Black Beauty: Perspectives, Views and Representations

Call for Papers

Special Issue, Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty

Guest Editors: Sharon N Hughes and Tania Phipps-Rufus, University of East London

 

This Special Issue focuses on ‘Black Beauty’, offering those who engage in pan-African, women and gender, critical race theory, fashion and beauty studies an opportunity to showcase scholarly work that will unpack, evaluate and critique the views, perceptions, history, myths and realism of Black women and beauty. We encourage submissions that critically use such lenses as Black feminist thought, feminist theory, critical race theory, postcolonial and decolonial theory, and that consider the numerous intersections of power and oppression at work in race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and nationality, as well as constructions of identity through the gaze of imperialistic cultures. 

Author bell hooks contends that Black female representation in the media determines how Blackness and people are seen and how other groups respond based on their relation to these constructed images. An insular definition of beauty is deeply ingrained in all cultures, each unique in its own right. It is rationalized that race, a social construct, determines our beauty standards, fashion choices and lifestyles. However, the more marginalized one is, the more challenging it is to be seen as relevant, alluring or part of western society. It can be argued that no one has felt this more than Black women. 

Women, in general, are challenged by societal ideas of beauty developed by culture creators. Can it be said that Black women, even more so, encounter a range of characterized ideologies filled with stereotypes and expectations of colonized perceptions of beauty? Today, images of twenty-first-century beauty are depicted with diversified faces through social media, pop culture, celebrity ambassadors and campaigns, vastly increasing the market share of beauty brands within the Black community. As researchers examine how culture affects self-concept and cultural identity, how have the challenges of Black beauty affected Black women psychologically, socially and emotionally? 

This Special Issue seeks to critically reflect upon and interpret how beauty among Black women within the pan-African diaspora is defined, expressed, created, criticized, politicized, appropriated and appreciated. 

Submissions are encouraged to explore Black beauty, including, but not limited to, the following kinds of questions or issues:

  • How is Black beauty seen and interpreted through varying eyes and views?

  • What is the influence behind the production of beauty within the pan-African community?

  • How has beauty been defined within the Black community?

  • How has the colonization of African Americans affected perceptions of Black beauty?

  • The influence of Black culture on the beauty industry.

  • To what extent did COVID and the Black Lives Matter movement compel changes in the representation of Black women in beauty and fashion media?

  • What are the effects of the perception of Black hair styles on the social mobility of Black women in the workplace? 

We welcome contributions from any discipline that incorporate academic articles and more experimental and artistic forms of writing. Please submit abstracts of 300–500 words and a brief bio (150 words) to Sharon N. Hughes, s.n.hughes@uel.ac.uk by 31 May 2023. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions or ideas you want to share in advance. 

Articles submitted to ‘Black Beauty’ can range from 4000–8000 words in length (including references); images, tables and diagrams are welcome. All submissions will be double-blind peer-reviewed. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis, with reviews commencing immediately. All submissions must follow Intellect’s house style: https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/1748/house-style-guide-6th-ed..pdf

 

Important dates

Deadline for abstracts:           31 May 2023

Notification of abstracts:         30 June 2023

Deadline for full articles:         1 December 2023

 

Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty (CSFB) is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. The journal engages analytically, critically, and creatively with fashion and/or beauty. General questions regarding the journal can be sent to the journal editors Susan Kaiser, sbkaiser@ucdavis.edu or Anneke Smelik, anneke.smelik@ru.nl. 

 

https://www.intellectbooks.com/critical-studies-in-fashion-beauty#call-for-papers

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