidation by others, thick/toned/curvy as optimal, hypersexualization, and being thin is for White women. Findings of the current study suggest a reconceptualization of body image for African American women where relevant characteristics such as hair and skin tone are given more priority over traditional body image concerns often associated with European American women.

Body image and beauty among African American women can only be truly understood within a framework of interlocking systems of “isms” – (e.g., racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism). According to Black feminist theory, the devaluation of US Black women is rooted the institution of American slavery. Black women’s bodies were routinely violated for others profit and pleasure without recourse or protection. During the slave era negative, controlling images of Black women emerged (hooks, 1992; Collins 1990; 2000; Mama, 1995). Black women were viewed as hypersexual Jezebels (or Sapphires) deserving of sexual exploitation or as breeder women lawfully usable for populating owner’s plantations with new slave stock or for the generation revenues.

In the past and still today, Black women’s bodies and beauty have largely been devalued and rejected by mainstream culture, which overvalues the European aesthetic and undervalues the esthetic of other racial/ethnic group with of exception of exoticizing them (Banks, 2000). The U.S. puts a premium on “fair” white skin, blue eyes and straight, long, blond hair and considers these features the epitome of beauty. Features more akin to the African esthetic are deemed ugly, undesirable and less feminine. The notion that Black women are less attractive is a message that is transmitted daily and from multiple external forces or social institutions (e.g., church, government, business industries, media, and family/peer groups).

Historically, psychological research on beauty and body image has focused its efforts almost exclusively on women and girls of European descent (Grabe & Hyde, 2006; Hall, 1995). When compared with White women, findings show that African American women reported lower levels of body image dissatisfaction (Gordon, Castro, Sitnikov, & Holm-Denoma, 2010; Lokken, Worthy, Ferraro, & Attmann, 2008), maintain a more favorable view of larger body sizes (Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002; Gordon, Castro, Sitnikov, & Holm-Denoma, 2010), have less concerns about dieting, weight fluctuations, and fear of fatness (Rucker & Cash, 1992), and are less likely to internalize sociocultural standards of beauty (Lokken, Worthy, Ferraro, & Attmann, 2008). Furthermore, Falconer and Neville (2000) found that African American women with bigger body sizes were more likely to be satisfied with specific body areas. Fewer studies report negative body satisfaction among African American women (e.g., Flowers, Levesque, & Fischer, 2012; Porter, Stern, Mazzeo, Evans, & Laver, 2013).

Because several scholars have cautioned against using the comparative research framework to examine phenomena with ethnic minorities, there has been a movement away from comparisons between Whites and Blacks to more thoroughly investigating the specific experiences of African American women (Azibo, 1988; Awad & Cokley, 2010; Cokley & Awad, 2008). Studies have found that Black women are not impervious to dominant culture and are impacted by European standards of beauty (James, Phelps, & Bross, 2001). For example, Rogers, Wood, and Petrie (2010) found the more African American college women were exposed to social messages about thinness, the greater likelihood that they would internalize these ideas and experience body image concerns.

Although beauty and body image are related, beauty is a broader term because it encompasses body image. Issues related to body image may arise because one is constantly striving towards a beauty ideal. The term “body image” is associated with a variety of definitions (Grogan, 2008). It is often characterized by evaluation and investment. Evaluation refers to the degree to which one is satisfied with their body and investment is the level of psychological importance associated with appearance (Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002). A majority of body image research centers on the evaluative aspect of body parts and is often referred to as body image dissatisfaction. For the purposes of this paper, we will discuss issues related to both evaluation and investment. Although most of the literature is dedicated to evaluations related to body shape, there has been less emphasis on other aspects of the body image such as skin and hair that may be more salient for African American women.

Inconsistent findings within both comparative and within group research may be linked to the limited way that body image is defined and the types of measures used to assess body image. The majority of existing measures were normed on middle class, white women in college and clinical settings (Mulholland & Mintz, 2001). Thus they exclude pertinent factors that are related to Black women and are more likely to tap into body related issues as experienced by White women (Grabe & Hyde, 2006). There is evidence to support the idea that expression of body image satisfaction and beauty may manifest differently in African American women. Pumariega, Gustavson, Gustavson, Stone Motes and Ayers (1994) found that Black women were more likely to engage in skin bleaching, excessive hair care, and the willingness to endure financial debt related to beauty.

It is possible that issues related to body satisfaction and beauty for Black women are tied to how they feel about their hair. They may have to contend with ideals of beauty that favor European ideals (Craig, 2002). As a result, African American women spend a significant amount time and finances on their hair. There also may be social costs for women who choose to wear their hair natural. Evidence of discrimination in the work place and by potential dating partners who do not accept natural styles has been documented (Bryd & Tharps, 2002; Sue Capodilupo, & Holder, 2008). The current study will set out to examine if and to what extent themes related to hair emerge when participants are asked generally about issues related to beauty for African American women.

