Black hairstyles are increasingly celebrated in public culture. We see locs, braids and afros on red carpets and magazine covers, yet schools and workplaces still have rules on what styles are acceptable for black people to wear. Why is it that natural hairstyles like locs and braids are celebrated on celebrities, but policed everywhere else?
From Zendaya’s faux locs in at the 2014 Oscars, to Lupita Nyong’o’s afro updo look at the 2019 Met Gala, black celebrities have been embracing their natural hair in stylistic ways, and this has felt particularly powerful. Styles once labelled as “uncontrolled” or “unprofessional” are now unique and empowering. But while black hair is being celebrated on the red carpet, it’s being scrutinised in the classroom and at work.
The 2023 CROWN Workplace Research Study found that black women’s hair is 2.5 times more likely to be deemed unprofessional than white women’s. Around 41% of black women change their hair from natural to straight for job interviews, and more than 1 in 5 have been sent home from work because of their hair. These examples of discrimination highlight the difficulties black people still face now, despite such a push for hair empowerment in public facing settings.
This same logic of conformity is also applied earlier in life as schoolchildren face severe hair discrimination. While schools regulate appearance more broadly, black students are disproportionately targeted. They are more likely to be suspended for dress code or hair violations than any other racial group, despite no evidence that such policies improve behaviour.
In August of 2024, Texas high school student Darryl George filed a lawsuit against his school after being repeatedly suspended for not cutting his locs to comply with school policy. He missed most of his classes in Junior year as he was kept in suspension in school, and ultimately lost the majority of his claims in court. This case highlights the ongoing battle black students face from simply existing in public spaces with their natural hair. Although schools and workplaces frame these rules as an institutional enforcement of neutrality, what they actually demand is forced conformity to a dominant eurocentric aesthetic. So, while framed as neutral, these rules act as an institutionalised requirement to assimilate.
So, why is black hair okay on the red carpet? Well, to start off, celebrities are meant to stand out. Unique hairstyles are seen as edgy and a statement. The fashion industry profits off new and distinctive aesthetics, so stylists carefully curate black hair looks to be creative and trendsetting. In schools and workplaces however, conformity is prioritised. These same styles are seen as unprofessional, noncompliant and distracting. This language shifts responsibility onto black individuals rather than questioning the eurocentric beauty standards that have defined these styles are distracting. So, celebrity spaces reward distinctiveness while institutions punish it.
Another tension lies in the definition of “professionalism”. Professional appearance standards are historically built around eurocentric beauty standards. So when schools and offices say professional, they really assume straight hair or minimal volume, which aligns with European hair textures rather than African or Caribbean. Because of this, black hairstyles can be seen as deviating from the standard, when in fact they are still clean and maintained, but that presentation of clean and maintained is different. In contexts like the red carpet, this is far less relevant as celebrity looks aren’t required to be neat or professional, so these eurocentric “professional” standards aren’t required to be upheld in this setting.
It is also worth mentioning the double standard that exists here in terms of the aesthetic of wearing black hairstyles as opposed to wearing them day to day. It seems that wearing locs and afros in a stylistic way is far more acceptable than in everyday settings. Black hair seems to only be celebrated in a tokenistic way, if it’s a trend or a fashion statement, but when these styles are seen in everyday life it’s not acceptable. So, for celebrities they are worn for stylistic purposes and cultural impact, whereas for students or people in the workplace black hairstyles are personal traits and judged against workplace norms, not fashion or stylistic norms.
So what is being done about this racial discrimination? The CROWN act, first passed in California in 2019, now prohibits race based hair discrimination in over 25 states, and has worked at reducing discrimination on the basis of hair. While this is progress, the law isn’t nationwide, so protection is still uneven.
The question is no longer whether black hair is beautiful or fashionable – the red carpet has answered that. The question now is why black hair is still treated as unacceptable everywhere else.
