She Wears It How? Perceived Racism and Colorism Relate to Hair Texture Dissatisfaction in Black Women

Black women in America are affected by racism and colorism—social influences which can impact their unique body-image features such as hair texture dissatisfaction and their use of hazardous chemical hair relaxants. A Qualtrics survey of Black women who had used hair relaxants (N = 316), conducted via Prolific, explored the relationship between perceived racism and colorism and hair texture dissatisfaction, assessed using the Hair Texture Dissatisfaction Scale (HTDSS) and a newly developed Hair Texture Ideal and Discrepancy (HTD) scale. Racism was associated with both measures of hair dissatisfaction (HTD: r = .12, p = .03; HTDSS: r = .13, p = .04), but not hair relaxant use (r = .03). Similarly, colorism was also associated with both measures of hair dissatisfaction (HTD: r = .14, p = .02; HTDSS: r = .19, p = .01), but not hair relaxant use (r = .09). A straighter ideal hair texture was most related to hair dissatisfaction (HTDSS: r = –.49) and frequency of hazardous hair relaxant use (r = –.19, p < .001). Social identity theory (SIT) helps to explain how the prejudicial social forces of racism and colorism can be internalized for Black women and expressed in body image dissatisfaction vis-à-vis White beauty ideals. These findings suggest that hair texture dissatisfaction warrants further research as hair texture dissatisfaction relates to Black women’s body image.