In “Don’t Touch My Hair” by Solange ft. Sampha, Solange is making two social critiques out of one action. Most overtly, “Don’t Touch My Hair” discusses the issues of race today, however the same action can also address feminism and the issues of consent. Solange most obvious form of discussion is through her choice of lyrics. The majority of her lyrics are direct and assertive. Even if presented in an attractive way and in an interesting Alternative R&B style, she does not disguise her lyrics.
Don’t touch my hair
When it’s the feelings I wear
Don’t touch my soul
When it’s the rhythm I know
Don’t touch my crown
They say the vision I’ve found
Don’t touch what’s there
When it’s the feelings I wear
This stanza is the first and most repeated stanza throughout the song. Here she directly commands people who touch her hair but do not understand her culture or story, not to touch her hair. She discusses how this from of microaggression offends her, for her hair represents her feelings, her soul, her rhythm, and her vision.
They don’t understand
What it means to me
Where we chose to go
Where we’ve been to know
They don’t understand
What it means to me
Where we chose to go
Where we’ve been to know
This uses different forms of personal pronouns and audience. The first stanza is speaking directly to those who touch her hair or offend her culture, whereas this stanza is speaking about these people, and speaking towards the black community who have felt and experienced similar issues. The black community takes pride in their hair; something that was historically used against them, used to classify them, and something other races tried to change.
Don’t touch my pride
They say the glory’s all mine
Don’t test my mouth
They say the truth is my sound
Here, Solange is claiming her right to defend herself. There is a stereotype of the “angry black woman” that Solange is defending. She is angry, and has her right to be angry. She has no problem standing up for herself and her body. Touching someone’s hair is not just an objectification of a person’s race, but also an issue of consent. Her hair is part of her body, and not there for strangers to touch.
Overall, Solange acknowledges the societal issues of race, rather than addressing issues in government or laws. She is clear and thorough. She does not offer this elaborate plan, but a simple solution: don’t touch her hair.
March 10, 2019 at 2:17 pm
Cielle, these posts are a very good start to your explorations of Solange’s song and the concern of touching black women’s hair. I do, however, think you are just scratching the surface when it comes to the issue of black women, hair, and identity. You allude to that idea, but I would have enjoyed seeing you expand on that idea in significantly more detail. If you have not yet, I suggest a search for “black women hair” on Google and http://scholar.google.com, and you’ll find quite a large number of popular and scholarly article on the sociology and politics surrounding hair.
The song you’ve chosen is different than many of the songs chosen by others because it is on such a specific subject. Your challenge is going to be taking that specificity and expanding out to issues connected with the main issue, such as the history of black and brown bodies used as entertainment and put in situations where they were seen as curiosities and on display at “freak shows” and circuses. In fact, remind me to bring in an article for you in a book I have at home on that very issue.
B