Diane Sawyer with Rihanna, full interview airs tomorrow on 20/20; image courtesy of eonline.com
Stay strong, Rihanna. Thank you for posting this, Helena Andrews.
Note: The entire interview is up on YouTube, divided into five parts. Here’s part one.
Posts Tagged ‘Rihanna
The is how Janelle does it; image courtesy of concreteloop.com
It took maintaining this blog to realize how much I love talking about hair; the more extreme or edgy the coiffure, the better (think Marie Antoinette hair stylist Odile Gilbert). This is interesting, as I’m quite the wash-and-go girl in real life. Perhaps, then, I view fantasmic hairdos, really any hairdo slightly more complicated than the ponytail, as feats of magic.
Continuing a previous discussion of what the racial and/or ethnic connotations of Rihanna’s, Cassie’s, and Amber Rose’s unusual hairstyles (which, BTW, did anyone notice how cute Cassie looked next to P. Diddy and designer Zac Posen at a recent event?), I wanted to highlight two more women of color who like to play with their hair (keeping in mind, as Cassandra astutely pointed out in a previous comment, that these ladies’ hairstyles speak to their classed positions as pop musicians).
First up, Janelle Monáe, whose style I highlighted earlier. While on tour with twee psychedelic group Of Montreal (a band for whom she is also a fan), she did a shoot and interview with PAPERMAG. I really love her self-possession and poise here. She seems totally unflappable and completely in control of who she is and what image is trying to project. Dig the way she takes the compliment when the interview mentions that others have hyped her as a 21st century Grace Jones while at the same time pointedly stating that becoming Grace is not her goal, as they are different people (subtitle reads: “Just because we’re two black female pop singers with fades doesn’t mean we’re interchangeable”).
I also find Monáe’s hair care regimen fascinating — she washes her hair with orange juice, maple syrup, and salt to form it into “a bushel of fun and elegance.” I hope my interest in how she maintains her hair and forms it into a pompadour doesn’t scream “Oh my! Look what the black woman does to her hair!” As a white woman, I don’t know how widespread these sorts of treatments are, or if they only work on certain kinds of hair. But I find the idea of using non-cosmetic products toward cosmetic ends and wonder how common and shared they are.
This is one way Shingai does it; image courtesy of contactmusic.com
The other woman I wanted to mention is Shingai Shoniwa of The Noisettes. In the music video for “Never Forget You,” a song which evinces a clear indebtedness to the girl group era, we see Shoniwa perform and preen with several different pompadours, as well as a set of Afro puffs.
(As an aside, did anyone else notice the Fabric of My Life crawl at the bottom of the screen when they watched the music video? So, that’s a way Cotton Incorporated, through DDB, are getting the message out. Interesting.)
I think the diversity of hairstyles on display suggest that women of African descent (Shoniwa is British Zimbabwean) may use their hair as a marker of identity, but how that identity is constructed is varied, discursive, and unpredictable.
Just as playing with hair could potentially challenge traditional, white beauty standards and how women of color cultivate (and control) their image, I likewise find it heartening that Shoniwa is the lead singer of a band, a mixed-race, mixed-gender band at that (it isn’t evident from the music video, but Shoniwa is also the bassist).
While I don’t think these women resolve gender, ethnic, and racial tensions intrinsic to the mechanization of the beauty and fashion industry, I do think they challenge it by daring to be themselves, whoever they feel like that may be on any given day.
Today is my 26th birthday. I’d like to take this moment to celebrate two stellar talents and fashion icons-to-be in the music industry. It is not my intention to essentialize or tokenize, but I thought, in the wake of talking about Beth Ditto, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry, it might be nice to acknowledge the chic and gloriously out-there fashion contributions of women of color (who aren’t Rihanna, M.I.A., or Santigold). So look and listen! And if you’re like “what about _______?” or “you forgot _______,” please contribute.
Ebony Bones
British sensation Ebony Bones made a big debut at SXSW last year. I missed her, but luckily my friend Haylee didn’t, so if you get into Ms. Ebony Thomas’s post-apocalyptic punk-funk, thank her. To me, her clattering, cavernous sound contrasts perfectly with her vibrantly colored attire which oscillates between “society lady” and “road warrior”. I don’t think her debut album, Bone of My Bones, has come out here yet, though it’s already big in Japan. They’re onto something.
Janelle Monáe
Kansan up-and-comer Janelle Monáe recorded her first album back in 2003, but is just now starting to court mainstream attention. She’s since captured the attention of OutKast (who put her in Idlewild) and has gone on the road with No Doubt this summer. I really love her flair for the dramatic and her knack for weaving showtime and children’s music in her new wave sound and complimenting it with an androgynously glamorous, contemporarily retro look.
23
Jul
09
A close shave: Rihanna’s new ‘do
Rihanna's new hairdo; image provided by New York Daily News
So, I’ve been tracking coverage of Rihanna’s new haircut (yes, it was considered news by many in the blogosphere). Last week, she updated her trademark edgy pixie cut with a shaved base. Perhaps people are so used to her short hair or the new cut looks fairly similar, but I haven’t noticed much of a hubbub. I guess because of the to-do over Kristen Stewart’s Joan Jett mullet, I was expecting more of a stir. Perhaps a homophobic panic. More specifically, I anticipated potential linkages made between the hair change and speculation over her dealings with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, as last month they agreed to a court-ordered separation agreement following Brown’s much-reported assault against Rihanna last March.
However, most people seem to be pro to neutral with Rihanna’s haircut (Bossip is an exception). And I guess that’s good. I like the hairstyle. If she wanted to go bald, that’d be cool with me too. It’s so strange to think that she still once had a long, tumbling mane of hair, perhaps a hold-over from her beauty queen days as she transitioned into her current cultural role as pop star. I definitely prefer her with short hair; it maximizes her features, suits the dark robotic edge of her synth pop, and queers her in some interesting ways. Perhaps it gets us a little closer to style icon Debbi from Repo Man.
Rihanna with long hair, back in October 2007; image courtesy of People
But I’m also curious as to the racial dimensions of Rihanna’s haircut, and what the shave may mean. I admittedly don’t know much about hair and women of color, other than an awareness that hair is both a source of contention and a space for play, particularly for women of African descent. Indeed, the Barbadan pop star’s decision to shave her head is culturally very different from, say, Tilda Swinton, requesting a buzz job. Some detractors of Rihanna’s new ‘do may perhaps read the shortening, straightening, sculpting, and now, buzzing of her hair as a disavowal of her “natural” hair. They may read pop singer Cassie’s half-shaved look or model Amber Rose’s bleached buzz cut similarly.
Of course, subscribing to this reading blindsides the multicultural aspects of this discussion. Rihanna is from Barbados, a Caribbean island with integrated African, Middle Eastern, and European communities. Within those communities exist several more ethnically distinct cultural origins. Thus, while Rihanna’s accent marks her as Barbadan, what that identity is in terms of racial and ethnic categories is far more difficult to extract. Furthermore, Cassie is of African American, Filipino, West Indian, and Mexican heritage. Amber Rose is of Italian and Cape Verdian descent (at least that’s what Wikipedia told me). So they both exist within and outside of African American identities.
I admit I don’t have answers. And, as a white woman, it’s easy for me to say “Rihanna shaved her head — cool,” which is not my intention. Instead, I’m submitting this post as a conversation-starter, a point of entry to talk and think more critically about the dimensions of racial, ethnic, and gender identities. It may seem like “just hair,” but its supposed obviousness and frivolousness demands more critical inquiry.
