Photographer Endia Beal captures Jessica sitting on a sofa. She is ready for the employer who may discriminate against her because of her black hairstyles or fashion sensibilities

BY KAZAD

Around 2015, Endia Beal started working on a series called “Am I What You’re Looking For?” The series interrogates how black women are discriminated against and perceived in the corporate space because of their hairstyles and fashion sensibilities. Her focus on black women hairstyles and fashion was inspired by the experience of her students.

As an associate professor of art at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, Beal was disillusioned by the experience of her students when they job hunting. Many of them complained about discrimination from employers who did not see them as professionals because of their hairstyles, looks, and fashion.

Winston-Salem State University is a historically black institution and many of Beal’s students are black women getting ready to graduate and join the workforce.  Beal recalls their experience in an interview with Photoculture thus:

“My students were coming to my office and talking about their experiences during job interviews. They weren’t visiting me to discuss academics. Many of them were seniors who were about to graduate, so they were in the process of applying for a job. One said, “You know, I went to this interview and the supervisor asked me, ‘How many children do you have and how old are they?’” Or, “The supervisor asked me, ‘Do you always wear your hair like that?’” Or, “I put all these resumes out and I hadn’t received any call backs because my name is Shakiya. When I changed my name, that’s when I received call backs for jobs.”

Working in a Corporate Space

Beal realized that the young women she was helping were going through the same experience she had while working in a corporate space. “It’s as if there is this need to alter ourselves in order to fit into spaces that were never designed for us in the first place,” she said. Beal could not overlook the contradictions and prejudice at play in the lives of her students: 

“But for my students, especially millennial women, there was a contradiction that was taking place. When do we stop giving in to this system that says that this is how I have to look in order to get this job? Wearing my hair in a ‘fro, or being named Shakiya, or any other thing that defines me as a person shouldn’t dictate whether I get a job or whether I do that job effectively.”

When do we stop giving in to this system that says that this is how I have to look in order to get this job? Wearing my hair in a ‘fro, or being named Shakiya, or any other thing that defines me as a person shouldn’t dictate whether I get a job or whether I do that job effectively.

The “Am I What You’re Looking For?” series was sparked by the frustrations and insecurities of her students. Beal embarked on this project with the hope of bringing attention to the plight of women of color in their search for jobs.

“Am I What You’re Looking For?”

For the project, Beal asked her subjects to dress as they would for job interviews. Then, she poses them in their childhood home in front of a backdrop depicting the Yale office space where she once worked. The setting bridges the relationship between the private and public lives of the women. The edges of the images show wedding photographs, heirlooms, musical instruments, table lamps, decorations, and sculptures, touching on the women’s background.

The beautiful black women in the photographs show their fashion sensibilities, including hairstyles and distinguishing mannerisms. Sitting and standing, they accentuate confidence, poise, and pride.  With their gazes, postures, and idiosyncrasies, the women seem to invite the viewer to play the role of the interview and judge if they qualify. The images force viewers to confront their own biases and presumptions–should we judge these women based on their hairstyles, fashion, or style?   Moreover, what is that decision based on?

Celebrities Black Hairstyles

The black hairstyle list worn by the women in the photographs depicts the amazing array of hairstyles available to women of color. Some of the hairstyles worn by the women include Dreadlocks, Bantu Knots, Afros, Braids, and Faux Locs. Other hairstyles include Twists, Finger Coils, and High Puff.  Several women are even captured wearing short black hairstyles.

Expectedly, these hairstyles are not synonymous with the black women in Beal’s pictures. Celebrities like Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Michelle Obama, Eva Marcille, Gabrielle Union, and Halle Berry often wear these styles. Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Serena Williams, Janet Jackson, Kerry Washington, Naomi Campbell, Taraji P. Henson, Jennifer Hudson, and Tracee Ellis Ross have donned these hairstyles.

Beal uses the images of the women in her work to question the idea of diversity and inclusion often postulated by corporations. While these corporations say they want more people of color and more women, Beal contends that all they want are a “certain type of person of color or a certain type of woman that fits a mold that they are looking for.”

Why should a black woman change her hairstyle to get an interview or a job in conservative industries?

A core question raised by this series is geared towards hiring officers. Why should black women change the way they look in order to fit the mold that they define as professional? Why should a black woman change her hairstyle to get an interview or a job in conservative industries? For many, the answers to these questions are racism and discrimination.

The Plight of Black Women

Employment discrimination against women of color because of race and looks is not particularly new. For many years women have been complaining about discrimination by employers who overlook them because of their hairstyle and fashion. Often, the complaints of these women fall on deaf ears. 

Discrimination By Hiring Officers

Are women of color discriminated against by employers because of their hairstyles and fashion consideration? The answer is yes. Many black women like Endia Beal and her students see the black woman hairstyle and fashion as major sources of employment discrimination in the corporate environment.  

Recent research conducted by researchers from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has finally confirmed what black women have known for years. It is official that black women with natural hairstyles, including afros, twists, or braids are seen as unprofessional. 

The Duke study included hundreds of participants of different races. Their job was to screen potential job candidates in the same way as recruiters do. They were tasked with giving applicants a score for competence, professionalism, and other factors. To make the process realistic, participants were presented with mocked-up Facebook and LinkedIn profiles of the applicants.

Black women with natural hairstyles are less professional, a view pervading industries where a more conservative appearance is common.

