ayo,d. (2005). How to Rent a Negro. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.

A hilarious and satirical look at race relations that is almost too close for comfort, this pseudo-guidebook gives both renters and rentals "much-needed" advice and tips on technique. Reframing actual stories, techniques, requests, and responses gathered from the author's more than 30 years of research and experience, tips are provided in step-by-step outlines for renters to get the most for their money, and how rentals can become successful and wealthy, what they should wear, and topics of conversation to avoid. The book also serves up photo-dramatizations of some of the popular approaches covered in the book, handy tip-boxes, frequently asked questions for renters and rentals, a "How do I know if I'm being rented" quiz, a glossary of important terms, and "quickie" insta-rentals for those who need to rent on the go. Punctuated by quotes from former renters, and featuring rental diaries based on real encounters, this satire shocks and amuses, presenting a strikingly stark mirror of human relationships.

Castaneda, A. P. (2010). Hues, Tresses, and Dresses: Examining the Relation of Body Image, Hair, and Clothes to Female Identity in Their Eyes Were Watching God and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Liberty University: Lynchburg, VA.

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings convey powerful relations between body image, hair, and clothes. Because a proper understanding of the theory of womanism provides a basis for comprehending the African American female's relation to herself and the world around her, a working definition and description of the term and its general significance to African American critical theory is provided in chapter two. The third chapter focuses on the general topic of body image in relation to black female identity and includes a more specific analysis of the importance of skin tone in African American culture, as evidenced in both novels, and the influence of hair in African American culture and the black female's self-image are the principal focus of the fourth chapter. The importance of skin tone and hair is traced back to early African culture and ideals established during the slave trade. Janie and Marguerite battle body image and hair issues that result from the racism African American women encounter from Whites, as well as the hierarchical racism existent within the black community. Additionally, the fifth chapter of this study considers clothing as a form of status and self-expression in each novel. This textual analysis researches the layers of black female identity and enhances the academic world's understanding of African American women from a literary perspective. Read here

Dabiri, E. (2019). Don’t Touch My Hair. London, UK: Allen Lane.

This book is about why black hair matters. Emma Dabiri takes us from pre-colonial Africa, through the Harlem Renaissance, Black Power and on to today's Natural Hair Movement, the Cultural Appropriation Wars and beyond. We look at everything from hair capitalists like Madam C.J. Walker in the early 1900s to the rise of Shea Moisture today, from women's solidarity and friendship to 'black people time', forgotten African scholars and the dubious provenance of Kim Kardashian's braids. The scope of black hairstyling ranges from pop culture to cosmology, from prehistoric times to the (afro)futuristic. Uncovering sophisticated indigenous mathematical systems in black hairstyles, alongside styles that served as secret intelligence networks leading enslaved Africans to freedom, Don't Touch My Hair proves that far from being only hair , black hairstyling culture can be understood as an allegory for black oppression and, ultimately, liberation.

Gillespie, C. H. (2013). Down to the Roots: A Qualitative Analysis of the Psychological Impacts of Messages Black Women Receive Regarding Their Hair. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Carbondale, IL.

Typical Black features such as thick lips, dark skin, and kinky hair have historically been the subject of scrutiny, exploitation, and devaluation in America. Hair is an important aspect of the discourse about the pressure on all women to accommodate to mainstream beauty ideals. However, there are unique pressures that complicate this narrative for Black women, who have to combat both the pressures of racism and sexism. Although there is a growing body of anthologies, essays, documentaries and case studies exploring Black women's unique experiences regarding their hair, there is a dearth of empirical literature, particularly in the field of psychology, exploring the nuances of Black women's hair experiences and subsequent impacts of negative kinky-hair messages on their hair choices, esteem, personal and emotional functioning. Nine self-identified African American/Black women were interviewed for this study. The participants' narratives reflected the marginalization, trauma, abuse, and rejection they experienced in relation to their hair and in their personal lives. The Black women also expressed an unyielding sense of optimism, resilience and hope regarding their future experiences. (abbreviated)

Konneh, A. M. (2013). “Hair is it, for Africans:” African-Australian Hair Stories. (Unpublished honours thesis). University of Sydney: Sydney, AU

This thesis examines the relationship African-Australian men and women have with their hair. Through open-ended interviews with seven African-Australian men and women, aged 22-63, this thesis analyses the cultural significance of hair and its methods of stylization in the African-Australian diaspora. Building upon empiricism and scholarship from the United States and Britain, this thesis broadens the debate by including the voices of African-Australians. It explores the highly ritualized modes of black hairstyling practices in Australia as intra-racially disciplined, managed and contained. I examine Afro-diasporic hair practices of weaving, braiding, and going ‘natural,’ through established frameworks that psychologise and depsychologise black hair practices. This thesis problematises academic and socio-cultural arguments that situate Afro-diasporic women who choose to process their hair as engaged in ‘inauthentic’ practices engendered by self-hatred, low self-esteem, and the desire to be white. I explore the gendered nature of Afro-diasporic hairstyling, and the significant burden of representation placed upon African-Australian girls and women to perform culture on behalf of the African-Australian diaspora. Finally, this thesis examines the industrial and personal economy of black hair as imbricated with the explicit and implicit labour of African-Australian identity.

