This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly.
Artist Statement
My artwork was a response to the 9th invintation to create - Good Hair. That particular invitation was the most important one for me and has had the biggest effect on my personal understanding of the book, as well as black culture.
The quote: “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was. He never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing in it as she went about things in the store. And one night he had caught Walter standing behind Janie and brushing the back of his hand back and forth across the loose end of her braid ever so lightly so as to enjoy the feel of it without Janie knowing what he was doing. Joe was at the back of the store and Walter didn’t see him. He felt like rushing forth with the meat knife and chopping off the offending hand. That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all.” (p. 55) ...that was attached to that invitation almost seemed like a summary of the entire book to me - all the oppression that Janie has been going through her entire life put into her own husband’s hatred towards her hair. This quote clearly shows how Joe showed his sexism towards Janie:“Thank yuh for yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.” pg. 43. He thinks that she is not capable of making a good speech and claims that the woman’s place is nothing more than being in the house. Joe has been throwing around a lot of sexist comments aimed at Janie that made her feel worthless, and him asking to put her hair away was very summarizing - the book seemed to make a point about the oppression people were facing by their own community. Joe not only was very sexist, but was clearly uncomfortable with Janie’s comfortability to wear her hair the way she wanted to - in a natural state. Janie’s hair was too much for Joe, because he did not want Janie to feel comfortable in her own skin. He wanted to control Janie, and her feeling good about herself was not on his plan. Janie’s hair seemed to represent the confidence and power that she had, and Joe’s comment seemed to represent the society’s desire to kill that confidence in your natural self.
Even though the book describes the events that are not current, the movie “Good Hair” represents a more modern version of people’s relationships with black hair - negative.
The trailer shows how a man was trying to sell afro-wigs, while the stores mainly sold the wigs with straight hair. No one bought the afro hair, and the woman in the store, who was African American, described it as nappy. The movie and the book, regardless of the time difference, seemed to be sending a very similar message regarding the society’s perception of beauty. That part of the book seems to be making a statement that is still relevant today. The natural black hair is rarely accepted by the society and is often judged - it falls on the “bad side” of the spectrum. Now and then society had its form of oppression that consisted of making women feel uncomfortable in their natural state in order to better control them, brainwashing them into believing that they are not good enough the way they are.
That topic had a big effect on me because of how relevant it is to this day. Discussing this topic could definitely be beneficial, because that is only one form of oppression that black women experience. It was carried on for centuries, and shows how much we, as a society, have to work on to this day, as well as how little comments about one’s appearance can have a negative effect on somebody’s view and acceptance of themselves.
The 9th invitation to create has inspired me into finishing up my artwork that I have previously started and writing a poem that would go with it.
The painting that I made is a picture of an African American woman, painted fully with green. That artwork seemed relevant to this project, because I have been previously familiar with society’s “requests” on how women should look, including the hair aspect, and the drawing was meant to be empowering and natural at the same time.
Color green is very closely connected with nature - making the painting fully green was supposed to send the message to the observer that the woman is, as well, is connected to nature, and feels confident to be natural. The character's facial expression was meant to be calm, but strong - not aggressively confident, but calmly confident, without the need to “prove” anything to anyone. The character has textured hair, but decides to wear it natural, still feeling good and comfortable.
The poem was meant to be read while looking at the painting and to guide the reader’s attention to the topic of the project - hair in its natural state.
Hair, my beautiful hair. A crown that sits on my head. Curly, straight, black or fair, It can never be bad. Hair, my beautiful hair. Natural, long, short or bare. I love the way it swings in the wind.
The quote brings attention to the hair aspect. By using the phrase “It can never be bad”, I am making a reference to the 9th invintation to create, since it uses simple words like good or bad hair.
The 9th invintation to create is a very teachable topic, that shows how things that might seem little at a first glance, like judging someone’s hair, might have a big effect on people, and how we can make changes in our society by fixing it. Responding to this invintation was very inspiring, and resulted into creating a poem and finishing up a painting that has been made before.