Don T Touch My Hair

Back in September 2016 when Solange released A Seat at The Table the world was still recovering from the Lemonade her sister released months prior. Now with two unapologetically pro black albums on the market how does one not feel uplifted. Both albums speak on the things that black people go through but in different tones. They are both great in their own right but one song stood out to me the most, which is Solange’s Don’t Touch My Hair. In this essay in going to analyze the semiotics of the song by finding the message behind the message and by analyzing the representation of black culture in the song.
As a black girl who went through the natural hair journey - coined for the transition of wearing Eurocentric hair styles that required straightening
or chemically altering their natural coils and curls to embracing and becoming more knowledgeable about their natural hair - this song hit home for me. Once I decide to go natural back in 2012 and getting all the chemicals out in 2014, I found a whole new love for myself and my hair. When you go through a hair journey it like the equivalent of self-exploration. Black girls have been altering their hair to fit what society says their hair should look, whether it’s a weave, a relaxer, braids, twist, etc. The hair is just as important as the clothes that someone is wearing. It’s the first thing you see when you see the person. Don’t Touch My Hair is an empowering song allowing you to hear the journey of ones’ discovery to loving their hair and their self. Throughout the song Solange describes her hair in numerous ways. She describes it as her soul, her feelings, her pride, her crown, etc. but is it only about the actually hair or is there an alternative meaning to the song.
Let’s start with the surface of the song, the actual Don’t Touch My Hair. Have you ever had someone come up to you and say “can I touch it?’ with their hands near your head? No, well I’ve heard this question more times than I can count. I usually get asked this question by white people. When I hear the question I’m dumbfounded and I feel insulted. This is because when asking a black girl can you touch her hair you are implying that she’s a spectacle, an object, some sort of entertainment. Because the hair is an extension of the body, when you ask this question or you deliberately touch her hair without asking, you deny her power over her body. She is not an animal at the petting zoo. This can be seen as a form of racism.
The hair is a symbol of expression.
Solange explains it best with the lyrics “Don’t Touch My Hair | When it's the feelings I wear | Don't touch my crown | They say the vision I've found | Don't touch what's there | When it's the feelings I wear.” Hair is styled to go with an outfit, mood, or event. Sometimes your hair is just an expression of the times just like the afros of the 60s or the hip hop styles of the 80s and 90s. For black girls the hair is an extension of their pride and owning who they are whether its their natural hair or a weave. Solange depicts hair as a crown which means my hair is not up for discussion. I don’t want to hear your thoughts on it. In the black community hair is more than its physical state. It’s a way to connect with their culture, and a way to express their individual
identity.
Solange’s lyrics goes on to state “They don't understand | What it means to me | Where we chose to go | Where we've been to know.” The lyrics implicitly state that the white man doesn’t understand first what it’s like to be black therefore they cannot understand black hair.
Black hair has a long history of enslavement and controls, which frequently didn't apply to their white peers’ hair which was viewed as neat and professional. In present circumstances, black girls get themselves oppressed in the working environment because of their natural hair. Therefore, not just has black hair verifiably been a subject of strife, yet can also decide a women’s future professional
prospects.
The song ends with the repetition of the question “what you say to me?” the lyrics are saying how dare you ask to basically pet me. This is disobedience coded into music. The scrutinizing and dismissal of European standards of beauty, and in addition the individuals who feel they have the privilege to scrutinize the bodies and individual decisions of others. This line basically stating how dare a white person tell a black person how they should wear their hair and how they should feel about it.
The finale meaning that I got from the song that it doesn’t say is that hair is just the beginning to not conform to what society says. Everyday society tells all that aren’t white that they should be more white. Well with this song Solange is reject all of that. It’s a limit to the things that she’s willing to change or conform to but her hair isn’t one of them.