Mahdi, T. C. (2003). God Laughs, Too. iUniverese

When urban fiction meets God, all HELL breaks loose!! Na’imah just wants to be a good girl and have her name pronounced correctly, but the cold and cruel world just won’t cooperate. With like Amber, who wears her jealously better than her tacky outfits, and Aaron, the boyfriend who prefers weed over intimacy…Na’imah needs no enemies. Add that to her lust for dangerous places and addictive substances, and you get a tale that boils over with hardcore humor and biting reality. Believing that her conscience is the voice of God, she gives hilarious, jaw-dropping accounts of what happens when she doesn’t take His advice. 

Robinson, Phoebe. (2016). You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still have to Explain. New York: Penguin Group (USA).

Being a black woman in America means contending with old prejudices and fresh absurdities every day. Comedian Phoebe Robinson has experienced her fair share over the years: she's been unceremoniously relegated to the role of “the black friend,” as if she is somehow the authority on all things racial; she's been questioned about her love of U2 and Billy Joel (“isn’t that...white people music?”); she's been called “uppity” for having an opinion in the workplace; she's been followed around stores by security guards; and yes, people do ask her whether they can touch her hair all. the. time. Now, she's ready to take these topics to the page—and she’s going to make you laugh as she’s doing it.
Using her trademark wit alongside pop-culture references galore, Robinson explores everything from why Lisa Bonet is “Queen. Bae. Jesus,” to breaking down the terrible nature of casting calls, to giving her less-than-traditional advice to the future female president, and demanding that the NFL clean up its act, all told in the same conversational voice that launched her podcast, 2 Dope Queens, to the top spot on iTunes. As personal as it is political, You Can't Touch My Hair examines our cultural climate and skewers our biases with humor and heart, announcing Robinson as a writer on the rise.

Bencosme, Y. (2017). “Beauty is Pain: Black Women’s Identity and Their Struggle with Embracing Their Natural Hair.” Perspectives: University of New Hampshire Scholars Repository, 9(1), 1-13.

The article examines the struggle facing African American women in embracing their kinky, curly hair. Topics include the role of the Eurocentric beauty standard in African American women's view on their own beauty and self-identity, the societal pressure they face in changing their natural hair, and the history of African American hair. Also discussed are the society's negative views on African American hair, its political aspects, and its role in the workplace. Read the article here.

Caldwell, K. L. (2003). “Look at her hair”: The body politics of Black womanhood in Brazil. Transforming Anthropology, 11(2), 18-29.

This article examines Brazilian ideals of female beauty and explores their impact on Black women's subjective experiences. The analysis focuses on hair as a key site for investigating how Black women's bodies and identities are marked by Brazilian discourses on race and gender. Despite Brazil's image as a "racial democracy," derogatory images of Black women in Brazilian popular culture highlight the prevalence of anti-Black aesthetic standards in the country. Through analysis of Black women's personal narratives, this article examines how individual women attempt to reconstruct their subjectivities by contesting dominant aesthetic norms. The analysis provides insight into the gendered dimensions of Brazilian racism by demonstrating the ways in which Black women's views of, and experiences with, their hair highlight the complex relationship among race, gender, sexuality, and beauty.

Caldwell, P. (1991). “A Hair Piece: Perspectives on the Intersection of Race and Gender.” Duke Law Journal, 2, 365-396. (Read article here)

Candelario, G. (2000). Hair Race-ing: Dominican Beauty Culture and Identity Production. Meridians, 1(1), 128-156.

Chitando, E. & Chitando, A. (2004). Black Female Identities in Harare: The Case of Young Women with Dreadlocks. Zambezia (2004), XXXI (i/ii), 1-21

The construction of post-colonial African female identities has faced a number of challenges. Colonial ideologies and African patriarchal traditions threaten to stifle African women. African cities have become sites of struggle as black women strive to express themselves in spaces that are defined in masculine terms. This article examines the theme of black female identities in Harare. It focuses on how some young women have cultivated dreadlocks as a signifier of their consciousness and of their own identities. It outlines how for these women dreadlocks are more than just a fashion statement or a hairstyle. Dreadlocks seek to defy colonial images of blackness as inferior to whiteness. They also challenge dominant notions of being a “presentable” woman. The article highlights reasons that have been put forward to resist the cultivation of dreadlocks by women. Using historical, literary and phenomenological approaches, the study highlights the complex factors that influence the formulation of black female identities in a cosmopolitan setting.

