Afro
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225502115
2008-07-14T01:02:31Z
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[[Image:Afro 2 cropped by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Woman with an afro at the [[Tribeca Film Festival]]]]
{{dablink|For the Italian painter known as "Afro", see [[Afro Basaldella]].}}
{{dablink|For the proposed African single currency, see [[Afro (currency)]].}}
An '''afro''', sometimes called a '''"natural"''' or shortened to '''"fro"''', is a [[hairstyle]] in which the [[hair]] extends out from the [[head]] like a [[Halo (optical phenomenon)|halo]], [[cloud]] or [[ball]]. This may or may not include wearing such afros long, to several times the diameter of the head. An afro requires very curly hair. For many people of African descent, an afro is the way their hair grows naturally.
Anyone of any ethnic background is capable of growing an afro if they have very curly hair. For people of African descent, the spiraling, tightly coiled curls can be straightened out somewhat, giving the hair added volume and length, by first braiding the hair, then separating the coils using an "afro pick". The afro pick is an adaptation of a traditional African grooming instrument,<ref>[http://www.african-tribal-arts.com/images/tribalarts/Hg04_lg.jpg Example of a traditional African comb]</ref> which is essentially a narrow [[comb]] with long, widely spaced teeth. Similarly, added volume can be achieved using an afro pick in combination with the heat from a hand-held hair dryer. The effect is called a blowout afro.
== History ==
[[Image:Branford Marsalis (young).jpg|thumb|right|[[Branford Marsalis]] with a classic afro.]]
[[Image:Jewfro.jpg|thumb|right|A Jewish-American youth sports a Jewfro at his high school.]]
The [[ancient Egyptians]] were known at times to wear so-called [[Nubian wig]]s in something resembling this style. The term "[[Fuzzy Wuzzy]]" was applied by British soldiers to the [[Sudan]]ese because of this hairstyle.
In the late nineteenth century a style similar to the Afro was worn by the [[Circassian beauties]], sometimes known as "Moss-haired girls", exhibited by [[P.T. Barnum]], and promoted as “the purest example of the white race” in order to attract white audiences captivated by the "exotic East" and preoccupied with issues of [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]].<ref>[http://chnm.gmu.edu/lostmuseum/star/ The Circassian beauty archive] [http://www.sideshowworld.com/BL-History-CircassianB.html A collection of historic Images - Circassian Beauties]</ref>
The modern style dates to the 1960s. In 1963, actress [[Cicely Tyson]] sported [[cornrows]] or a "TWA" (a "teeny, weeny afro") in the popular network [[television]] series ''East Side, West Side''. [[Jimi Hendrix]] became one of the first popular entertainers to have a large afro. The afro gained popularity during the late 1960s and 1970s, in connection with the growth of the [[Black Pride Movement|Black Pride]] and [[Black Power]] political movements, and the emergence of [[blaxploitation|blaxploitation films]] and [[disco music]].
Among Blacks, afros were considered a proclamation of "Black is Beautiful!", a popular slogan of the time. They became symbols of race pride; progressive, often [[Left-wing politics|leftist]] political leanings; and militancy. In northern and western states Afros were seen popularly worn in poor neighborhoods such as [[Harlem]], [[Bedford-Stuyvesant]], and [[Watts, Los Angeles, California|Watts]] as early as 1965 and 1966. In the [[southern United States]] however, it was not a popular hairstyle until 1969 and 1970. However, during the later half of the 1970s, the style passed into the cultural mainstream and for many people became simply a fashion that sometimes even Caucasian men (and women) with looser, less curly hair adopted.
== Jewfro/Isro ==
The term has its roots in the 1960s and 1970s when many prominent figures were described as sporting the hairstyle. The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called college football star Scott Marcus a [[flower child]] with “''golden brown hair... in ringlets around his head in what he calls a [[Jew]]ish afro style''”.<ref>Dan Hafner, "''Louisville's 'Flower Child'; Barefooted Punter Arrives in Shoes and Mod Outfit''", Los Angeles Times, Dec 17, 1970. Sec III, pg. G1.</ref>
''[[The New York Times]]'' in a 1971 article on [[Harvard]]’s “hairy” [[basketball]] team, wrote that Captain Brian Newmark, “''hasn’t had a haircut since last May and his friends have suggested his hairdo is a first cousin to the Afro...in the case of the Jewish Junior from [[Brooklyn]], though, the bushy dark hair that is piled high on his head has been called an Isro''." <ref>Murray Chass, "Harvard's Hairy Five Makes Some Foes Bristle", ''The New York Times'', [[February 28]], [[1971]], pg. S4.</ref> Novelist [[Judith Rossner]] was described in a ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' profile as the “''grown-up Wunderkind with an open, oval face framed by a Jewish Afro''."<ref>Stephen E Rubin, "Tempo; Judith Rossner's novel success is hard to put down" , ''Chicago Tribune'', [[September 17]], [[1977]], pg. 11.</ref>
''[[Heeb Magazine]]'', an irreverent Jewish review, published a photo-spread on the "Jewfro" in its first issue and cited [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Bob Dylan]] as precursors of the style. Other examples of people who have had Jewfros are [[Rafael Eberhardt]], [[Dustin Diamond]], [[Brad Delson]], [[Michael Diamond]], [[Neil Diamond]], [[Larry David]], [[Art Garfunkel]], [[Michael Einziger]], [[Simon Amstell]], [[James Levine]], [[Weird Al Yankovic]], [[Bob Willis]], [[Howard Stern]], [[Joe Trohman]], [[Matt Stone]], [[Gene Wilder]], [[Bob Ross]], [[Victor Garber]], [[Lou Reed]], [[Abbie Hoffman]], [[Seth Rogen]], [[Sean Sheely]], Jay Solomon, [[Jonah Hill]], [[Seth Miller]], [[Andrew Stockdale]] of the band [[Wolfmother]], South Park's [[Kyle Broflovski]] and Shino in the anime/manga series ''[[Naruto]]''.
