Interview #2

“I don’t think that this is something that just started being a problem. When I was younger, I used to watch the news with my grandma and all of the news anchors, both black and white, has straight hair, no curls.” This person has been in the business for about three years now, and she says she knows that straight hair is what news directors hire. But with the recent murders of black men by police officers, she says the Black Lives Matter movement is something that goes beyond the murders. “Black Lives Matter, Black Hair Matters, Black People Matter. It just sucks that we have to conform and give in every single time. We don’t have the option of wearing our natural curly hair or weave, our only option is to look as similar to our white female coworkers as possible.”

Interview #1

This person was allowed to wear her natural hair on television because her news director and her viewers liked the way it looked. “When I was first hired I received so many emails from viewers saying they love d how my hair looked and felt like I represented the natural black woman very well, especially in this small city.” She said she heard about black women adding weave and straightening their hair but she never felt the need to because her news director never mentioned it. “I figured that if he hired me with my hair this way, he didn’t mind. But I do get afraid when it comes to applying for my next job because black women in large markets never wear their own hair, it’s all weave.” She says she isn’t willing to conform and if she was offered a large job but had to change her look, she would not take it, “Obviously it’s easy to say when you’re not in the situation, but I don’t want people to focus on my hair, I want them to hear what I have to say.”

Let's Take a Look!

Every TV news station is different. Whether it’s by market, city, state, or even news philosophy, no two stations are the same. One thing that is also different about each news station is “the look” of on air talent. The look obviously differs between men and women, but it also subliminally differs between among women. For men, we usually see a nice haircut, well-groomed facial hair, and a suit and tie. Women on the other hand have a lot more variety. You see dresses, skirts, and sometimes even pants. But this Summer I was able to research natural hair on television. I look forward to sharing my findings with you all this semester!

FACES Modeling Troupe Elections

FACES Modeling Troupe is holding semester elections. The organization prides themselves on their image and is looking for leaders that are talented in makeup, fashion styling and modeling. Members of the organization take elections very seriously because they want to look good on the stage, so they want to choose people proficient in those areas.

Black Har on TV- Then and Now

Bring Your Own Bag

Finding the proper hairstyle for a professional setting also comes with finding the proper makeup to match. At the University of Florida on March 28th in Weil 238 at 6 P.M., Being A Girl will host an event featuring a makeup artist who will apply makeup to the face of a volunteer while others in attendance can bring their own makeup bags to follow along. The purpose is to show attendees how to apply the appropriate makeup for different settings.

Kim Williams shows us how she wears her natural hair to work and tells us why news anchors should embrace their natural hair.