Dumas, T. L. and Rosette, A.S. (2007). “The hair dilemma: Conform to mainstream expectations or Emphasize Racial Identity”. Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy, 14, 407-422.

Throughout American history, skin color, eye color, and hair texture have had the power to shape the quality of Black people's lives, and that trend continues today for Black women in the workplace.

Ellis-Hervey, N., Doss, A., Davis, D., Nicks, R., & Araiza, P. (2016). “African American Personal Presentation: Psychology of Hair and Self-Perception.” Journal of Black Studies, 47(8), 869-882.

A great amount of literature is dedicated to racial identity and self-perception ,but very little addresses how hair may play a critical role in how African American women view themselves and others. African American women choose to wear their hair in a variety of styles, including weaves, wigs, dreads, chemically processed, or non-chemically processed (often referred to as

“natural hair”). Researchers conducted a study that explored 282 African American females from urban and rural communities, varying in age, socioeconomic status, and education levels and discussed the reporting of the hairstyles they currently wear, what styles they believe are more attractive/unattractive, what styles they believe are more professional/unprofessional, and what influenced the style they currently wear.

Glapka, E. (2018). “Postfeminism-for Whom or by Whom? Applying Discourse Analysis in Research on the Body and Beauty (The Case of Black Hair).” Gender and Language, 12(2), 242-268.

This article explores postfeminism in the context of beauty consumption in the Global South. Advocating a transnational feminist perspective, it construes incorporation of postfeminism into the Global South in two senses - as the reception of a globally circulated discourse and as the embodiment(s) of it in different dimensions of lived femininity. Specifically, it examines how postfeminism is interpreted by black South African women in their beauty consumption. A combined, discursive-and-embodied approach is advanced to transcend the body/discourse binary and hence reflect on the intricate relationship between postfeminist discourse and the body in which it materialises. The article concludes by discussing the discursive dynamics of arriving at the subjective understanding(s) of the Western cultural logic of postfeminism in the cultural reality of postcolonial Africa, and by suggesting the methodology of research on discourse and beauty.

Johnson, T. A. & Bankhead, T. (2014). Hair It Is: Examining the Experiences of Black Women with Natural Hair. Open Journal for Social Sciences, 2(1), 86-100.

Who am I and how do I feel about who I am, are essential questions that help define and construct identity. For Black women and girls, identity is inextricably linked to their relationship to and presentation of their hair. Our research presents findings from an Internet based survey con- ducted with 529 Black women exploring their experiences when wearing their hair in its natural state (not thermally or chemically straightened). These are preliminary findings from the study with reference to the composition of the study participants and how they responded to key questions related to how they perceived when wearing their hair naturally.

Majali, Z., Coetzee, J. & Rau, A. (2017).  “Everyday Hair Discourses of African Black Women.” Qualitative Sociology Review, 13(1), 158-172.

Hair for African Black people has always had meaning. In the past, elaborate hairstyles communicated their status, identity, and place within the larger society. In present day society, hair continues to be a significant part of being an African Black person. Especially for women, who attach a number of different meanings to hair. This study casts more light on young African Black women's everyday perceptions of hair and uncovers the meanings they attach to hair and beauty. This is done by looking at how the intersections of race, gender, and class impact on their everyday perceptions and experiences of hair.

McAlexander, James H., & John W. Schouten. (1989). “Hair style changes as transition markers.” Sociology and Social Research, 74, 58-62.

Ndichu, E. & Upadhyaya, S. (2019). “Going Natural: Black Women’s Identity Project Shifts in Hair Care Practices.” Consumption, Markets, & Culture, 22(1), 44-67.

Hair care, a seemingly mundane consumption practice, is packed with sociocultural meanings and constitutes an important realm of identity work for consumers. Drawing upon existing literature on consumer identity projects, this paper investigates the experiences of urban, Black women in Kenya as they disengage from the normative practice of altering their natural hair texture using chemical straighteners (a practice that conforms to Eurocentric beauty ideals of straight, flowing hair), and adopt the non-normative hair care practice of "going natural," in which they embrace their natural hair texture and hairstyles. This paper traces the historical, sociocultural, and political events that underpin the normative ideology associated with the identity marker of natural Black hair, and how this ideology influences the women's "going natural" experience. Findings reveal tensions that emerge in the women's identity project disengagement and reconstruction process, and how the women navigate their position as they reimagine their embodied identity quest.