== Pop culture ==
[[Image:LaurynHill cropped.jpg|thumb|The use of Afros in popular culture can be seen here with [[Lauryn Hill]], wearing an Afro wig during a performance in [[Central Park]]. Hill used this wig in several performances in 2005.<ref>[http://rapnews.co.uk/?p=583 The Fugees, Hammersmith Apollo], December 15, 2005. Retrieved on May 28, 2007.</ref>]]
Today afros are used in popular culture for comedic effect, especially in comedies from the '90s era due to their unique dimensions. A common joke involves the hiding of objects in the person's hair. In the movie ''[[Leprechaun in the Hood]]'', for instance, a character played by [[Ice-T]] pulls a baseball bat from his afro; this scene is a satire of a similar scene in the blaxploitation classic ''[[Foxy Brown (1974 film)|Foxy Brown]]'', in which [[Pam Grier]] hides a revolver in her afro. Another Grier film, ''[[Coffy]]'' (1973) depicted a scene where she plants razor blades in her afro before a [[catfight]] scene. One character in the late-1970's ''[[The Super Globetrotters]]'' animated cartoon series retrieved absurdly large objects from his afro, including the proverbial kitchen sink.
Another kind of afro joke is seen in a '70s [[Flashback (literary technique)|flashback]] sequence of the [[Leslie Nielsen]] comedy ''[[Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult]]'', where Nordberg (played by [[O.J. Simpson]]) sports an afro so large that he's unable to walk through a door. One of [[Victoria Principal]]'s films (''[[Earthquake (film)|Earthquake]]'') featured her character in an "afro", and the James Bond film ''[[Moonraker (film)|Moonraker]]'' depicted a scene with a member of Drax's master race sporting an "afro". The ''[[Scarface (1983 film)|Scarface]]'' remake (1983) featured [[Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio]] with an Afro. Afros often pop up in [[anime]] with characters such as [[Nabeshin]] and [[Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo]], both of whom seemingly derive mystical powers from their afros. In ''[[One Piece]]'', [[Monkey D. Luffy]] sports an Afro during his fight with [[Foxy the Silver Fox]]. Also the character [[Brook]] sports an afro and greatly treasures it. Additionally, Noboru Yamaguchi of the series ''[[Cromartie High School]]'' sports an afro which seems to change in size and consistency during a scene. This kind of haircut also appears in the anime ''[[Sgt. Frog]]'' as the main focus of the first ending theme song. ''[[Afro Samurai]]'' is also a more recent show (adapted from a [[manga]] series), notably voiced by famous American actor [[Samuel L. Jackson]].
The first series of UK TV programme ''[[Trigger Happy TV]]'' often featured a sketch in which [[Dom Joly]] wore a ridiculously large afro wig and then stood in such a way that the wig would obscure a member of the public's view of something—[[London]] landmarks such as the [[Palace of Westminster]] were often chosen. The sketch was also performed in a cinema, where Joly entered and sat in front of someone; making them unable to see the screen. The person was then seen to move to a seat in front of Joly, apparently complaining whilst doing so. As soon as the person sat down, Joly removed the wig to cause further annoyance.
==See also==
{{Commonscat|Afro}}
* [[Afro textured hair]]
* [[Natural hair]]
* [[Big hair]]
* [[Cornrows]]
* [[Dreadlocks]]
* [[Jheri curl]]
==References==
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[[Category:African culture]]
[[Category:African American culture]]
[[Category:Hairstyles]]
[[Category:1960s fads]]
[[Category:1960s fashion]]
[[Category:1970s fads]]
[[Category:1970s fashion]]
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