“Israel! Yeah!” Rock shouted.
Crossposted from Haaretz
The buzz about “Good Hair,” Chris Rock’s new documentary about black hair, has got me thinking about “Jewish hair”: what it is, what it means, and where I — a straight-haired woman — fit into this curious piece of Jewish identity.
Comedian Chris Rock has made a documentary that delves into the roots of the painful politics surrounding black women’s hair. Inspired by Rock’s young daughter, who asked him why she didn’t have “good” hair, the film looks like it’s going to be a fascinating and hilarious take on the way race and gender issues are played out on the surface of women’s bodies. “Good Hair” also aims its lens at the way the multibillion-dollar beauty industry is built around maintaining often difficult-to-achieve beauty norms — norms that may be more dangerous than we think.