African Migrations: Patterns and Perspectives

12. Migration as a Factor of Cultural Change Abroad and at Home: Senegalese Female Hair Braiders in the United States

12 MIGRATION AS A FACTOR OF CULTURAL CHANGE ABROAD AND AT HOME SENEGALESE FEMALE HAIR BRAIDERS IN THE UNITED STATES CHEIKH ANTA BABOU Hair braiding has become the leading profession of Senegalese female immigrants in North America.1 It is also embraced by male immigrants working as managers of hair salons. This scorned profession that was traditionally reserved for women belonging to endogamic craft corporations (castes in Senegal) has become in the diaspora a highly sought after and valued career, attracting Senegalese of all genders, ethnic groups, and social statuses. Through an examination of the experience of Senegalese female hair braiders in Anderson (S.C.), Atlanta, New York, and Philadelphia, and their roles in their communities of origin in Senegal, this paper explores the issues of caste, gender, class, and money, and investigates how life in the United States has affected “traditional” views of these concepts.2 I argue that economic power and changing societal values among immigrants are gradually undermining traditional bases of gender roles and social hierarchies abroad and at home. In Senegal, notions of gender and social status are shaped historically by local Islamic culture, professional occupation, and genealogy, which assign women and men from different families and ethnicities specific positions in society. But these categories of caste, gender, and class are increasingly contested at home and more so abroad, especially among the young and highly educated . In addition, several factors linked to legal status, the family, and the sociopolitical and cultural context in the host country affect the life of immigrants. Changes in these variables are echoed by the immigrant’s behavior. In the diaspora, economic success is becoming the defining element of social status, and the gendered conception of work is giving way to pragmatism, where the prospect of earning a comfortable living tends to trump all other considerations. 231 Migration as a Factor of Cultural Change HAIR BRAIDING AND SOCIAL STATUS IN WOLOF SOCIETY Hair braiding is perhaps the most widespread form of body art in Africa . Scarifications, skin paintings, and other forms of body decoration are widely practiced by Africans, but they are not universal. The practice of hair braiding, in contrast, is found in all African cultures, ancient and contemporary, rural and urban. In Africa, unkempt hair is often associated with mental illness, grief, or lack of social integration (Sieber and Herreman 2000). In addition to being an art and an aesthetic, hair design was also a signifier of people’s ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic and political status.3 Hair dressing was primarily a domestic activity of women. It was an important dimension of female sociability. Family members and close friends did each other’s hair and the long hours that women spent together dressing their hair provided a space for gossips and social interactions. The knowledge of the art of grooming hair was passed down from grandmothers to mothers and daughters. Knowing how to take care of one’s daughters’ hair was an integral part of motherhood. While in most African societies the art of hair braiding was practiced in the realm of the household between relatives and friends, among the Wolof of Senegal complex hair designs were performed by specialists. These specialists were members of so-called lower castes. The Wolof social hierarchy is comprised of géer, non-artisans who occupy the top rank of the social ladder, and ñeeño, artisans who are confined to lower ranks.4 The practice of endogamy and hereditary status among members of these different social strata led to the formation and reproduction of socially segregated craft corporations, such as wood workers, leather workers, blacksmiths, and griots (bards). And the social isolation of these craft corporations is so extreme that some scholars describe the Wolof as a caste society (Irvine 1973; Diop 1985; Tamari 1997). Although caste affiliation no longer plays a significant role in the distribution of wealth and power in contemporary Senegal, the stigma attached to caste continues to have a strong sociological significance that informs social interactions, marriage patterns, and people’s perception of their self worth (Mbow 2000). Until the explosion of the hair salon business in Senegal in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the profession of hair braiding was monopolized by casted women. For special occasions, géer women had their hair done at their griots’ house (ngewel ga). Each géer or non-casted family entertained patron-client type relationships with a corresponding family of ñeeño who tended their women’s hair. For unmarried young...