FIXING THE STANDARD: THE BLACK WOMEN'S RECLAMATION OF POWER
By
Shewonda Leger

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing – Master of Arts
2015

	
  
ABSTRACT
FIXING THE STANDARD: THE BLACK WOMEN'S RECLAMATION OF POWER
By
Shewonda Leger
Black women push away from Eurocentric barriers that construct how their hair
should be styled and maintained, while aiming to understand and redefine beauty in their
own lives. The women in this documentary risk not fitting into the norm of beauty
standards by revealing their own definitions of beauty. “Fixing The Standard: The Black
Women's Reclamation Of Power,” is a collaboration of stories of failure and success—of
how these women take risks and learn from their experiences of defining and embodying
their own standards of beauty. “Fixing The Standard: The Black Women's Reclamation
Of Power,” takes viewers on a journey that shows how these women have chosen to take
ownership of their hair and their bodies, to embrace their own ideals of beauty as
expressed through their natural black hairstyles, and to reclaim the power of their
identities and cultures. Black women have been fixing their appearances for decades to
comply with Eurocentric standards. Today these women say, no, and defy hegemonic
views of hair to fully express identity, culture and, most importantly, love of their natural
black hair.

	
  
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The full documentary and supplemental documents may be accessed at:
http://slege001.wix.com/my-hair-is
REFERENCES

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REFERENCES

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