Skin tone is another facet of beauty and body image that may have significant implications for African American women. Related to racism, colorism is a system where individuals of color with lighter skin are perceived more favorably compared to their darker-skinned counterparts (Hill, 2002; Hunter, 2002; Wilder & Cain, 2011). Falconer and Neville (2000) identified factors such as African self-consciousness and skin color satisfaction as uniquely related to African American women’s body image satisfaction. Skin tone may be an important factor to consider when discussing beauty and body image for African American women. In addition to skin color, other key factors related to the body image of Black women include hair, facial features and body size (Hall, 1995). If the body image literature is to adequately assess this construct with African American women, our definitions of body image must be expanded to include hair and skin tone.

More research is needed to better understand what factors are relevant to African American women’s beauty and body image. Because quantitative measures of body image tend to be normed on middle-class White women and therefore limited in their scope, Lovejoy (2001) called for an increase in qualitative studies as a means to tap into the social and cultural underpinnings of body image. Although Hall (1995) proposed that facial features, skin tone, body size, and hair may all be pertinent to the body image and beauty of African American women, we could not locate a psychological study that comprehensively and systematically documented the content, source, and frequency of messages related to body image and beauty. Thus the purpose of the current study is threefold. First, we set out to examine the unique issues that organically arise pertaining to African American women’s conception of beauty and body image. Second, we hoped to identify the frequency of specific beauty and body image themes. Third, we sought to identify the sources of the messages they receive and internalize in regards to their body image. We employed focus group methodology to allow for the maximal flow of ideas among study participants. Specifically, we set out to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the unique issues related to African American women’s body image and beauty and which themes are the most frequent?

2. What is the specific content of their perceptions related to beauty and body image?

3. What are the sources of the messages they receive?

4. To what extent do African American women internalize messages about beauty and body image?

Method

Participants

A total of 31 female African-American students enrolled in a large Southwestern university in the United States participated in one of five focus groups to discuss issues pertaining to African American beauty and body image. African American students make up 5% of the student population at this university, while 48% of the student population identifies as White. Participant ages ranged from 19 to 25 years, with a mean of 21.5 (SD= 1.70). Participants were composed of one first year student, three second year students, nine third year students, eleven fourth year students, and seven graduate students. The seven graduate students participated in a separate group. The majority of participants reported their sexual orientation as straight/heterosexual (n=29), one reported being a lesbian and one reported being bisexual. In terms of socioeconomic status, nine individuals identified as working class, twelve as middle class, nine as upper middle class, and one as upper class. The majority of participants indicated off-campus housing (n=26), four reported living in the residence halls on campus, and one reported that she lived with her parents. In terms of relationship status, the majority of women reported being single (n= 17), three as dating casually, nine reported as dating seriously, and two reported being married or in a committed relationship.

Instruments

The focus group questions were developed with the goal of identifying the content and frequency of themes that naturally arise when asking African American women about beauty. Specifically, we created the focus group questions to help answer our four research questions. Although we conducted a literature review of beauty and body image issues pertaining to African American women, we had no empirical data about the extent to which different aspects of beauty and body image would emerge. Therefore, we wanted to create questions that would initially not be leading them to answer with any particular facet of beauty. Our focus group questions consisted of the following: 1) We want to know some of your thoughts about African American women’s beauty. Can you describe a few of your thoughts? 2) How has your family influenced your ideas about beauty? 3) What have you heard from others around you? For example, peers, significant others or more broadly your community. 4) How has society influenced your ideas about beauty? 5) How do you feel your personal experiences differ from that of other groups? 6) How do you feel your personal experiences differ from that of other groups? The questions were vetted by one expert in the field of African American psychology and another expert in the field of beauty and body image.

Procedure

Participants were recruited through snowball sampling and word of mouth. They were told that they would receive dinner for participating. Participants read and signed an informed consent form and completed a demographics questionnaire. Overall, the groups were asked a series of seven focus group questions pertaining to ideas about African American women’s beauty, messages they heard from peers, family, and community, media influences, and specific issues related to body size, hair, and skin tone. The reason for the use of focus groups was the goal of reaching saturation in the data. Specifically, we wanted to conduct an ample number of focus groups to ensure that we exhaust the possible themes that may emerge from asking our focus group questions. The audio taped focus groups were transcribed and analyzed following a thematic approach as described by Braun & Clarke (2006). Thematic analysis provides a method for reporting patterns in data with rich detail and interpreting various aspects of the research topic. Braun and Clarke (2006) describe a theme as “something important about the data in relation to the research question and represents some level of patterned response or meaning within the data set” (p.82). Specifically, we engaged in a contextualist thematic analysis which “acknowledge(s) the ways individuals make meaning of their experience, and in turn, the ways the broader social context impinges on those meanings, while retaining focus on the materials and other limits of ‘reality.’ (Braun & Clark, 2006, p. 85). Four members of the research team, who had been instructed in thematic analysis, analyzed the transcripts. This analysis entailed a repeated reading of the transcripts and generating initial codes. These initial codes were then collated into potential themes, which were reviewed in relation to one another and the overall data set. The research team described the data in terms of four overarching domains: hair, skin tone/colorism, body type, and message sources.

