Is Natural Black Hair a Glamour 'Don't'?

By Yoji Cole

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October 17, 2007

For black female executives, the question of whether to straighten their hair or wear it curly is serious. A Glamour magazine staffer touched off a firestorm recently by calling natural black hair a "Glamour Don't."

People who are not black and are reading this might think, "I never knew hair could be so serious." But curly hair comes only second to black skin as an identifier of black racial heritage. A company that welcomes black senior female executives with natural hair sends the message that it is inclusive.

That issue of race and corporate culture exploded on the Internet recently after a Glamour magazine staffer made a presentation at the New York law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton (CGSH). The presentation forced apologies from Glamour's editor-in-chief and CGSH's managing partner.

Through the two organizations' statements, Internet reports and a story from the law-trade publication The American Lawyer, DiversityInc has learned the following:

In June, CGSH's Women's Working Group, which includes a few black-female lawyers, organized a lunch and invited an unnamed Glamour staffer to give a presentation on the do's and don'ts of corporate dress. The first slide in the presentation featured a black female executive wearing an Afro, to which the Glamour staffer is quoted in The American Lawyer as saying, "it was shocking that some people still think it appropriate to wear those hairstyles at the office. No offense ... but those political hairstyles really have to go."

According to Glamour, the staffer said Afros were "a Glamour Don't."

CGSH's managing partner, Mark A. Walker, heard about the presentation from some of the attendees and soon after e-mailed a memo to all employees in the firm's New York office.

"The guest speaker at the Women's Working Group lunch [on June 12] made statements about hairstyle and personal presentation that were racially insensitive, inappropriate and wrong," wrote Walker. "The firm rejects the idea that appearance or personal style is indicative of an individual's qualities or talents as a person or lawyer. Her statements are contrary to the beliefs of the firm ... We deeply apologize to everyone for this unfortunate incident."

Glamour was flooded with e-mails from readers, to which Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive personally responded. In a "letter from the editor" featured on Glamour's web site, Leive said the staffer described Afros as "a Glamour Don't." She also reported that Glamour plans a roundtable in an upcoming issue where women will discuss beauty and race in relation to the incident.

Leive, in her letter, states the staffer did not inform her supervisors of her plans to conduct the presentation. Leive and "the rest of Glamour management first found out about this incident two months later, when reports of the presentation were published in The American Lawyer."

"I was appalled at the remark," wrote Leive. "Glamour is a magazine with 12 million readers who count on seeing themselves—women of all races, all types, all lifestyles—represented and supported in our pages."

Glamour's November issue features the platinum-selling recording artist Mariah Carey, who is multiracial, on the cover. Women of color are sprinkled throughout the issue and represented as professionals both in its editorial content, such as reader responses or health advice and its advertisements. Its editorial titled "Get Hair This Good!" features black actress Kerry Washington, whose hair is shoulder length and curly, but it does not feature a section on hair designs for Afros.

"To be clear," wrote Leive, "Glamour did not, does not, and would never endorse the comments made; we are a magazine that believes in the beauty of all women. This incident was treated very seriously by Glamour management, and the staffer has since resigned. We've extended a full apology to the law firm she addressed, and I extend the same apology to all of you."

The apologies are commendable. But still, the incident reveals the subtle but pervasive prejudice women executives of color and black-women executives in particular face daily. It's that subtle racism that forces black-female executives to straighten their hair—hoping that straight hair will soften objections to their racial heritage.

(See also: To Perm or Not to Perm?)

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