Next Gen Naturals: The New Digital Discourse on Black Hair and Beauty
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Recently, I came across a video from a content creator who is making waves on the TikTok app because of her unique and straightforward approach to Black Feminist activism and the politics of desirability. Known as Lip Gloss on TikTok and YouTube, many of this creator’s videos focus on the role that intersectional identity plays in how we understand attractiveness, social acceptance, and capital. Seemingly following in the footsteps of cultural critics like Audre Lorde, Sonya Renee Taylor, and Tressie Mcmillan Cottom, these videos expose the many ways Black women do not fit into the beauty standards of society but can still embrace self-care, acceptance, forgiveness, and joy.
And while the arguments and topics in her videos are well documented within the realm of feminist theory, philosophy, and performance activism, what is fascinating about her content is the responses from viewers. Because the content creator is relatively young, and the demographic of the TikTok app is even younger, sitting in on her mini-lectures feels like attending a consciousness-raising session for a new generation. However, because the videos are public, the comments not only include viewers who are being enlightened by her content but even more users who hate it, which has led to the use of rhetoric that borders on clickbait but feels appropriately provocative.
The most recent version of these lessons has been her decision to embrace her natural hair. And as a millennial that was involved in the natural hair care movement during the early 2000s, I was initially confused, and a bit bothered to see thousands of younger women engage with this decision as if the natural hair care movement never existed. In many ways, content from Lip Gloss is being used as the catalyst or example for…