Results

This study set out to answer the four research questions: 1) What are the unique issues related to African American women’s body image and which themes are the most frequent? 2) What is the specific content of their perceptions? 3) What are the sources of the messages they receive? 4) To what extent do African American women internalize messages about beauty and body image? Four main domains (Hair, skin tone/colorism, body type and messages/sources) are presented to answer these aforementioned questions. For each domain, themes along with frequency data are presented in Table 1. The domains identified present answers to the first three research questions. The fourth research question pertaining to internalization of messages is addressed within the sources domain as well as throughout the subthemes presented in this section.

Table 1.

Frequency of Themes within the Domains of Hair, Skin, Body Type and Messages

Domain	Theme		Illustrative Quote	n
				233
Hair	General			62
	Versatility		“It’s just, our hair [has] such variety. And other cultures, for the most part, their hair is the same…”	18
	Sacrifice		“So much of why black women are not in the gym, or like maybe fitness level isn’t has high as like other groups is because of their hair. It’s either, do you pay for a gym membership or do you pay to get your hair done?”	19
	Personality		“I feel like for some women that go natural, at least for me, it’s one of those things I always hear people say I have arrived, but it’s not really I have arrived, it’s just one of those things where I’m finally at the point where I can let go of the relaxer and how my hair is supposed to be and I’m finally embracing how I want my hair to be.”	12
	Ignorance/Microaggresions		“I feel like there’s this fascination outside the black community, like if one day your hair is natural, and the next day you got it relaxed, and then people are like, ‘Oh my God, that’s amazing, can I touch it?’ And…it makes me like, think about hair more than I probably would otherwise.”	22
	Total			133
Skin	General			21
	Colorism		“I don’t know if it was because I was dark, but like people who were lighter would always get things like accolades and things like that. I was just like pushed to the shadow, lacked attention from guys and things like that.”	29
	Total			50
Body Type	General			3
	Curvy as optimal		“I understand…the fullness of Black women is just kind of a part of us, so I never try to be skinny.”	33
	Striving		“I just wanted to fit in with [black] [women]. I wanted to fit in. I wanted to be curvy with them, be big with them. I was kind of nerdy, and was involved with school and stuff, so I’m like skinny and the little black kid over there that’s not really in the in crowd and I wanted to be. I kind of thought that what it meant to be a black female was to be curvy.”	5
	Thin is for White women		“There is a definite line between a lot of the ethnicities where, this is more appreciated here, and this is more appreciated elsewhere. I get the feeling that Black people see a big butt as a good thing and a lot of White people see it as a bad thing.”	4
	Hypersexualization		“I just think that because a lot of Black women are more curvy that the stereotype against them is that they want to have sex or that that’s what their thinking about if they go out on a date. The guy is gonna think, ‘Well I’m gonna get it from this girl because of how her body is shaped…’”	8
	Total			50
				235
Messages	General			5
	Family		“I feel like it’s so instilled in us as children you know…like my mother, her biggest thing was ‘You don’t go out looking any kind of way’, meaning you can’t go out looking like you don’t have a home to go to…”	44
	Media		“…[Y]ou’re also objectified to a certain extent. I see the girls on TV and they’re gorgeous. They look a certain way, they’re gorgeous Black women, but how they chose to show them in these scenes or in these clothes is very sexualized. It is not as positive as it could be, as what you could see a white woman on TV doing.”	35
	Context Dependent		“Also I had friends were really thin and they always wanted to gain weight, of course in the right places, like a big butt, that sort of thing. But…I think it also had a lot to do with where you grew up. I had one friend…from [a] totally random white area, and she, she had a nice figure, she had nice curves and everything, but she wanted to lose weight because she grew up around white people. “	10
	Total			94

Domain 1: Hair

The overall importance of hair to general body-image was highlighted repeatedly in the focus groups as being of great importance to Black women. It emerged as the most frequent and important body image domain for women (n=133). One participant reported that her hair influenced her self-confidence as a whole: “when your hair is right, you just have better confidence in yourself and it’s just a big thing for the hair to be straight. And not like straight as in texture but just like right.” The subthemes for the main category of hair include: versatility (n=18), personality (n=12), sacrifice (n=19) and ignorance/microaggressions (n=22).

Participants noted a tremendous amount of sacrifice related to their own hair. This theme refers to the sacrifice of money and time that Black women must take to feel good about their hair: “I know girls, not me, but I know Black women, who spend hundreds of dollars on hair and getting their hair done you know and putting that before they’ll put that before they eat.” The pressure to look a certain way can lead some women to extremes, another respondent shared that, “…one time, well, at the beginning of school, like in August, I had to take out like an emergency loan so I could buy weave….”

