Gender diversity and disparity in hair straightening among women and men in France and Cameroon

Abstract

This article provides a critical analysis of the practice of hair straightening among women and men in Cameroon and France. The field survey, carried out between 2011 and 2014 in both countries, which included a sample of one hundred women and men, demonstrates, on the one hand, a sex balance in this practice; on the other hand, it shows some differences based on sex in its processing and appraisal. Finally, the results reveal some inequality detrimental to women and confirm the theory of opposites that confront, for example, male and female body hair (Synnott, 1987). The weight of the “frizzy hair” stigma bears more heavily on women than on men just because of gender differences.

Keywords :
hair straightening; identity; opposition; body hair; ritual