Owens Patton, T. (2006). “Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair? African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair.” NWSA Journal, 18(2), 24-51.

Using Afrocentric theory and standpoint theory, this article examines the effect of the White standard of beauty upon African American women. By shedding light on the salience of the effects of beauty, body image, and hair, this article questions societal definitions of beauty. Adherence to the Euro American beauty standard has had, and continues to have, devastating effects upon African American women. In addition, this standard pits African American women against the dominant cultural standard of beauty. A call to challenge the hegemonic White standard of beauty through Black beauty liberation is offered

Oyedemi, T. (2016). Beauty as violence: ‘beautiful’ hair and the cultural violence of identity erasure, Social Identities, 22(5), 537-553.

Curious observations of hair and hairstyles worn by many women of Black African descent reveal the triumph of a Eurocentric dominant ideology of beauty. I assert in this study that the process of attaining the hegemonic ideology of ‘beautiful’ hair, often defined as a European and Asian texture and style of hair, is a violent journey. This study draws largely from Johan Galtung's seminal theoretical works on violence, particularly his articulation of cultural violence as a creation of ideology through psychological process of indoctrination and brainwashing, and the internalization of this process. From this theoretical framing, and a demythologization of the multiplicity and flexibility narrative of postmodern self and identity, this study examines the attitudes of young Black South African women toward their natural hair and their perception of ‘beautiful’ hair. Through a survey of 159 Black female students in a rural South African university with a predominantly Black student population, and face-to-face conversations with five female students, the study asserts that many Black African women's relationship with their hair is shaped by violence. The physical and cultural violence perpetuated in the quest for ‘beautiful’ hair is consequently creating a generational cycle of identity erasure.

Robinson, C. (2011). “Hair as Race: Why ‘Good Hair’ May Be Bad for Black Females.” Howard Journal of Communications, 22, 358-376.

Critically examining the relationship between race, Black female beauty, and hair texture, this qualitative study used narratives from 38 Black females between the ages of 19 and 81, to determine messages that communicate hair valuations to Black females, definitions of good and bad hair, and motivations for desiring good hair. A legacy of slavery, hair valuations reflect racially motivated beauty standards that work against Black females. As Chris Rock's Good Hair (2009) illustrates, the connection of hair to beauty intersect with race and gender, placing a particular burden on Black females whose naturally kinky hair textures are low on beauty continuums. Through communication from adults, peers, and males, Black females learn about good and bad hair valuations. However, participants' own descriptions of, and motivations for, good hair are more relevant to maintenance than beauty—bad hair needs straightening, good hair does not. Unstraightened, the shorter, kinky textures can be difficult to comb, style, and manage. Yet, it is the kinkiness that allows the creative diversity of popular Black hairstyles that, paradoxically, makes bad hair particularly good for unstraightened styles. Hair valuations are bad for Black females because they elevate White beauty standards and devalue hair textures common among Black females.

Synnott, Anthony. (1987). “Shame and Glory: Sociology of Hair.” The British Journal of Sociology, 38(3), 381-413.

Tate, S. (2007). “Black beauty: Shade, hair and anti-racist aesthetics.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, (30)2, 300-319.

Dark skin shade and natural afro-hair are central in the politics of visibility, inclusion and exclusion within black anti-racist aesthetics. This article focuses on black beauty as performative through looking at how the discourse of dark skin equals black beauty is destabilized in the talk of ‘mixed race’ black women. A dark skin shade and natural afro hair become ambiguous signifiers as the women's talk leads to a mobility of black beauty. Their talk is thus an interception in which there can never be a definitive reading of black beauty while also pointing to the binaries of the black anti-racist aesthetics on which they draw. Thus, while women are rooted in racialized and racializing notions of beauty they expand the boundaries of the beautiful black woman's body. Black beauty as an undecidable resists binaries without ever constituting a third term and arises through the disidentification and shame of cultural melancholia.

Thompson, C. (2009). “Black Women and Identity: What’s Hair Got to do with It?” Michigan Feminist Review, 22, 78-90.

The article discusses the relevance of hair to the identity of African American women. It examines the issues of self-expression and identity facing these women through the medium of hairstyling by showing how hair plays an important role in determining one's status or social acceptability, and how it affects identity, physical, psychological and cultural well-being. The damaging effects of hair alteration are also discussed.

Buchman, R. (2001). “The Search for Good Hair Styling Black Womanhood in America.” The World & I, 16(2), 190-199.