Hair and Culture

  Throughout the entirety of the novel, Janie's hair is a noteworthy symbol. It is symbolic to her nature, and the overall theme of culture clash. "What that ole forty year old 'oman  doin' wid her hair swingin' down her back lak some young gal?" (Hurtson 2) says women who gossip about Janie in the first scene of the novel. Immediately Janie's hair portrays her nonconformity some people choose to pick on. Her hair reflects her liberal attitude and free-spirited personality, especially after she burns her head-rags after Jody Stark's death. Once again, she can let her hair down.
    On a larger scale, her straight hair signifies white people features, and how they are valued more in society.  Mrs. Turner, who admires Janie's straight hair also has an admiration for her own white features. "Look at me!" she says. "Ah ain’t got no flat nose and liver lips. Ah’m uh featured woman," (Hurtson 142). She takes pride in being a separate entity from the black community, and therefore believes she deserves a higher social status. Tea Cake, on the other hand, doesn't like the woman for this reason. "He claimed that she had been shaped up by a cow kicking her from behind. She was an ironing board with things throwed at it," Tea Cake describes abhorrently (Hurtson 139-140). Hair and other physical features overall help to characterize people and recurring themes in the novel, especially the idea of black versus white. It also shows how beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, and how society unfortunately beautifies one race's features while degrading another.
  Like Mrs. Turner,  people still often associate features with race and culture.  Controversy occurs when a person  attempts to mimic a cultural or racial trend or attribute not of their own in a distasteful, disrespectful and offensive way. The following link is a blog explaining this concept of cultural appropriation, and how associating appearance with race is eminent in our society.

The Fine Line Between Cultural Appropriation and Cultural Diffusion