Use hair in Americanah to examine race, culture, and identity
In what ways does Adichie use hair in Americanah to examine race, culture, and identity?
Americanah is a novel focusing on Nigerian characters in the United States and later back in Nigeria. After some struggles, Ifemelu becomes a successful blogger on matters concerning race, culture, and identity. Hair is one of the aspects used to examine race, culture, and identity throughout the novel.
When we are around people of our origin, we are usually comfortable with the way we look. However, when we are around a foreign community, people feel depressed because of the difference in skin color and the nature of the hair. This is why, back in Nigeria, Ifemelu describes her hair as ‘glorious’; this is because she was in Nigeria, and most of them had Kinky hair in common thus, they celebrated their ‘African’ hair. However, Ifemelu’s mother later cuts her hair because of religious extremism. The case is different in America. This is because Africans are considered from a different race; thus, Ifemelu’s mother’s hair could not be regarded as glorious. In America, we see that beautiful hair does not refer to kinky hair but instead refers to processed and relaxed with chemicals. That is why Ifemelu relaxes her hair to look professional in her job interview.
It is common that when people live in a foreign community, they adopt that community’s culture. Culture involves aspects of life, including the way we keep our hair. In Africa, no one cares whether one has straightened hair or braids to look official or attend an interview. However, in America, the case is different. Due to pressure to conform to American standards of professionalism to get a job, one has to relax her hair with chemicals. Many people hold on to this belief, which is reality. In Africa, one can get a job no matter if they have relaxed their hair or not so long as it is decent. However, this is different in America because most people or the natives have the ‘European hair,’ therefore, for one to look professional, one has to relax her hair with chemicals to look like the ‘American’ hair. Therefore, we should cherish the natural hair we have by protecting from using chemicals; however, if relaxing our hair is the only means of survival, we have no choice but to relax the hair.
Hair is also usually used to identify the race of a person. This is why, in the novel, straightened hair is attributed to western influence. Ifemelu gives the example of before-and-after shoots in magazines where women with kinky hair always have straightened hair in the after photo. Ifemelu says that it is only the white kind curly, loose curls or spiral curls are accepted. In this case, white stands for inclusion, while kinky hair means exclusion. This clarifies the racism behind the hair. We cannot claim that hair does not signify racism in the novel. The fact that Africans straighten their hair shows that the American people find it hard to tolerate the African’s natural hair, thus forcing them to have ‘European’ hair by relaxation. As we see in the novel, they are indirectly forcing them since one has to relax hair to look professional. As we also see in the novel, using chemicals to straighten hair has adverse health effects, which is tormenting.
Hair is metaphorically used to show the cultural pressure black women face in America. One has to travel many miles to get salons that deal with ‘African’ hair, which symbolizes their exclusion in American society. Adichie uses hair to express racism in American culture. When Ifemelu and aunt Uju have to straighten, dye, or make their hair look like the white woman’s hair, it shows how racism is incorporated into one’s physical appearance such as hair. Many people are used to racism expressed through color. However, Adichie approaches the issue of racism metaphorically using hair. For characters like Ifemelu and aunt Uju, hair represents their struggle for confidence and identity as both Nigerians and black women in America. Adichie observes that that hair is the perfect metaphor for race in America. It shows the small ways racism transcends into trivial things, like beauty in the American culture. A black woman is not only relaxing her hair to look professional but also to meet the beauty standards.
People use different methods to approach the sensitive issue of racism and even culture. In the novel Americanah, Adichie correctly uses hair to examine these issues. However, Adichie also proposes ways through which Africans can overcome the superiority of western standards by questioning Eurocentric discourses about Africa, and we, Africans, should fall back to our roots. This means that we should not lose our African identity to overcome all pressures we face.