The theme of ignorance/ racial microaggressions, within the larger domain of hair, refers to the rhetoric concerning Black women’s hair. The respondent quoted below describes her experience when a White secretary at her current job microaggressed against her. The idea that Black women’s aesthetics are not considered normative is expressed via the following interaction:

They really don’t get it…So when they hired me I had that really short hair, it was curly. A little while later I got my extensions and the secretary said: ‘oh your hair looks different. Are you wearing it down?’ and I was like: ‘Yeah, whatever, I’m wearing it down.’…Eventually I had to explain to her that these were extensions. And I had to explain the process of extensions. So then I had them out for a while and when I had them out she was like: ‘Oh my, you cut all your hair off.’ And I was like, did I not just explain that I had extensions? And then I got my natural hair straightened and when I got my hair straightened: she was like ‘Oh your hair is so different, now did you cut it again?’ And I said ‘it is longer because I have it straight.’ And when I got my extensions again she said ‘Does your hair just do that by itself? Does it curl up like that?’ I don’t understand what they don’t get. I think that’s part of the problem.”

The essence of this theme is that Black women’s hair is a topic of conversation with non-Black people. A specific type of microaggression that often occurs is that women of color feel that their hair can express, or can be seen as expressing, their political ideals, particularly in terms of wearing their hair natural or not:

“Now…because my hair is natural all of a sudden I can sing, I do poetry, (laughter) like there are all of these things that are assigned to me because I have natural hair. Like I will be out with friends and people would be like “hey girl I bet you can sing and do poetry and blah blah blah” and I always counter like, ‘actually I can’t sing and I don’t have any high level of social consciousness because my hair is natural…’”

While hair can be an expression of individual style, it can also be used as a way of stereotyping Black women into a few, very limited, roles. The respondent quoted above mentioned that she had not gone natural to express her political ideals, as was assumed by many, but rather so that she could have the money to eat.

While African American women report great sacrifice and racial microagressions, many have developed a level of pride regarding Black hair. The term versatility is used to refer to the joy that Black women find in being able to change their hair and experiment with different types of style. “…I think it’s based on the individual, too. Like if you have a creative person, you know, like, you want to experiment do different stuff.” Black women see themselves as having significantly more options, and being more capable of changing their hair drastically, than women of other races.

Domain 2: Skin Tone/Colorism

Skin tone was another major domain in the focus groups (n=50), in that what these women thought of their skin color was an important aspect of their overall body image and beauty. The major theme that was identified related to this domain is that of validation or invalidation by others. One participant noted:

People just couldn’t see past the skin color my whole life you know even when it came to prom and homecoming queen. We had very pretty dark skinned girls at my school but the light skinned girls always won…it was just because they were pretty or just because they looked more like the White people.

Black women reported that an overwhelming preference for light skin still persists and deeply affects the way that they think about themselves and others:

I have aunts and uncles that referred to me as the little Black one or darkie and stuff like that because I was darker than others…I remember when I was younger I went to school and we played this game where we would get married during play time. You would find a boy you liked and you’d get married and have fun and it was great. None of the boys wanted to marry me because I was too dark and they were already asking me ‘you know your children are going to come out really, really dark and that’s not good.’ But my light skinned friend got married to a different boy every day. But, I didn’t because I wasn’t light enough, and that really hurt my feelings, and to this day, it still brings me back to the idea that I’m not good enough.

This quote echoes the breadth and depth of the invalidation that and colorism experienced by some Black women and expressed in the focus groups. Most explained that colorism was present in both Black and White contexts and impacted different areas of their lives. Color consciousness within families, mate selection, desire for lighter skinned children, and perceived ability to achieve were all discussed as issues related to skin color preference.

Domain 3: Body Type

The main theme of body type (n=50) refers to women’s feelings about the shape of their bodies and is made up of the following subthemes: thick/toned/curvy as optimal (n=33), striving to obtain ideal (n=5), hypersexualization (n=8) and being thin is for White women (n=4). The following quote not only demonstrates a thick/toned/curvy body type as ideal but also the ways in which Black women strive for that ideal and how it differs from the body type desired by White women:

I think it’s funny because like when…Black people are growing up in most like Black communities it’s really like pushed to be thicker. I mean I don’t know what it was like at everybody else’s community but I always wanted to have like a big butt and I was like ‘man, what can I do?’ and I tried to do like squats and stuff and then I heard all of these rumors you know if you eat this, if you play volleyball then you’ll get it, I heard that and I was like ‘man, I gotta get on that team!’ And then, it’s funny ‘cause I used to visit my cousins and they went to this predominately White high school and when they saw me they were just like “ewww she’s she’s so disgusting she needs to lose some weight!’

