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 "Click for larger image")
Beauty Shop Politics
African American Women's Activism in the Beauty Industry
Tiffany M. Gill
Cloth978-0-252-03505-0
$75.00
Paper978-0-252-07696-1
$25.00
| Pub Date: | 2010 |
| Pages: | 208 pages |
| Dimensions: | 6 x 9 in. |
| Illustrations: | 7 black & white photographs |
A bold reassessment of black beauty salons as vital sites for social change
Looking through the lens of black business history, Beauty Shop Politics shows how black beauticians in the Jim Crow era parlayed their economic independence and access to a public community space into platforms for activism. Tiffany M. Gill argues that the beauty industry played a crucial role in the creation of the modern black female identity and that the seemingly frivolous space of a beauty salon actually has stimulated social, political, and economic change.
From the founding of the National Negro Business League in 1900 and onward, African Americans have embraced the entrepreneurial spirit by starting their own businesses, but black women's forays into the business world were overshadowed by those of black men. With a broad scope that encompasses the role of gossip in salons, ethnic beauty products, and the social meanings of African American hair textures, Gill shows how African American beauty entrepreneurs built and sustained a vibrant culture of activism in beauty salons and schools. Enhanced by lucid portrayals of black beauticians and drawing on archival research and oral histories, Beauty Shop Politics conveys the everyday operations and rich culture of black beauty salons as well as their role in building community.
"A tremendous contribution to African-American history. Beauty Shop Politics demonstrates the central role of black women in the history of black business and shows how black businesswomen challenged the dictates of black male leaders in the worlds of black business and civil rights."--Lynn Hudson, author of The Making of "Mammy Pleasant": A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco
Tiffany M. Gill is an assistant professor of history, African American studies, and women's studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Series:
Women in American History
Subjects:
Black Studies / Women's Studies / History, Am.: 20th C. / Business & Economics
