Hair Anxiety——种族歧视新形式？
换发型：美事变成烦心事？
If you’re a Black woman, you’ll know how often we can change our hairstyles. We could have braids one month, a short bob one day and our natural hair the day after that. Planning hairstyles can be stressful, but it can also be fun playing around with different looks. However, that fun can be capped when you think about going into the office.
如果你是一名黑人女性，就会知道我们经常换发型。编一个月辫子，然后换上波波头短发，第二天再展示天然的发型……策划发型很有压力，但玩转不同风格又很有趣。然而，办公室的同事们可会给你泼盆冷水。
When you come into work with a new hairstyle as a Black woman, all eyes are on you – and people can be quick to share their opinions.
当一个黑人女性顶着一头新发型走进办公室时，所有的目光都会聚焦在她身上，同事们的叽叽喳喳很快就会传入她的耳朵。
Comments around a new hairstyle aren’t inherently bad, but they become a problem when they go beyond curiosity and appreciation. For many Black women, a new hairstyle means inappropriate comments and microaggressions from colleagues.
本质上，人们评论我们的新发型并不是一件坏事。但当这些言论越过好奇与欣赏的那条界线后，它就变成了一种烦恼。对许多黑人女性来说，一个新的发型，往往会招来不合时宜的评价，以及来自同事的轻微冒犯。
In a TikTok video, @deborahalexia_ said one of the main reasons she quit a previous job was because of an experience she had at work relating to her hair. She explained how she would usually wear wigs at work, but one day decided to have her natural hair out. She says her change in look was met with sniggers and snide comments from colleagues.
在一条TikTok视频中，用户“@deborahalexia_”（Deborah Alexia）分享了她上次辞职的原因。她说，正是因为一次关于头发的糟糕经历让她做了这个决定。她平常上班时都会戴假发。一次,她决定不戴假发，以自然发型示人。然而这个改变招来了同事们的讥笑与讽刺。
广泛的困扰
After I shared this video on Twitter, the stories from Black women who have found themselves in a similar situation started pouring in.
我在推特上分享了这条视频。一时间，众多有同样经历的黑人女性纷纷发来了她们的故事。
“The week I wore my actual afro was hectic. The questions, the stares...” one women replied to my tweet. “‘We didn’t realise you had so much hair’. Why is that any of your business?”
一位同胞回复我的推文说：“我秀出自己原本的蓬蓬头发型的那个礼拜简直是灾难。那些无尽的问题、众人凝视的目光……有些人惊叹‘真没想到原来你有这么多头发！’我只想说，和你有关系吗？”
*蓬蓬头：原文中为Afro。许多非裔天生发质蓬松，看起来发量很多。如今，不少黑人认为，作为血脉里遗传的特性，Afro 发型已成为一种令人骄傲的种族符号。
Akua, a 29-year-old marketing manager from London, said she would literally sit and prepare herself for all the comments after changing her hair, so it wouldn’t affect her day as badly.
29岁的Akua是现居伦敦的一名市场经理。她说，每当换发型之后，她都会坐下进行心理建设，来准备迎接那些品头论足的话语，好让自己的心情不受负面影响。
Akua tells me about one incident when a colleague tried to touch her hair. “She asked me [if she could touch my hair] and when I proceeded to say no, she said ‘I’ll get my hands on it one day!’” Akua recalls. “That was particularly triggering, because she was two levels senior to me, so I felt really uncomfortable on the spot.”
Akua说，一位同事曾想触摸她的头发。“她问我是否可以摸摸我的头发，我明确地拒绝了。然后她说‘总有一天我会摸到的！’我很受刺激。她是比我高两级的上司，这种行为让我感到十分不舒服。”
Akua says she’s definitely chosen hairstyles that make her more palatable at work and interviews in the past, but she no longer feels anxious about changing her hair. “I’ve journeyed with it for such a long time, from hair damage and hating it to now loving, caring for it and enjoying it,” she says. “I cannot let white opinions get in the way of that.”