One respondent notes how being in a majority White environment largely influenced her own body dissatisfaction, “… in high school I went to like a predominately White high school and everyone were like really skinny and tall. I used to like always work out and barely eat so I could lose weight…” In this case, it appears that the respondent favored a culturally dominant (White) feminine size aesthetic over a counter-cultural Black feminine one.

Women in the focus groups who expressed a desire to be thin and less curvy often noted that conforming to a White standard of beauty increases an individual’s chance of achievement:

When it comes to…conformity, I mean you can be the person to make a stand if you want to, but you’re also gonna be the person back at home with your parents making a stand in the living room. All the people who did conform a little bit, even though it’s kind of like selling yourself, maybe they made that change to get in and now they can be themselves. And it really sucks because, you know, you shouldn’t have to do that. White people don’t have to do that. Even like, really, any other culture, because they don’t have this kind of hair you know. Or it’s not even professional to be like super shapely, like in a suit you know. So it’s not professional to be Black. It sucks, but you know we gotta be successful.

The distinction between body types that are desired in a predominantly Black community, as opposed to primarily White context, provide insight into the need for a different operationalization of body image for research with Black women. Unlike a “thin” ideal, one cannot starve oneself into a curvy figure, which makes items about weight less applicable to Black women.

Hypersexualization refers to the ways in which Black women feel that they are sexualized, regardless of their intentions, due to the way others perceive their body. “I just think that because a lot of Black women are more curvy that the stereotype against them is that they want to have sex…the guy is gonna think ‘well I’m gonna get it from this girl because of how her body is shaped.’” Awareness of this hypersexualization led the women in our focus groups to think differently about how they dressed at work or school in an attempt to manage others’ perceptions of them.

Domain 4: Messages and Sources

Answering research question three, many participants discussed the sources of beauty and body image messages heard. Messages about body image are received from many sources; the respondents in our focus groups particularly highlighted the family (n=44) and media (n=35), while acknowledging that these messages are context dependent (n=10). Messages from family tend to surround the importance of the way others see you.

My mom always said people perceive you a certain way even…before you open your mouth, just by the way you look. So if you don’t present yourself in the best like all the time or, if, you know, it don’t have to be the best all the time but decent all the time, people aren’t gone look at you as, you know, decent they might look at you as not being capable of handling what they need you to do. They might not think you’re capable of doing your job or things of that sort because you don’t keep yourself up.

As can be seen in the above quote, the discussion of messages about appearance are a part of a conversation about what it means to be Black woman in a racist society. The women in our focus groups reported that their families concern for appearance was directly related to how important appearance is in terms of achievement.

Feelings about messages about the media were generally ambivalent among our respondents. While many of the women were happy that there were more representations of Black women in the media, they did not approve of the limited view of Black women’s beauty: “In all of the commercials I can think of seeing, the black woman is never of a dark complexion, she never has her natural hair, natural as in permed, it’s usually that the woman is kind of on the lighter side and has naturally curly hair. That’s all you see all the time and it drives me nuts.” Thus, while there is an increase in Black women in the media, the women in our focus groups do not feel that they represent most Black women. “Video girls,” women who are depicted in music videos, are also seen as creating a particular standard of beauty for Black women.

I never identified or even desired to be one of those video girls but what I did get from [them] was that guys like [them]. Because it wasn’t so much what the girls were doing, it was how the guys were responding to it. And I was like ‘I need to be bigger and be able to dance like that…’ And so for a lot of heterosexual black women, I think it’s something that you do sort of internalize a little bit in terms of like interpersonal relationships and stuff like that.

Discussion

All women experience their own bodies (the personal) within a political context, and this may be particularly true for Black women, whose bodies are perceived in specific ways due to socially constructed ideas about the intersection of their race and gender. The discussion of these results helps us to understand the experience of Black women within a political and racialized context. For example, when discussing Black women’s experience with their skin tone it is inseparable from colorism, a cultural preference for light skin. This section discuss themes related to hair, skin tone/colorism, body shape, and message sources.

Hair

Overall, the most frequent themes to emerge related to the domain of hair. This is one of the first studies to document the frequency that different issues pertaining to beauty and body image emerge organically in a focus group setting with African American women. Prior research examining body image and body satisfaction has overlooked the importance of hair as a reflection of beauty and a pertinent aspect of overall body image. In relation to their own hair, participants consistently spoke about the experience of sacrifice, ignorance/racial microaggressions, and, validation/invalidation by others versatility. Within this domain, most respondents described both the personal and political implications of their own hair. Mercer (1987) explains that for Black people, style and texture of hair is often viewed as indicative of an individual’s identity and level of adherence to cultural norms. For some Black women, the personal and political significance of their hair is rooted in system that values some hair types over others. More specifically, the beauty of Black hair is often ranked. Curls that are smaller and kinkier are often less prized. Usually, straighter hair or relaxed curls are more ideal because they are closer to images of whiteness. Craig (2002) explains that Black women’s hair standards have long been shaped by gender and racism where by hair that is most feminine and appropriately groomed mirrors White notions of beauty. Within this racially inspired value system, hair can be indicative of one’s feminine identity and a “visible stigma of Blackness” which stands out above other features because hair can be manipulated and changed (Mercer, 1987).

