Woman sues salon that told her, “We don’t do African American hair”

The hot topic of discussion on Jezebel today is Brenda McElmore, a California woman who is suing her local J.C. Penney salon for racial discrimination (and being represented by Gloria Allred, to boot). McElmore stopped into the salon because she wanted to have her hair dyed black, but was told by the salon’s receptionist that they “don’t do African American hair.”

Jezebel’s Dodai poses the question, “Should a woman be able to walk into her local salon and expect services, no matter her color, race or hair texture? Or should black people only go to ‘black’ salons, Asian people go to Asian salons, and so on?”

In a perfect world, I would say that you should be able to walk into any salon and not have to worry about whether they cater to your ethnicity. Although various cultures have different characteristics to their hair, it’s not like you have to spend extra years in cosmetology school to learn how to do different types of hair in a very general sense (such as creating an updo or putting in some curls).

But the reality is that not everybody can, or is willing to do, ethnic hair. I’ve had my hair messed up a number of times by salons (white and black) that didn’t know what to do with my curls – even though they may have tried their best to accommodate me.  I had a stylist at one salon tell me that my hair was “too… dark” for her to work with, and so I never ended up giving that salon my business.

My solution over the years has been to find a stylist who is very good at doing my hair (through much trial and error, usually) and remain very loyal to that person for as long as I can. My current stylist is a Jewish man who specializes in black hair, and is phenomenal at doing it (he’s booked up for weeks at a time).

So in my opinion, you don’t have to go to someone of your same race to have your hair done properly. You just need to find a stylist who understands the nuances of working with certain types of hair. And chances are, you’re not going to find that person at the J.C. Penney salon.

What do you think?

• Did J.C. Penney really discriminate against this woman when they told her they couldn’t do her hair? Or did they save her from getting her hair jacked up by a stylist who was honest (albeit in a tactless way) that she doesn’t know what she’s doing
• Should all salons have a basic knowledge of how to do everyone’s hair, or should people stick to salons that represent their race/culture? And what if you live in a town that doesn’t have a salon that caters to your hair (as is the case with my hometown)?

Woman Denied Service At JC Penney Salon For Having Black Hair [Jezebel]

Woman Says JC Penney Denied Service Because She Is Black [KTLA]

JC Penny’s Doesn’t Do “Black Hair” [Womanist Musings]

Ad Age columnist wants you to give a “fair shake” to bleaching creams

Mythili Chandrasekar, one of the top executives at JWT India, made a plea on Ad Age today for readers to give a “fair shake” to fairness creams – products created to lighten your skin that are marketed to ethnic people around the globe.

Her argument? In the past, fairness-cream ads claimed that having lighter skin will allow you to find a husband. But today, those ads show women with lighter skin will have an easier time finding a job. Also, men are being targeted as a growing market for fairness creams.

See how progressive that is? Fairness creams are promoting gender equity these days!

The ad that Chandrasekar uses as an example of how fairness-cream advertising has shifted is this one for Fair & Lovely cream, in which a man exercises furiously to lose weight and capture the heart of a fair-skinned Indian woman.

Fairness-cream commercials have shifted from showing women who say, “I’m worried about whether the man will accept me” to “See what an effect I have on the man,” Chandrasekar says. And that supposedly means progress.

Just one problem… I don’t think sexism is the primary argument against fairness creams or their marketing. How about the fact that these ads imply that a person’s worth only increases as their skin becomes lighter? Isn’t that the inherent problem here? Sadly, Chandrasekar does nothing to address that issue.

Also, I’m not sure fairness cream marketing has shifted quite as much as Chandrasekar claims… Take a look at this commercial that ran earlier this year in India for Pond’s White Beauty. The commercial, part of a five-part series, features a woman who loses her boyfriend to a lighter skinned woman, until she uses White Beauty to lighten her complexion and win back his affection:

If you’d like to see the full story of how lighter skin equals a more successful love life, check out the Japanese commercials for Pond’s Flawless White (can the names for these creams be any more offensive?), which follows the exact same story line:

Sorry, Ms. Chandrasekar. I don’t think you can claim “progress” until the cosmetics and ad industries stop telling people that their success depends upon bleaching their skin.

Related:

Life Is Fair [MulticultClassics]

“White Beauty” has an ugly message [Jezebel]

Skin-whitening adverts ignite race row in India [The Independent]

The Obama dialogue

As a take-off from yesterday’s post, I realized that this year’s election has caused me to have more conversations about race and culture in general than I think I’ve ever had in my life. And that’s kind of saying a lot, since my life has always revolved around race and culture in some respect.

For instance, my mom and I have had plenty of talks in the last few months about the pride we feel for Barack Obama, mixed with fears for his safety.

How those same views might vary among older generations of the black community, who saw MLK, JFK, Bobby Kennedy and Malcolm X assassinated.

About the fact that people are being more blatant and open with their racial stereotypes as the election has escalated, and how it illustrates the fact that racism never ended in this country (as I’ve heard all too many people claim).

How despite those things, Obama’s candidacy shows that America continues to make progress in regards to race as this country’s cultural landscape continues to shift.

While my mom and I are close, the series of talks we’ve had (which can stretch past two hours, sometimes) about this election have made me feel more connected to my mom than I think I ever have and that I’m connecting with her in a completely new way.

Meanwhile, I’m seeing the same sort of thing when it comes to the conversation I had with my colleague, or the fact that my workplace had a panel that was attended by several dozen people (of various ethnicities) who all wanted to talk about diversity, or in many passing conversations with my friends about the election.

Whether you support Obama or not, this election is getting people talking about race and culture. And in the end, I think that dialogue might do more to promote race relations in this country than Obama’s candidacy (and hopefully, presidency) by itself.

What about you? How has this election affected your views on race and culture (good or bad)? Are you having more conversations about race than before the election? Do you think people’s views on race and culture are changing at all because of this election, or do you think people are hanging on more tightly to racial stereotypes that they had before?