One of the changes that having a black president has brought to the world is that the New York Times is now running articles about African-American hair.
I didn't click the link, but supposedly conservative bloggers were upset that Malia wore her hair in twists in Rome? Five Words: Mind Your Own Damn Business!
It occurred to me as I was reading the article, that I've been assuming since before Obama won that the paparazzi and fashion media would keep a fairly high interest in the shifts that Malia and Sasha's hair goes through. I've been assuming they would be charitable, respecting the fact that they are kids, teenage girls, that species so fragile and vulnerable to nasty comments about their appearance. I've even been assuming that lots of people who were previously unaware of the many options and issues with A-A hair would learn about them through these next 8 years.
But then the article mentioned that Michelle relaxes her hair, which is how she achieves her signature bob. And I realized then that she is even more trapped than the girls. If she were to stop relaxing (straightening) her hair, it would be a very different deal than the girls hair.
We expect girls to go through all sorts of crazy phases with their hair. And quite frankly, black girls have a lot of fun options. (I've always been a little jealous of that, myself.)
But grown-ups? The First Lady? There is an expectation of 'dignity' that is probably going to eliminate corn-rows and even twists. If she went 'natural' there would be a major uproar and things would get ugly, fast.
Which is completely obnoxious. What woman keeps the same exact hairstyle for 8 years? (I'm being optimistic, yes.) Right now, Michelle has the bob, or she has the up-do. Not a lot of choice. And then she has a lot of theoretical choices that are, in fact, off limits. If I were her, that would make me really mad.
To get back to the dignity thing, it reminds me of the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings. There were all these men, trying to explain what they didn't approve of about her, and they ended up saying lots of truly disrespectful things.
We hear about the 'dignity of the office', but during those hearings, it became apparent that lots of folks - okay, lots of white men - don't actually respect the dignity of the office unless the officer is a white man. The office itself is meaningless to them.
This reminds me of my first preaching experience in class in seminary, when a middle-aged man said that I wasn't preaching with authority. By the end of the conversation, it became apparent that what he really meant was, "You sound like a soprano, and I can't hear authority at that pitch."
The color line and the gender line have similar effects. Yet I can't pretend to understand all the struggles of African-American hair.
But I do recognize prejudice when I see it. What does it say about our country when, despite the fact that we've elected a black president, his wife isn't truly free to make her own choices about her hair?
I give thanks for Malia and Sasha and the teaching moments about black hair that their growing up will provide White Americans. But even more so, I ask God to bless Michelle with patience and grace, so that her fancy, White cage doesn't make her bitter.
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