Overall, the financial costs for hair maintenance are extremely high for Black women. For example, in 2008, sales of home relaxers in the United States totaled $45.6 million (excluding Wal-Mart), according to Mintel, a market research firm (Saint Louis, 2009). The amount of time invested was also central to our participants with many noting a large portion of their schedules devoted to hair care. On a typical salon visit in the U.S., women may spend anywhere from 45 minutes to five hours in a single visit (Linnan & Ferguson, 2007). The style of hair can influence the amount of time or money required, but this is also a complicated issue. One scholar noted that if a woman does not choose to wear her hair in a natural style, she will make significant sacrifices in terms of money, time, the health of her hair and, at times, physical pain (Battle-Walters, K., 2004). However, Byrd and Tharps (2002) noted that women who choose to wear their hair naturally fear being stereotyped as “radical,” which could lead to a loss in financial or career opportunities. This experience was well described by one participant, “hair determines, in mainstream America, where or how far you get…they tell Black women and Black men to cut your dreads off and stuff because that’s not appropriate… they don’t want you, you know, I hate to have to conform to that but we do, everybody does, like all African Americans…” Another respondent stated that “…people in power have straight hair ,they’re mostly White, it’s like you have to emulate them if you want to get to that position and anything that like says that you’re Black I guess, and your hair is part of that ,then you want to change it…” Many noted an additional pressure in predominately White contexts to forgo natural hairstyles for permed, straight hair as the latter was considered professional and more closely aligned with White standards. The Black women we interviewed detailed battles between social acceptance and their own hair desires and the resulting sacrifices. From these accounts, we see that the cultural stigmatization of Black hair has important consequences for Black women as they choose between what is good for them personally and what might prevent access to economic and professional realms. Specifically, participants in the current study tended to report feeling that in predominately White work spaces, it is necessary to conform to mainstream culture and wear their hair in a style that would be perceived as more acceptable (e.g., relaxed or permed styles).

The economic implications, real and or perceived for Black women who choose to wear their hair natural are usually a loss in employment or the fear of rejection (if going on a job interview) before a job is secured. Black women have expressed this concern repeatedly and for good reason. As Bryd and Tharps (2002) demonstrates there has been a long history of discrimination against Black women who wear their hair naturally. Scores of lawsuits were initiated by Black women who claim discrimination for wearing their hair in natural or “ethnic” hairstyles like braids, dreadlocks or cornrows (Bryd and Tharps 2002). As Collins (1990) notes many of these women are often employed in the service industry which reflects how social class plays a powerful role in the oppression of Black women.

Research examining racial microaggressions has found that Black women report that others communicate or imply that their hair texture and style is inferior to that of their White counterparts (Sue, et al., 2008). This theme of invalidation by others also was evident in the data. Sue, Capodilupo, and Holder (2008) note that the implicit message is often communicated to African American women that they are abnormal because of the style or texture of their hair. Further, a lack of knowledge about African American hair by non-Black individuals can leave African American women feeling as if they are a “novelty” and, thus, insulted (Sue, Capodilupo, & Holder, 2008 p. 333). Such findings are significant, in that African Americans often report strong, painful emotional reactions in response to racial microaggressions (Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000; Sue, et al., 2008). By framing such experiences and reactions within the framework of body image research, our study contributes to the depth and accuracy of research examining African American women’s body image. That is, traditional work on body image in psychology fails to acknowledge the racialized aspects of body image experiences for Black women. The essence of this theme is that Black women’s hair is a topic of conversation with non-Black people.

The persistence of individuals in questioning Black women about their hair itself is a microaggression, in that it identifies Black women’s hair as something unusual or alien. Particularly for African American women who choose to wear their hair natural, research corroborates the perception that some African American women are viewed as “militant” or “angry,” as others ascribe political or personality characteristics to them (Sue, et al., 2008). Such findings are significant in that they speak to the impact that stereotyping or racism can have on body image perceptions for African American women.

While there is often a negative narrative around African American women’s hair, Jacobs-Huey (2004) notes in her anthropological examination of African American hair stylists that some African American women create a counter-narrative that celebrate the versatility and beauty of African American hair. It is clear that the versatility of Black hair has personal significance, as it is a major source of esteem.

Mercer (1987) describes the vast array of Black hairstyles as forms of art that are political in nature and creative responses to racism. The author explains that without access to official institutions, Black people cultivate unique patterns of expression, hairstyles being an example of this. The diversity of Black hair and its historical roots are celebrated by Black women and contribute to greater body satisfaction. Our study contributes to the literature by providing a more in-depth understanding of the various ways hair impacts African American women’s daily experiences and self-perceptions.

Skin Tone/Colorism

Systematic racism imbues meaning to skin color. (Hunter, 2002). This gendered system is mostly centered on women’s attractibility and privileges lighter skinned individuals over those with darker skin (Hill, 2002; Wilder & Cain, 2011). Light skin maintains a higher status because it is linked with Europeans and whiteness while dark skin is degraded based on its association with Africans (Hunter, 2002). For women of color and Black women in particular lighter skin is synonymous with beauty and thus acts as social capital (Hunter, 2002). The structure of this hierarchy is indicative of the European standard of beauty many African American women have identified and/or internalized (Falconer & Neville, 2000).

Research has shown that among African Americans, African American women with lighter skin tones are perceived as more attractive than their darker skinned counterparts (Hill, 2002). In addition empirical evidence has identified colorism as an aspect of the African American experience that can influence Black women’s feelings of attractiveness and self-worth, decreasing their overall body image satisfaction (Hill, 2002; Falconer & Neville, 2000). These feelings transcend physical appearance, as stereotypes about light and dark skin tone also target intrinsic traits and can be important predictors of Black women’s education, income, and spousal status (Hunter, 1998; Hunter, 2002; Maddox & Gray, 2002). Our findings demonstrate the pervasiveness of colorism across several contexts, including home and school.

Body Size/Shape

Black women in this study reiterated the inescapable nature of skin color stratification as something that is pervasive in White and Black contexts, but operates differently in these environments. In addition, they were fully aware of how their skin color denies or allows them access to certain social resources. Awareness of a societal preference for lighter skin may influence the level of belongingness and peer acceptance that African Americans feel either in a predominately Black or in a predominately White setting. Consistent with previous research, the data in this study suggest that belongingness, validation, and peer acceptance depends on the racial context and makeup (Harvey, LaBeach, Pridgen, & Gocial, 2005). While skin tone themes may share some similarities with themes found for hair, skin tone may present slightly different issues. Specifically, while many non-Blacks feel free to talk about Black women’s hair, much of the response to skin tone tends to be within group. That is, there is within group color stratification that has implications for perceived attractibility, status, and self-worth. Unlike hair, skin tone is much more difficult to manipulate especially for darker women. Therefore, the issue of skin tone complicates body image for Black women because they are critiqued by both in- and out-group members. Not only does this work support quantitative findings, but it also suggests that Black women are fully aware of these racialized biases and the personal and political consequences of their own skin color. This data serves as a catalyst to develop potential interventions to combat the negative psychological effects of colorism.

The results of the current qualitative study are corroborated by previous empirical research that suggests African American women generally view curvaceous or larger body types as ideal (Aruguete, Nickleberry, & Yates, 2004; Gordon, Castro, Sitnikov, & Holm-Denoma, 2010). For example, in a sample of White, Latina, and Black undergraduate collegians, Gordon, Castro, Sitnikov, and Holm-Denoma (2010) found that Black women chose significantly larger personal and ethnic group ideal body shapes than their Latina and White counterparts.

These results are consistent with research that indicates African American women are unlikely to view mainstream standards as appropriate comparisons for personal physical features appraisals (Evans & McConnell, 2003). Drawing upon Steele’s (1992) process of disidentification, Evans and McConnell (2003) suggest this is a self-protective factor in which women of color disidentify with mainstream (White) standards of beauty in an attempt to preserve individual self-esteem. This protective factor seems particularly relevant to African American women as they have often been subjected to negative, and sometimes racist appraisals of their physical features.

It is important to note that there were discrepancies in the respondents’ preferences for ideal body shape and this could be mediated by cultural influences. Like Gordon and colleagues (2010), our results indicate that Black women who have experienced stress related to discrimination, conflict between their cultural heritage and culture of the dominant group, and identify as a member of a devalued group were likely to engage in disordered eating to achieve the mainstream ideal for a thin body shape (Gordon et al., 2010). Similarly, like Abrams, Allen & Gray (1993) our data provide support for the notion that African American women who reject Black cultural values and internalize a Eurocentric worldview report increased fear of getting fat and desire for a slimmer body shape (Abrams, Allen, & Gray, 1993).

Sources of Messages about Body Image

Although there is an increase in African American women in the media, these images tend to be limited. African American women are not as commonly featured in primary roles in the mainstream media when compared to European Americans (Schooler, Ward, Merriwether, & Caruthers, 2004). However, Black women are often featured in rap music videos, and young black women are consistently exposed to rap music (Wingood, DiClemente, Bernhardt, Harrington, Davies, Robillard, & Hook, 2003). Research conducted with young black women found that exposure to images of sexual stereotypes in rap music videos has a negative effect on body image (Peterson, Wingood, DiClemente, Harrington, & Davies, 2007). Our study further expands upon Rubin, Fitts, and Becker’s (2003) work that black women are keenly aware of limited media representations. Findings from this current study suggest that perhaps black women’s body concerns are also influenced by their perceptions of men’s views of the ideal body which are based on how black women are featured in common media outlets. The majority of our respondents emphasized rap music videos when discussing the impact of media. They also indicated that black women are not commonly represented in other media spaces although they have noticed a slight increase. Respondents made reference to the high frequency of sexualized images, which serves to construct and constrict beauty ideals for women.

