A Scoping Review of Black American Beauty Studies From 1995 to 2022

Rationale

Scholars have studied the importance of hair within the African diaspora, from barbershops and hair salons (Boehme et al., 2022) to individual and communal relationships to hair. Various systematic and scoping reviews focusing on Black Americans or beauty exist. However, there has not been a review that highlights these perspectives together.

When conducting a literature review on Black American beauty standards, it is clear that hair is a primary beauty concern for Black women. Despite this, the range and perspectives from which hair has been studied could be more evident. Beauty is more than hair; skin tone, skincare, body image, and cosmetics are also relevant in Black American women’s relationship to beauty ideals. The studies included in this paper present findings which support an intracultural beauty standard while accounting for differences in skin tone, hair texture, and body size for Black Americans. Empirical studies on Black American beauty are identified according to their field, along with an overview of the factors influencing beauty standards, hair, and body image for Black American women. In addition to providing a starting point for future research, this scoping review advances the notion of alternative beauty standards in opposition to the global prevalence of Eurocentric ideals.

Objectives

A scoping review of Black beauty standards was conducted to assess existing research and identify research gaps. The review aimed to identify the dominant perspective of studies on Black American beauty standards and categorize publications by topic. The following questions were used to direct the scoping review: (a) What are the beauty standards and routines of Black American women in the United States? (b) From what perspective are most studies of Black American women’s beauty standards and routines derived? and (c) What are the significant findings regarding Black American women’s relationship with and use of haircare, skincare, cosmetics, and body care products?

Protocol and Registration

The directives for conducting the scoping review were created according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) and finalized on February 17, 2022. The protocol was registered on June 22, 2022 (https://osf.io/8reyv) with the digital object identifier 10.17605/OSF.IO/8REYV, and includes inclusion and exclusion criteria, definitions, review questions, and the search strategy.

Eligibility Criteria

Studies that relied on the authors’ analysis of literature or media were excluded to ensure that findings reflect the lived experience of Black American girls and women. Analyses of historical events, literature, or media were excluded in favor of peer-reviewed studies conducted with participants who identified as Black girls or women. Studies that compared Black women to other ethnic groups or genders were also excluded to narrow the sample further and ensure that synthesized results reflected lived experiences of one group but not in comparison to others. Studies conducted by marketing firms or media outlets were also excluded. All publications included in the review were published in English and aligned with the criteria specified for sample characteristics, focus area, methodology, and significant findings.

Information Sources

To ensure a broad range of retrieval, six electronic databases of scholarly journal articles were searched: Black Studies Center (1900–present), Business Source Complete (1922–present), Scopus (1788–present), Sociology Source Ultimate (1908–present), Web of Science/Social Sciences Citation Index (1956–present), and Women’s Studies International (1972–present). In addition, one source of grey literature, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (1997–present), was searched.

Search

Each source was investigated for optimal search strategy and the search was translated into the most appropriate terminology for that source. There were no set filters, limiters, or date restrictions used during each search. The search strategy used keywords and subject headings to elicit articles that covered the population and topic identified in the research questions. One example of a search strategy, for Web of Science/Social Science Citation Index, is included in Table 1.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Table 1.

Search Strategy for Web of Science/Social Science Citation Index.

Search terms
TS= (black OR African American)
TS= (woman OR women OR girl OR girls OR female)
TS= (beaut*)
TS= (hair OR body OR skin OR hairstyle OR makeup OR cosmetics OR skincare)

Selection of Sources of Evidence

Full text versions of the articles were obtained, reviewed, and confirmed as appropriate by the authors. The process of including and excluding studies is shown in Figure 1. Upon completion of all searches, 300 records were retrieved and uploaded into Covidence, a review screening and data extraction tool, for review. After deduplication, a total of 290 unique records remained. Guided by the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 39 studies were identified as relevant to the research topic. Searches of all databases were performed on February 24, 2022, and the most recent search was conducted in March of 2022.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 1.

Process of identifying studies to include in Scoping Review.

Data Items

Covidence was used to extract data from the selected publications into a spreadsheet with detailed information about sample descriptors, the number of participants, and the location where the study was completed. The descriptors allowed the comparison of samples based on age, education level, and location. Recruitment methods were also noted to identify similarities in how authors recruited Black women and girls for studies around beauty. Each study’s purpose and findings were identified to synthesize the information according to the review questions.