Akua 说，放在过去，她肯定会选择那种更讨领导和同事喜欢的发型，但现在她不再会为换发型而焦虑。她说，“我和我的头发一起走过了人生的每一步。过去，我发质受损，因此很厌恶自己的头发。而如今我对这头秀发很是喜爱。我很享受我天然的头发，不会让那些白人的意见妨碍到这一点。”
Hair discrimination – whether that’s via inappropriate comments or professional repercussions – is sadly nothing new in the workplace. Back in 2018, HuffPost UK reported on a temp agency that turned away a Black student after calling her dreadlocks “unprofessional”.
无论是不合时宜的评论，或是在工作中的区别对待，针对发型的歧视在职场上并不是什么新鲜事。早在2018年，《赫芬顿邮报》英国版就报道了一起相关事件：一家临时机构拒绝了一位黑人学生的求职，理由是她的脏辫*“看起来不够专业”。
*脏辫：即“长发绺”，将头发紧紧地编成许多辫子，是一种常见发型，流行于黑人文化中。
从改变法律 到改变态度
Race-based hair discrimination has been illegal in the UK since the the Equalities Act became law in 2010, and yet it still happens. This is why MPs and campaigners are calling for textured locks to become a protected characteristic – making hair discrimination specifically illegal.
早在2010年英国《平等法案》生效后，基于种族的发型歧视就成为了违法行为。然而这种歧视至今仍在发生。这就是为什么国会议员和平权活动家不断呼吁，将发辫变成一种受法律保护的特征——强调发型歧视是非法的。
Similar laws have been passed in parts of the US. In March 2019, discrimination on the basis of hair was made illegal in California – the first US state to do so. Similar laws were soon passed in New York City, giving New Yorkers the right to “maintain natural hair or hairstyles that are closely associated with their racial, ethnic or cultural identities”.
在美国的部分地区，也有类似的法律通过。2019年3月，加利福尼亚成为了全美第一个将针对发型的歧视定为非法的州。不久后，纽约也通过了类似的法规，保护市民“保留与自己的种族、民族或文化身份紧密相关的自然发型”的权利。
But we also need attitudes towards Black hair to change in the workplace, as well as laws.
但需要改变的不只是法律，还有职场上人们对黑人的发型的态度。
Yewande Akeju, who is a 28-year-old project manager from London, grew up in predominantly white spaces and because of this had a weird relationship with her hair. In time though, she learned to be more confident about her hair and would often have her hair in braids at university.
今年28岁的Yewande Akeju是一名项目经理，来自伦敦。她在一个以白人居多的环境下长大，因此，她对她的头发有着复杂的感情。随着时间流逝，她逐渐建立起了自信，在大学期间常常把自己的头发编成辫子。
She’s spent most of her career in the banking and finance industry with braids, which she says is a big statement, as most Black women in the industry wear wigs.
在金融业工作的大多数时候，她都留着辫子。她表示，在这个行业的大部分黑人女性都戴着假发工作的大环境下，她的辫子是一个响亮的宣言。
Similar to Deborah’s experience in the video, Akeju decided to go to work with her natural hair in an afro style one day. “Some people were saying things like ‘wow look at your hair’ but someone said ‘it looks like you’ve been electrocuted’. Then you had people giggling in the background,” she says.
和上文中Deborah在视频里分享的经历类似，Akeju也曾决定解开辫子，以天然的蓬蓬头造型上班。“有些人惊叹‘哇，看看你的头发！’，但有个人说我的头发‘看起来像是触电了一般’，然后四周的人们开始咯咯笑。”
Why are Black women having to endure this? The answer is simple, says therapist Dr. LaNail R. Plummer: these comments ultimately stem from racism.
