“No one call pull a white millionaire like a slim Black woman in a bad wig,” says TikTok user @damnafricawhathappened. This comment was the impetus for the popularized hashtag “hard wig, soft life” on Tik Tok. The comment stemmed from the initial observation that Black women who wear bad wigs often pull wealthy, like CEO wealthy, white men. While the comment was initially made in jest, the trend underscores the clear aesthetic differences that monied, slimmer Black women make as compared to their counterparts. It is undeniable that Black women’s hair choices come with a whole host of connotations, but how do people make these judgments around hair? Well, Shelby Ivey Christie, American fashion and costume historian, posits that the ongoing discourse about bad wigs is less about the hair and specifically about

1. How people leverage social context

2. How people interpret that social context

The study of fashion and beauty symbols, how people understand certain aesthetic choices, and how people choose certain aesthetics and by default their meanings is called fashion semiotics.  In an era of lace fronts, micro links, tape ins, Ivey goes on to note that these women are signaling that a bad wig may highlight that they are disconnected from a community of Black women. I can speak from personal experience in that understanding your hair is difficult, complex. Understanding in-group perceptions of your hair is even more difficult. When I got my first lace front in 4th grade, I was fully excited until I walked into school the next day and was met with a series of roasts. That experience alone that resulted in me not wearing extensions for another four years. While minuscule, this experience highlighted the beauty standards and expectations of the women around me. I learned very early about different types of wigs and extensions because it was vital for social acceptance. I can imagine that Black women who were further disempowered from learning about hair care or hair care were inaccessible to them, likely become removed from most beauty standards.

Outside of the United States, different social-cultural contexts find synthetic wigs more appropriate. When I initially shared Christie’s tweets on Instagram, my friend from Uganda wanted to know why there was more beauty snobbery at our alma mater in Washington D.C. than in Kampala,Uganda? My initial thoughts had to do with the interplay of each respective country’s demographics and then subsequently, how those demographics inform the beauty standards. I can imagine that countries with histories of mixing races have different beauty standards than a country that has a relatively homogenous population. While I struggled to find more about the factors that shaped beauty standards, I noticed people have different perceptions based on where I am in around the world. While I have never been able to understand fully why the general reception of my style is received better in London or Accra as compared to the States, I understand that the existing communities and their exposure to the globe affect their openness. However, the in-group and out-group politics previously described apply globally based on the community’s interpretation. Aside from community, beauty standards, Tik Tok user @YaYa notes that the intentional choice to wear a bad wig is a signal of carefreeness. She notes “She’s just out to live her life and be loud and boisterous and be seen. These men who have resources want a happy, loving pretty woman on their side.” This archetype of a confident, charming Black woman whose personality precedes some of her aesthetic choices is intriguing. There is an essence that maybe, not all beauty choices are detrimental.

Who knew that TikTok of all places would explore the semiotics of fashion and beauty choices? I would never anticipate this, but varying responses from observations to skits highlight the role beauty and its interpretation play in society.

#Cohort23