Once the extracted information was organized in a spreadsheet, each category was analyzed individually to compare publications within the selected group. To identify the perspective of publications on Black American beauty, each study was categorized by journal. Each journal was ranked based on the discipline(s) mentioned in the journal’s scope and aims. Only two studies were published in the same journal, Body Image. Others were published as dissertations or in journals for the psychology, women’s studies, ethnic or cultural studies, and medicine fields.

Study Designs

Qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied at a similar rate, but surveys were typical. Thirty-nine (39) percent of the studies used a survey, 32% used interviews, and 11% used focus groups. Interviews were the most common type of study design and were also combined with focus groups (n = 3), observation (n = 1), and a survey (n = 1). Additional study designs included one experiment which compared photographs of body types (Makkar & Strube, 1995) and one narrative study which used autobiographies written by participants (Wilson et al., 2018).

Study Samples

Study Purpose and Objectives

Relationship to Eurocentric Beauty Standards

Hair is a significant aspect of Black American beauty; individual perceptions of hair are based on social, personal, and cultural beliefs. Some cultural hair styles and care practices are risk factors for scalp and hair disorders in Black girls (Rucker Wright et al., 2011). Styles such as cornrows or styles that pull chemically straightened or relaxed hair back are considered risk factors for traction alopecia, where prolonged tension at the hair root leads to hair loss (Rucker Wright et al., 2011). Hair extensions and neglecting hair oil application to the scalp are also risk factors for seborrheic dermatitis, a skin condition that results in an itchy, scaly rash on the scalp (Rucker Wright et al., 2011).

Beauty standards are powerful constructions to socialize and condition appearance management behavior (Mitchell Dove, 2021). For Black women especially, deciding to wear hair in its natural state can be a critical element of forming their identity in relation to the collective group (Garrin, 2016). One study found that Black women who wear their hair naturally are less concerned with others’ perceptions and less likely to compare their beauty to Eurocentric standards (Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016). In some cases, natural hairstyles are also used as a form of resistance, where Black women reject European beauty standards in an “act of self-definition and liberation” (White, 2005, p. 296), which leads to a greater appreciation for their beauty (Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016).

Black women tend to support broad definitions of beauty, where internal characteristics such as personality, confidence, and compassion are considered more important than physical attributes (Kelch-Oliver & Ancis, 2011; Watson et al., 2013). The internalization of beauty standards is individual, making the context wherein Black women ascribe and relate to beauty standards important. For the individual, understanding societal and institutional expectations around beauty helps Black women manage their appearance in ways that are appropriate for personal and professional spaces (Gardner, 2008). Thus, the need to modify their beauty to be considered suitable by others for multiple social, personal, and professional situations means that negotiating personal perceptions of beauty in connection or contrast to dominant beauty standards is a lifelong process for Black women (Cook, 2006).

The rejection of Eurocentric beauty standards is identified in the review literature as early as 1995, when women who strongly identified with a Black racial identity were more likely to reject a White standard of beauty (Makkar & Strube, 1995). However, later studies reveal that this rejection is inconsistent across age or skin color. In multiple studies, Black girls were identified as more accepting of mainstream beauty standards than older women (Lipford Sanders, 1996; Robinson-Moore, 2005). In 1996, Black girls embraced facial beauty that reflected Eurocentric standards resulting in a conflict between how they viewed themselves and their idealized image that reflected society’s standards (Lipford Sanders, 1996). Moreover, girls who accepted a Black standard of beauty were less likely to engage in substance use and abuse (Wallace et al., 2011). Despite Black women’s rejection of mainstream beauty standards, Eurocentric ideals of beauty still permeate everyday life in the U.S. through print and digital media. In the natural hair vlogging industry, for example, Black natural hair vloggers experience discrimination based on the influence of White beauty standards and perceptions of “good” hair (Hilton, 2020). Dealing with discrimination from others and their peers in a digital setting shows that the reach of Eurocentric beauty ideals persists in affecting Black women’s experiences and success through social media.