为什么黑人女性要忍受这些？心理治疗师LaNail R. Plummer博士说，答案很简单：这些评论的本质就是种族歧视。
Dr. LaNail R. Plummer。
她创立了一家完全由黑人运营的专业心理咨询集团。
“Black women did not choose their hair type and since many of their hair types are not welcomed or labeled inappropriately, they have been batting with acceptance first with themselves and then with the world,” she tells HuffPost UK.
“发型是天生的。很大一部分黑人女性的天然发型并不受社会欢迎，或是被打上了负面的标签。她们一直以来都在争取得到接受，先是努力自我接纳，然后争取让世界接受。”她说。
“So, while a coworker may just make a comment about a hair type, that same coworker does not know if he/she is opening a Pandora’s box of positive memories or negative nuances. So while it’s easy for one to say ‘well I just won’t say anything to a Black woman about her hair,’ consider the alternative – just finding something nice to say.”
“因此，作为一个同事，你一句随意的评价就可能会打开她回忆的魔盒——然而你不知道打开的是好的那个，还是坏的那个。正因这样，与其回避这个敏感话题而什么都不说，不如考虑一下另一个办法：说点好听的话。”
If you’re feeling anxious about switching up your hair at work, this is probably based in a fear of the unknown, says Dr Plummer.
Plummer博士说，如果一名黑人女性对在职场上展示自己的头发感到焦虑，这种焦虑可能源于对未知的恐惧。
“Black women can experience anxious thoughts in the workplace because they can not predict what a coworker may say about them or to them,” she says. “This may occur because the workplace has not been predictable so she/he can’t assume that positivity (pure positivity, not passive-aggressive positivity) will be present.”
“在职场中，一名黑人女性有时会感到压力，因为她没法预测同事们聊天时会怎样评价她，抑或是会当面对她说些什么。”
One reason why comments about hair can sting so much is because Black women are constantly hearing negative associations elsewhere.
关于发型的评价之所以如此刺耳，其中一个原因是，黑人女性在其他领域长期收到负面的暗示，因此会不自主往坏的方面想。
“It may come from the image on TV, a description in a book, a photograph in a magazine, or simply the placement of her hair products in a smaller and totally different section of a store, compared to those who don’t have hair like hers,” says Dr Plummer.
“这种负面暗示可能来自各种渠道。电视上的画面、书本里的描述、杂志中的图片，或者仅仅是是超市里的商品摆放位置差别。一些超市把专为黑人女性制造的美发用品放在一个更小的地方，和其他的美发用品相分隔开。”
在商场中，针对黑人发型与发质设计的美发用品通常被摆在更加偏远的地方。在2019年，为了“防止盗窃”，美国的多家沃尔玛更是将黑人美发用品放进了上锁的玻璃柜中，只有消费者向店员提出要求，才能解锁选购（上图左侧为普通美发用品的货架，右侧为黑人专用美发用品的玻璃货柜）。这一行为因带有明显的种族主义色彩，而受到了广泛的指责。
Nevertheless, it’s important that Black women continue to speak out about microaggressions, especially in the workplace. Our hair is amazing and we should be able to feel comfortable having our natural hair out (or any other style) at work and anywhere else.
尽管如此，黑人女性仍然需要继续勇敢为自己发声，抵抗这些细微之处的冒犯，尤其是在职场中。我们的头发是上天的馈赠，我们有资格在任何场合自信地秀出来。
难点词汇与表达
inherent adj. 内在的，固有的 belonging to the basic nature of someone or something
例 Individuality is a valued and inherent part of the British character.
hectic adj. 繁忙的，忙乱的 characterized by activity, excitement, or confusion
例 My life was very hectic but empty before I met him.
predominantly adv. 绝大多数，主要地 for the most part
例 The landscape has remained predominantly rural in appearance.
原文链接
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/we-need-to-talk-about-hair-anxiety-for-black-women-at-work_uk_61922f4ae4b06c5987ca176f
编译 | 黄怡涛
排版 | 黄怡涛
