Enow, Silvia Abru

Research Interests:

Anthropology of fashion, African Aesthetics,Race,Culture,Postcolonialism, Decolonisation, Intersectionality,Gender & Diversity, Global South studies and  Economic Anthropology 

Geographical Area:

Cameroon, China, India

Current Project:

Hairstyling has long been a significant aspect of Black history and identity. Before the arrival of missionary activities and the transatlantic slave trade in Africa, significant meanings were attached to African hairstyles. Over time, however, missionary teachings, racialization, and evolving fashion trends, reshaped the meanings and practices of African hairstyling, leading to the emergence of newer styles.

This research adopts an ethnographic approach to explore the fashion of hairstyling practices among the women in Yaoundé, Cameroon; how these women conceptualize hair aesthetics and the kind of resources they dedicate to hairstyling. In addition, the study examines the politics of transnational trade and the global circulation of hair accessories, with focus on the origins of hair accessories from countries like India and China. Despite the high demand for these hair products among women in Cameroon, the region has few to no manufacturing units to meet their need thus, relying heavily on imports from China and India. As such, part of the study will critically examine the influence of neocolonialism and how global beauty standards shaped by historical and racial power dynamics affect cultural identity and self-expression among Cameroonian women.

Today, the culture of hairstyling in Cameroon reflects a complex interplay of modernity, creativity, and identity reclamation. While many of the women depend on imported artificial hair, produced by non-end users, to achieve good hair, others are embracing natural hairstyles made exclusively from their own hair as a form of defiance against foreign beauty standards.