Though not foolproof, racial identity has been shown to predict attitudes toward body image (Bessellieu, 1997; Hargrove, 1999). While some Black women do not consider a thin body type attractive (Lloyd, 1996), Eurocentric standards can still impact how they perceive their body types. Black women affected by these dominant ideals of beauty can view their race negatively, leading to dissatisfaction with their body image. As a result, women who internalize these standards are more likely to experience body shame, appearance anxiety, and disordered eating behaviors (Watson et al., 2013).

While Black American beauty standards embrace natural hair and a full range of skin tones, the relationship between perceptions of beauty and body image is delicate. Body shape and size, hair texture, skin tone, and facial features are frequently targeted in attempts to discriminate against Black women (Bruner, 2007). Nevertheless, having the ideal hair texture or skin tone does not automatically equate to high self-esteem or body satisfaction. Women who grew up with both of their biological parents were also exposed to their exercise and eating habits. If those habits included a poor relationship with food or a lack of regular exercise, then women also adopted those habits in adulthood, which led to increased dissatisfaction with their bodies. In the case of European-American caregivers, Britton (2001) suggested that these women sought to align themselves with their caregivers by ascribing to a Eurocentric standard of beauty. While studies have demonstrated that disordered eating behavior has a low prevalence among Black American women compared to White women, that does not mean that Black women are fully satisfied with their looks. Instead, like others, Black women are more satisfied with specific aspects of their appearance and bodies, such as their height and calves, than their weight and stomachs (Lloyd, 1996).

Within the Black community, intracultural beauty standards measure skin color and hair texture on a spectrum (Walker Gautier, 2021). These hierarchies negatively impact Black females with darker skin tones while creating identity confusion for females with lighter skin tones (Robinson-Moore, 2008). Because of these internal beauty hierarchies, one study reported that Black women did not see a difference between how the Black community and the dominant culture viewed their beauty (Bruner, 2007). Nevertheless, as Black women age, they report higher self-esteem and overall comfort with their physical appearance (Selzer, 2006; Tucker, 2000). As other studies have found, age and self-acceptance are the best tools to resist the effect of Eurocentric beauty standards (Robinson-Moore, 2005).

Community Influence

Beauty standards are a communal endeavor, meaning that external interpretations of beauty influence one’s self-assessment of beauty. For Black women, male and female peers, family, institutions, mass media, and employers communicate beauty expectations (Cook, 2006; Kelch-Oliver & Ancis, 2011; Mitchell Dove, 2021; Robinson-Moore, 2005; Selzer, 2006; Tucker, 2000). While most of these messages reflect Eurocentric standards and tend to devalue coarse hair texture and darker skin tones (Tucker, 2000), the culture in which women were raised can provide a positive alternative for how they perceive their beauty (Bruner, 2007).

From childhood, Black women receive messages about beauty standards and how to measure themselves against them. Some of these messages are received from maternal figures such as mothers or grandmothers, who are pivotal participants in race and gender socialization. Mothers can play an educational role by teaching their daughters about different hair textures or providing alternative beauty representation by assisting with doll choices (Wilson et al., 2018). In comparison, grandmothers perform a family bonding ritual by styling their granddaughter’s hair. These moments are recalled as positive, characterized by affirmation and positive touch, or negative, with participants recalling disapproval, criticism, and aggressive styling practices (Mbilishaka et al., 2020). Positive beauty experiences are crucial to Black girls who may internalize traumatic experiences with hair stylists and salons. Though most Black women report experiencing more discrimination or differential treatment during adulthood (Bruner, 2007), low body satisfaction and self-esteem were more likely to occur during childhood and adolescence for Black girls (Tucker, 2000). To combat this, affirmative identification with their racial group can reduce the effect of body image problems and disordered eating behaviors for women and girls (Watson et al., 2013).

