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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Black female identities in Harare: the case of young women with dreadlocks
Authors:Chitando, EzraISNI
Chitando, AnnaISNI
Year:2004
Periodical:Zambezia (ISSN 0379-0622)
Volume:31
Issue:1-2
Pages:1-21
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:Zimbabwe
Southern Africa
Subjects:hairstyles
identity
black women
sociology
Women--Identity
Dreadlocks
Fashion
External link:https://ir.uz.ac.zw/jspui/bitstream/10646/509/1/01-Chitandos.pdf
Abstract:The construction of postcolonial African female identities has faced a number of challenges. Colonial ideologies and African patriarchal traditions threaten to stifle African women. African cities have become sites of struggle as black women strive to express themselves in spaces that are defined in masculine terms. This article examines the theme of black female identities in Harare, Zimbabwe. It focuses on how some young women have cultivated dreadlocks as a signifier of their consciousness and of their own identities. It outlines how for these women dreadlocks are more than just a fashion statement or a hairstyle. Dreadlocks seek to defy colonial images of blackness as inferior to whiteness. They also challenge dominant notions of being a 'presentable' woman. The article highlights reasons that have been put forward to resist the cultivation of dreadlocks by women. Using historical, literary and phenomenological approaches, the study highlights the complex factors that influence the formulation of black female identities in a cosmopolitan setting. Data were collected through formal and informal interviews in Harare between May 2003 and June 2004. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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