CSUF professor examines the history and evolution of Black beauty
Kristin Denise Rowe’s decision to join the contemporary natural hair movement in the early 2000s has allowed her to bring a unique and important voice to the conversation around Black beauty.
An assistant professor in Cal State Fullerton’s Department of American Studies, Rowe teaches courses such as “Women, Race and Ethnicity in American Culture” and “The Body in American Culture,” where she and her students examine the intersection between beauty, pop culture, race and gender politics.
Rowe’s passion for research and her many published works in this area resulted in an invitation to contribute to the 2022 Comcast Xfinity docuseries, titled “The Black Beauty Effect,” a three-part series that focuses on the history, evolution and contribution of Black people in beauty and culture.
As an English major undergraduate student, Rowe was drawn to storytelling, film and pop culture. At the same time, she decided to join the contemporary natural hair movement, when a critical mass of Black women stopped chemically straightening their hair via relaxers in favor of natural hair styles.
Prior to that time, a significant part of Black beauty culture was centered on chemical relaxers. Rowe argues that at that same juncture, there became an overarching interest across races around going green, going organic and going natural, with an emphasis on “dechemicalizing” various aspects of our lives.
These movements, along with the introduction of YouTube in 2005, allowed the internet to become a space for Black women to teach each other how to style and maintain their natural hair. It wasn’t long before a community took shape, and Rowe felt the pull to contribute to the discussion.
“It was really just being in it,” Rowe said. “Being in the community, in the movement, being a product of it and observing things. And it was thinking that someone should write this down or unpack this.”
When the team from FaceForward Productions contacted Rowe in 2021, they explained the project and that they were looking for published experts to speak on the field of Black hair and Black beauty. She spent a day at Soho Works in West Hollywood being interviewed for the documentary, placing her voice alongside significant Black cultural creators, such as celebrity makeup artists, magazine editors, scholars and cosmetic company founders.
“The Black Beauty Effect” debuted in November 2022, highlighting the “social change in the beauty industry through the lens of successful Black women.”
The docuseries is in three parts: Episode 1 – “The Beat Effect” focusing on makeup, Episode 2 – “The Skin Effect” spotlighting skin care, and Episode 3 – “The Crown Effect” focusing on hair, the episode where Rowe makes the most significant contributions.
Rowe attended a premiere for the documentary in Los Angeles and is more than pleased with the finished product.
“I keep describing it as kind of an archival love letter,” Rowe said of the documentary, “the way they put all the voices in conversation with each other, along with the images and the video footage.”
Rowe feels the topics surrounding Black beauty are important and timely, with the docuseries playing a role in archiving and sharing the history of these contributions to society. She also sees the project as an entry point for wider discussions around race and gender.
“There are so many things to talk about,” Rowe said. “What do people have access to and how does that inform their experiences? How do different modes of presentation vary from class to class? There’s not just race, but ethnicity … body and size politics … all these things are embodied and wrapped up in beauty as well.”
While Rowe has not made viewing “The Black Beauty Effect” a required part of her courses, she has informed her students about the docuseries and introduces many of the topics into the curriculum of her upper-level classes and electives.
Additionally, Rowe is under contract to write a book on art, pop culture and representation in the context of the contemporary natural hair movement using a black feminist framework to review texts and new media.
All three episodes of “The Black Beauty Effect” are now available for viewing on Netflix, and Rowe feels it is a critical project that contributes to a relevant conversation.
“I think what they’ve made is so wonderful and so important,” Rowe said. “It is a topic that a lot of people connect to because it provides language and scholarship for things they’ve observed in their world and in their bodies … If it had nothing to do with me, I would still encourage you to watch it.”
View more on Orange County Register