Evaluations of hair that label Black hair texture as “good” or “bad” are communicated to adult females by males and peers (Robinson, 2011). These valuations are detrimental to the self-esteem of Black females because they elevate White beauty standards in the form of “good” hair and devalue Black hair textures as “bad” hair (Robinson, 2011). Interacting with other Black women is critical to sharing hair and beauty knowledge. For example, when Black women discuss their shared beauty experiences, African American Women’s Language (AAWL) is an essential linguistic tool used to articulate these experiences conversationally. When discussing critiques and moments where others policed their hair, tactics within AAWL such as “call and response” and “semantic inversion” allowed for bonding over shared beauty experiences (Rowe, 2019). Call and response is the “spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the speaker’s statements (‘calls’) are punctuated by expressions (‘responses’)” (Smitherman, 1977, as cited in Rowe, 2019, p. 53). Semantic inversion entails “reframing and flipping a word within mainstream discourse to mean something new and different—usually in opposition to its original meaning” (Rowe, 2019, p. 57). Rhetorical techniques such as “call and response” and “semantic inversion” are familiar forms of communication within the Black community. Their use in discussing beauty is expected but also necessary to share knowledge and form a supportive community around beauty. In instances where Black women do not have access to supportive friends or family, social networking sites can provide community and knowledge, especially regarding the transition to wearing their hair naturally (Ellington, 2015).

Intersectional Approaches

The use of intersectionality, a framework that highlights how Black women’s experiences are unique due to their race and gender (Crenshaw, 1991), demonstrates that power differentials exist within the beauty industry. As hair salon owners and entrepreneurs, Black women’s professional experiences are influenced by race, gender, and class. While class may influence their management and relationship with their stylists, race and gender also contribute to their experiences of ghettoization in beauty entrepreneurship (Harvey, 2005). In this context, ghettoization refers to the lack of resources and capital available to Black women interested in starting hair salons. Owning a hair salon makes sense to Black women financially, given the importance of hair in the Black community. Yet, negative connotations around Black hairstyles and identity also affect how Black entrepreneurship is evaluated (Harvey, 2005).

Examining beauty standards and experiences through an intersectional lens shows that Black women may modify their hair for exercise or avoid it altogether due to hair-related issues (Hall et al., 2013). Even in virtual environments where Black women would be considered the majority participants, such as the natural hair vlogging industry, they still experience discrimination and bias specific to their identity (Hilton, 2020). The same sentiment is also found in beauty retail spaces, where millennial Black women revealed that they experience similar discrimination and a lack of representation in places where they buy beauty products (Reed, 2021).

Despite an intracultural beauty standard, Black women remain susceptible to online media messaging. Social media may provide communication avenues to spread natural hair knowledge (Ellington, 2015), but it also allows women to compare themselves to others, creating a negative self-perception (Chambers, 2021). Generally, women who accept the conventional U.S. beauty standard have more advantages. However, for Black women, ascribing to mainstream beauty standards can diminish their sexual well-being. As a result, they report higher levels of guilt and shame around sex, body insecurity and emotional distancing during sex, and also feel less likely to experience pleasurable sex (Avery et al., 2021). Despite these associations, acceptance of the conventional beauty standard did not relate to sexual satisfaction. Therefore, more research is needed to determine whether a culturally specific predictor for Black women’s sexual satisfaction exists.

Applying an intersectional approach to research about Black women reveals that girls and women experience racialized and gendered microaggressions in divergent ways. Racial socialization is more gender-specific than previous studies or instruments indicated (Lipford Sanders, 1996), meaning that Black males and females learn to perform their race differently. In the case of Black girls, objectification and beauty standards comprise one of the three types of microaggressions that girls experience (Gadson & Lewis, 2022). Within this category, devaluation of Black hair, exoticism, and expectations of appropriate esthetics fuel beauty-related microaggressions. For Black women, these gendered and racialized microaggressions are sexually objectifying, resulting in stress and a negative relationship to body appreciation (Dunn et al., 2019). Similar to Black girls, adults also receive negative messages about hair and skin tone in everyday conversations (Davis Tribble et al., 2019).

Considering gender and race together means identifying issues that affect Black women uniquely and solutions that solve their problems directly. Most women who take self-defense training feel empowered by their increased strength. In the case of Black women, perceptions of strength are closely connected to their body image and beauty standards due to stereotypes such as the “strong Black woman” or the “jezebel” (Speidel, 2014). Speidel’s (2014) study found that while self-defense training may increase women’s feelings of empowerment, it raises different concerns around body image, perceptions of strength, and feelings of vulnerability to violence for Black women.