Suffice it to say that Black women with natural hair got lower scores for competence and professionalism in the research. Additionally, they were not recommended for interviews as often, compared with Black women with straightened hair, White women with straight hair, or White women with curly hair.  Therefore, the conclusion was that employers see black women with natural hairstyles are less professional, a view pervading industries where a more conservative appearance is common.

Black Natural Hairstyles

So, black women with black natural hairstyles now know the answer to why White women or Black women with straightened hair got interviews for a job, and they did not.  However, the question is what informed this idea of competence and professionalism in the corporate workspace?

Jacob Smith thinks it is racism. “Racism is a real thing. They think their [black women] personal expression is against what is considered proper and civil. Their notion of proper and civil is based on white standards,” she noted.

For Mae Tierny, the culture of employment discrimination against black women because of their hairstyle as a power play aimed at subjugating women of color. Long before Black Lives Matter came to the fore, Tierny contends that it did not matter how women wore their hair.

However, Tierny remembers a time when black women were being forced to change their hairstyles just to get a job.  “It’s a psychological act of aggression. If black women could dress and wear their hair and makeup as they wished, she might start thinking! She might want a degree! By keeping them in ‘white’ clothes it was a sign they were still subservient. They are still under control,” she explained.

A common view of why black women hairstyles or women with natural hair are discriminated against in the industry is rooted in the standard concept of beauty in many western societies that privilege White women and straightened hair over afros, twists, or braids. Through the years, this discriminatory concept of beauty has filtered into organizations, becoming the standard for perceived professionalism by recruiters and employers.

Employment Discrimination Laws

Several states are aware of job discriminating based on black women’s hairstyles and fashion and have passed employment discrimination laws discouraging them.  In California, New York, New Jersey, and Virginia, it is against the law to discriminate against natural Black hairstyles. The US Navy has also adapted a hairstyle policy to make it more inclusive. 

Endia Beal is one of those who have had the experience of how black women are treated in the corporate environment because of their looks and hairstyle, not just by employers but also by colleagues. Her understanding of how black women and their hairstyles are perceived in corporate spaces began when she was a grad student at Yale University getting her MFA in photography. Endia found a job at the high-paying IT Department of the school. She was the only African American woman in the department with mostly white men.

As the only African American woman in the white male-dominated IT department, Endia soon became the focus of their conversations. Her big cinnamon red hair afro was the subject of conversations around the office. In an interview with Photoculture, Endia recalls an interesting discussion with her  supervisor who was a white lady: “You know Endia, I was talking to Paul the other day, and he is so fascinated with your hair, I mean he just wants to know what it feels like.” 

African American Woman in the Corporate Space

Paul was one of the white men working in the IT office. Although Endia was able to catch the humor in the conversation with her supervisor, she was also very uncomfortable.  “Because I never really interacted with Paul, so there was a conversation happening about me, but I wasn’t included in the dialogue. I felt like there was this elephant in the room that people could see, but didn’t speak to directly,” she recalled. 

In response to the corporate culture of the environment she was working in, Endia switched the tables, engaging the men in an art project. She set two cameras in the office space and asked the men to touch her hair. “I want you to touch my hair,” she said.

No one objected to touching her hair.  About 17 men participated in the project. A week after the project idea ended, Endia asked the participants how they felt about touching her hair, and if they liked it.  While some of the men show shame, others regretted their actions. With her actions, Endia subverted racial and gendered power dynamics in her office space.

The art project interrogated racial and gender power relationships in the corporate environment.  Equally, it helps Endia articulate the concept behind many of her work, which is to deal “with discomfort— the idea of being uncomfortable in certain spaces and how to make yourself comfortable.” 

Shifting Power Dynamic

To make the corporate space comfortable for her to work in, Endia knew there must be a power shift. She puts it succinctly:

“Now in this kind of situation the power dynamic shifts. If you’re giving someone something that they really desire, especially in a space that is very public, it builds a sense of discomfort within them and they don’t like talking about it. For me, it was the idea of making the comfortable uncomfortable. As a woman of color in that space, I was uncomfortable every day, but I had to deal with it. What happens when you flip that dynamic? That kind of sparked the idea for the work.”

The result of that art project was the video “Office Scene.” In continuation of that project, Endia created another series called “Can I Touch it?. The series features portraits of white women in traditional black hairstyles.

For many years, Beal has been using her work to address the stories of marginalized communities and individuals particularly women of color. The North Carolina based artist interrogates the plight of women in corporate environments. She examines racial discrimination, stereotypes, and gender biases in the work environment, bringing attention to issues often swept under the carpet by corporate leaders under the guise of inclusion and diversity.

The recent research by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business affirms what Beal and colleagues have known for years. The brutal killing of George Floyd brings to the fore the racial inequality that has pervaded the American system for years. The hope is that others will join Endia Beal and others in articulating the consequences of racial and gender discrimination.

Read More:

• Black Women and Stereotypes: Three Photographers Views
• Famous African Photographer J.D. Okhai Ojeikere Gets Befitting Tribute
• Hairstyles, Tattoos, Body Markings, and Women’s Pride
• Beautiful Women: Pablo Picasso, Influences and Cruelty
• Violence Against Girls and Women Remembered at Venice Biennale

What do you think about the recent research that shows employers discriminate against black women because of their hairstyles? Share your thoughts. Leave a comment.