Under The Dryer (a project prepared for my Media Mavericks class) is an exploration into media perceptions of beauty and African-American hair. A variety of young, black females talk about their experiences revolving around their hair in juxtaposition to images that depict common and accepted ideas of beauty; This sharp contrast simultaneously shows parallels between the “ideal type” of Westernized beauty to African-American culture, even within an exclusionary social system. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVGjgnLLZkE
This series of positions on the meaning of straight hair in our culture is moving and thought-provoking. The photos from magazine advertising support the argument of the voice over by illustrating the artificiality of this kind of ironed and folded look. I was wondering if the political position of the film might have been problematized a bit more, allowing for a more ambiguous and ultimately complex reading and critique of the images. I am trying to figure out what the relationship is to the the word INQUILINE and am hypothesizing that these temporary visitors on the earth are being forced somehow to adapt to the expectations of the owner society in which they find themselves.