Tranças, identidades e rebeldias: como as políticas de embranquecimento afetam as mulheres negras e sua relação com o cabelo crespo

Abstract

The writing of this text synthesizes my questions regarding the forms of violence faced by Black women, aiming to present the marks left by whitening policies on the mentality of Black women through their relationship with curly hair after centuries of colonialism. The methodology was inspired by Conceição Evaristo's concept of "escrevivência," which echoes the reflections of the experiences of Black women authors who write from their own experiences, pains, memories, and problematizations. As a student, a young woman, and a Black woman, my writing aims to reflect on the listening and readings that affect me. For the development of the research, in addition to readings, I applied a semi-structured questionnaire to four Black women, to whom I assigned the name of a jewel to protect their identity, given the local context in which the research was conducted. The investigation brought to light the strength and relevance of prejudice on the bodies and hair of Black women, as whiteness policies impose a market-driven aesthetic that distances women from the market, social relations, and dreams. By braiding their hair, the women collaborators of the research resist with defiance against colonial aesthetics, the market, and assert their ways of facing the world: