Inclusivity in Creativity

twist out

Natural hair in media

I came across a video of an artist discussing representation in media especially when it came to Black characters and they were discussing the hair they typically use for Black characters and the overall character design. This made me realize that most media outlets doesn't really display or celebrate natural hair. There has been progress, but I do feel it's still saturated with very basic styles that have no detail that illustrates the realism of natural hair, especially for Black coded characters.

I noticed that with the Black women characters (I grew up watching) they tend to go with straight hair, which alludes to the fact that straight hair is the default. Don't get me wrong Black people have an array of hairstyles whether it's straight or coily but it's a problem when straight hair is basically the only option or there is no effort to show the uniqueness of hair types. Growing up the Black characters that are coded as Black I didn't see as Black. For example, I was shocked to find out "Dylan" from Bratz is Black.

Variety is Diversity

Many characters on screen of African descent tend to show less variety of natural hairstyles or a lack of natural hair in creative spaces. This can make it challenging for people who identify as Black to be able to recognize and identify with characters who are supposed to be representation especially for Black children. When there is not any effort in character design, it can mean that there is a lack of care and the creation of the Black character was pretty much a token or "diversity quota". Also when a character is designed with straight hair it leaves room for people to not necessarily be able to pinpoint the character's racial identity. It makes you think was this character created to be a Black character?

Black hair by default

Black girl with half braided hair

Whenever you see a Black character represented in media these are the hairstyles you tend to see:

Basic design like:

Afros, Cornrows

And boring

Straight hair, Locs

And lastly and sadly,

Close cuts!

Tell me I'm wrong!

There's liveliness in uniqueness

Black girl doing her hair

I think it is worth learning more about because it would be interesting and cool to see a variety of Black characters in mainstream media who don't follow the typical boring and flat design. I also think it adds more liveliness and personality.