Estética capilar negra : identidade e qualidade de vida

Abstract

When you think of black women, there is no way not to think about racial issues, there is no way not to talk about identity. Since the identity is not something a person is born with it, it is something built and it refers to a way of being in the world and with people. So then, how this construction of identity is conducted can infer directly in their health condition. This study aimed to analyze the conceptions of black women from social impositions against the black hair aesthetic that leads many women to the straightening of the hair and the deconstruction of his black identity, thus affecting, their self-image, self-esteem and consequently their quality of life. This is an exploratory, descriptive qualitative study. It was carried out with five students of the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT) / Campus of Sinop-MT. For this, a questionnaire was applied with seventeen guiding questions to assess the prospect of black women after leaving the chemical processes of smoothing and representativeness of this act in their quality of life. The method used to analyze the collected data was content analysis, which is characterized qualify the individual experiences as well as their perception and understanding of the theme. It was possible to identify the relevance of the abandonment of the straightening process and how this choice reflects on the self-image, quality of life and conception of himself as a black woman. In conclusion, not always the fact of opting for straightening hair is linked to a form of denial of their identity, however, the denial was present in 80% of the interviewees. And 100% of the surveyed had their quality of life impaired by the chemical process of smoothing. When is the abandonment of such practices as a result there is an improvement in quality of life. Thus, the study provided reflections on the construction of identity, diversity, culture and gained understanding of the importance of changing the black capillarity on the deconstruction of african identity and health risks.