Diemazz

An afro, sometimes called a "natural" or shortened to "fro", is a hairstyle in which the hair extends out from the head like a halo, cloud or ball. This may or may not include wearing such afros long, to several times the diameter of the head. An afro requires very curly hair. For many people of Black African descent, an afro is the way the hair grows naturally. Anyone of any ethnic background is capable of growing an afro if they have very curly hair. For people of Black African descent, the spiraling, tightly coiled curls can be straightened out somewhat, giving the hair added volume and length, by first braiding the hair, then separating the coils using an "afro pick". The afro pick is an adaptation of a traditional African grooming instrument,^[1] which is essentially a narrow comb with long, widely spaced teeth. Similarly, added volume can be achieved using an afro pick in combination with the heat from a hand-held hair dryer. The effect is called a blowout afro.

History

A woman with an afro at the Tribeca Film Festival

In the late nineteenth century a style similar to the Afro was worn by the Circassian beauties, sometimes known as "Moss-haired girls", exhibited by P.T. Barnum, and promoted as “the purest example of the white race” in order to attract white audiences captivated by the "exotic East" and preoccupied with issues of race.^[2]

The use of Afros in popular culture can be seen here with Lauryn Hill, wearing an Afro wig during a performance in Central Park. Hill used this wig in several performances in 2005.^[3]

The modern style dates to the 1960s. In 1963, actress Cicely Tyson sported cornrows or a "TWA" (a "teeny, weeny afro") in the popular network television series East Side, West Side. Jimi Hendrix became one of the first popular entertainers to have a large afro. The afro gained popularity during the late 1960s and 1970s, in connection with the growth of the Black Pride and Black Power political movements, and the emergence of blaxploitation films and disco music.

Among Blacks, afros were considered a proclamation of "Black is Beautiful!", a popular slogan of the time. They became symbols of race pride; progressive, often leftist political leanings; and militancy. In northern and western states Afros were seen popularly worn in poor neighborhoods such as Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Watts as early as 1965 and 1966. In the southern United States however, it was not a popular hairstyle until 1969 and 1970.

However, during the later half of the 1970s, the style passed into the cultural mainstream.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Afro textured hair
• Natural hair
• Big hair
• Cornrows
• Dreadlocks
• Jheri curl
• Jewfro

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Afro

Look up Afro in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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