AFRO HAIR & TIGNON LAWS (18th century)

~ Policing Black Bodies, The Body Politics of Beauty & Present-Day Natural Hair Discrimination

[A Thread]

WHAT IS A TIGNON?

Also pronounced Tiyon, a Tignon is a large piece of material used to conceal hair.

THE TIGNON LAW

Governor Esteban Rodriguez Miró of Louisiana passed the Tignon laws in 1786. The law stipulated that Creole women of African descent were to cover their hair as a way of oppressing them & to stop men from pursuing & engaging with them.

BLACK & WHITE WOMANHOOD IN COLONIAL SOCIETY

Women of African descent adorned their hair with beads & other accents that made them stand out from white women, these laws were designed to regulate our hair but also to decrease the "threat" to white womanhood/beauty standards.

CONTEXT

Louisiana was a French colony from 1682 to 1763, then became a Spanish colony from 1763 to 1801. When it became a Spanish colony, Spanish laws were put into place that drastically impacted the lives of the enslaved people in Louisiana...

Under Spanish rule, enslaved people under ‘coartacion’ could buy back their freedom. A minority of enslaved people were able to buy their freedom. Next we see the growth of the free & wealthy Black population in Louisiana.

This led to a significant rise of interracial relationships. Women of African descent started adorning their natural hair. Their elaborate hairstyles were so "enchanting" it exuded the image of wealth. These changes in the fabric of society were a threat to the social order.

The tignon was intended to place Black women back into a position of subordination & inferiority. Soon Tignons were worn by women in other French colonial societies such as Martinique, Guadeloupe, & Dominica in the Caribbean.

RESISTANCE

BW decided to adorn their Tignons with feathers, brooches, beads & the most luxurious fabrics in resistance. Legally, nothing could be done about the adoring of the tignons, as they were not breaking the law because the law only applied to their hair.

Here's a picture of me with my natural hair out and others iwith it wrapped. I wanted to do this thread bc I get asked about my hair and wraps A LOT by all groups of people.

I'm very conscious about politics of beauty and policing of my hair. But I don't wear or wrap my afro to be political. This is me. I've been thinking about the fascination, disgust, policing I've encountered as as result of my hair and how the Tignon laws never really ended...

Discrimination based on hair texture is a form of social injustice that targets Black people, specifically black people who have afro-textured hair that's not been chemically straightened. It includes braids, afros, dreadlocks etc.

Whilst today there are no laws (in the UK) to wrap/cover our hair, we're forced to conceal/tame/trim our hair in ways which reinforce Tignon laws. Our hair is a threat to the social order, to white standards of beauty and is a sign of our freedom & expression.

When I wrap my hair also, I'm often compared to Eryka Badu or told I'm being too afro-centric. My hair isn't anything other than what it is: mine. No-one has free access to touch it, to question it, to give advice on it. If it threatens you, question & advise yourself x

Also I would love to see Black hair pics (all textures, protective styles, wraps etc.) in the comments...let me show you guys some love