Beauty in a Box : Detangling the Roots of Canada's Black Beauty Culture

One of the first transnational, feminist studies of Canada’s black beauty culture and the role that media, retail, and consumers have played in its development, __Beauty in a Box__ widens our understanding of the politics of black hair. The book analyzes advertisements and articles from media―newspapers, advertisements, television, and other sources―that focus on black communities in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Calgary. The author explains the role local black community media has played in the promotion of African American–owned beauty products; how the segmentation of beauty culture (i.e., the sale of black beauty products on store shelves labelled “ethnic hair care”) occurred in Canada; and how black beauty culture, which was generally seen as a small niche market before the 1970s, entered Canada’s mainstream by way of department stores, drugstores, and big-box retailers. __Beauty in a Box__ uses an interdisciplinary framework, engaging with African American history, critical race and cultural theory, consumer culture theory, media studies, diasporic art history, black feminism, visual culture, film studies, and political economy to explore the history of black beauty culture in both Canada and the United States. One of the first transnational, feminist studies of American black beauty culture in Canada, and the role that media, retail, and consumers have played in its development, Beauty in a Box widens our understanding of the global politics of black hair. The book analyzes advertisements and articles from medianewspapers, advertisements, television, and other sourcesthat focus on black communities in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Calgary. The author explains the role local black community media has played in the promotion of African Americanowned beauty products; how the segmentation of beauty culture (i.e., the sale of black beauty products on store shelves labelled ethnic hair care) occurred in Canada; and how black beauty culture, which was generally seen as a small niche market before the 1970s, entered Canadas mainstream by way of department stores, drugstores, and big-box retailers. Beauty in a Box uses an interdisciplinary framework, engaging with African American history, critical race and cultural theory, consumer culture theory, media studies, diasporic art history, black feminism, visual culture, film studies, and political economy to explore the history of black beauty culture in both Canada and the United States. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Introduction 8 CHAPTER 1: African Canadian Newspapers and Early Black Beauty 35 Culture, 1914–1945 42 CHAPTER 2 From Ebony’s “Brownskin” to “Black Is Beautiful” in the News Observer, 1946–1969 76 CHAPTER 3 Black Beauty Culture in the Pages of Contrast and Share: Local Beauty Salons, Department Stores, and Drugstores in the 1970s and 1980s 128 CHAPTER 4 Global Conglomerates Take Over Black Beauty Culture: The Ethnically Ambiguous, “Multicultural” 1990s and 2000s 172 CHAPTER 5 The Politics of Black Hair in the Twenty-First Century 204 Conclusion 250 Notes 268 Selected Bibliography 298 Index 312 A 312 B 312 C 314 D 315 E 315 F 315 G 315 H 316 I 316 J 316 K 316 L 316 M 316 N 316 O 317 P 317 R 317 S 317 T 317 U 317 V 317 W 317 Y 318 "It's about black beauty culture in North America from an interdisciplinary perspective that encompasses many fields: history, race and cultural theory, consumer culture theory, media studies, diasporic art history, black feminism, visual culture, film studies, and political economy."-- Provided by publisher "It's about black beauty culture in North America from an interdisciplinary perspective that encompasses many fields: history, race and cultural theory, consumer culture theory, media studies, diasporic art history, black feminism, visual culture, film studies, and political economy."-- Résumé de l'éditeur