Content area
Full Text
Abstract: This study consists of a cultural reading of the cover photograph of the June-July 1999 issue of Vibe magazine. It explores the relationship between Mase, an African-American male rap star, and the three anonymous African-American female models that surround him. The study interprets the cover through the long, straightened hair of the models, locating the models' hair in a historically-informed context of black hair theory and practice. The study argues that the models' presence on the cover, particularly their "bone straight and long" hair, "enhances" Mase in much the same way breast-augmented "trophy women" "enhance" their mates. Ultimately, the study encourages and validates a wide variety of black hair styles -- including straightening -- even as it urges the acceptance of black hair as a site where the demonstration of the struggle for black consciousness (however one exhibits that consciousness on his or her head) can be observed.
Keywords: African-American hair, hip hop culture, African American music, beauty
The Vibe issue arrived wrapped in cellophane, the warning screaming at me: "Your subscription is at...THE END; unless you send us your renewal instructions now!"
I tore the plastic away. As far as I'm concerned, my "instructions" are to let it end, and I probably should have ended it sooner. No doubt, reading Vibe is an excellent way to keep up with hip hop culture; I began my subscription with the first issue, volume one, number one. But I've got young kids in the house. I'd grown tired long ago of having to either hide or rip the cover off the magazine every month -- my children aren't ready for nearly naked Janet Jackson, Toni Braxton, and Lil' Kim covers, if they'll ever be. This last issue, though, pretty much did it for me. Now I'm truly through.
This June-July, 1999 issue has not one but three bikini-clad young women on the cover. And it isn't so much their visible skin that grabs my attention. It's their hair. In front of a teal background the rapper Mase, wearing a Ralph Lauren t-shirt and visible tattoos, stands in the right-middle of the cover gazing up at me. Strategically draped around him are three light-brown young African-American women, each with breast-length straight hair. Completing the image is a...