Our findings indicated that the content of family messages surrounding body image and beauty often included the idea that the perception of others is important and influences one’s ability to achieve and be well received in White contexts. In previous studies with Latinas and African American college students, Rubin, Fitts, and Becker (2003) found that Black women were likely to receive messages from family members regarding body aesthetics. Most of these messages focused on maintaining a look that was in accordance with the values of the dominant culture. Similar to Rubin et al. (2003), our findings also indicate that familial messages are one of the primary means through which body ideals are constructed. However, our research sheds light on a specific purpose underlying these messages. Most of the respondents shared that family messages concerning body aesthetics were usually centered on how one should use their appearance as a way to succeed in racially biased educational and professional contexts.

In American culture African American woman have been exoticized as wild and sexually promiscuous (hooks, 1992). This is particularly obvious in the portrayal of African American women in advertising and other popular culture in which they are commonly presented in animal prints or other dehumanizing stereotypes (Kilbourne, 2010). This hypersexualization by the majority culture may affect the development of women’s sexual self and anxiety concerning their body and self-presentation, particularly in majority White contexts (Stephens & Phillips, 2003).

Black women’s oppression takes three forms: economic, political and through negative controlling images (Collins 1990). How Black women respond to that oppression is best understood through the lens of Black feminist theory. As Collins and others have noted, one such response is to internalize these racist messages that decrees Black women as second rate and abnormal based on the White standard. Internalized racism is a theme most prominent in Black literature (e.g., novelists such George Schulyer, James Baldwin, Zora Neal Hurston, Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison) and even as Collins (1990) notes children rhymes: “Now if you’re white you’re all right, If you brown, stick around, but if you’re black, Git back, Git back! Git back!”

Our findings support prior research suggesting that factors such as skin color and hair are important factors related to body image and are unique to African American women (Falconer & Neville, 2000; Hall, 1995). Specifically, hair is the most frequent aspect of beauty and body image mentioned by women in this study. Moreover, this study contributes to the body image literature by addressing theories of intersectionality, race and body dissatisfaction, particularly given the limitations of measures of body dissatisfaction that reflect the experience of White women. The current literature on body image tends to focus on body size and omits the racialized aspects of beauty and body image that are a result of the historical oppression faced by Black women. This definition needs to be expanded to include other pertinent factors such as hair and skin tone because they are issues relevant to women of color. Furthermore, there needs to be an expansion to include the consequences of negative body/beauty image for Black women such as feelings of invalidation, experience of microaggressions, excessive sacrifice, and hypersexualization The exclusion of these body image elements will continue to contribute to the marginalization of women of color because the literature fails to address the lived experiences of these women. This study should serve as a clarion call for a more expansive definition of body image and beauty in the literature.

In addition, the major themes identified in this analysis (e.g., microaggressions, sacrifice, validation/invalidation, etc.), we’ve learned from these narratives that young Black women continue to feel held hostage to White beauty standards that essentially deem them unattractive and unfeminine (Banks, 2000). Despite prior studies that suggest Black women have high esteem when it comes to body image attitudes, these data amply demonstrate that Black women struggle daily with reconciling their beauty with that of mainstream standards. We also find that Black women feel like they are under constant assault (blatant and latent) for their perceived “ugliness” by media, peers and even family. In keeping with Black Feminist Theory, one of the ways some of these women cope with these microaggressions and invalidations is to redefine and or self-define a beauty standard that is not at odds with their own esthetic (Collins, 1990). To illustrate this point, one respondent notes:

“as long as I perceive myself as beautiful then, I really don’t have any issues with the media’s definition of beautiful or how others would define beauty or just anything that goes along with that type of reference just because of what’s in the media today and what image, like what the younger generation’s going through. And even just us, what you always see in the magazine or the TV. If you don’t have that own self image, then you might not be satisfied with yourself”

Future studies may want to investigate these phenomena in a community sample to determine if similar themes are identified. Additionally, because the current sample included college women who may be of higher SES levels or upwardly mobile, future studies should include a more diverse sample in terms of socio-economic status and education. However, despite these limitations the current study offers an in-depth analysis of the issues related to beauty and body image for African American female college students. This study provides an investigation of body image issues for African American without utilizing a comparative research framework. To accurately assess the psychological issues related to beauty and body image for Black women, the conceptualization of this issue must be broadened beyond what is typically presented in the extant psychological discourse. It is not enough to assess body size but we must address racialized aspects of beauty such as hair and skin tone as well. It is our hope that this information will be used to create culturally appropriate measures for examining issues of body image with this group and subsequently inform community and therapeutic interventions designed to decrease body dissatisfaction for African American women.