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Hairstory: exploring coloured students’ experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2021.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | en_ZA |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2021
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| _version_ | 1867613884265791488 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Ceasar, Westley Grant |
| author2 | Fourie, Melike |
| author_browse | Ceasar, Westley Grant Fourie, Melike |
| author_facet | Fourie, Melike Ceasar, Westley Grant |
| author_sort | Ceasar, Westley Grant |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2021. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/123975 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | en_ZA |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:43:13.574Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/123975 Hairstory: exploring coloured students’ experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution Ceasar, Westley Grant Fourie, Melike Lesch, Anthea Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology. Colored people (South Africa) External markers of identity Hair -- Identity Colored people (South Africa) -- Natural hair Colourism Historically white institution Memory and trauma UCTD Race bias -- Students Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2021. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: People make use of different markers and symbols that serve as an embodiment of who they are, whether it be ethnic, social, political, or individual. For some, their identity is expressed through physical, or external markers (Gonzales, 2019). For those classified as Coloured within the apartheid engineered racial hierarchy, social mobility was typically greater than for black people, because they had external markers closer to that of white people. The present research examined whether and in what ways students who identify as Coloured ascribe to whiteness at a Historically White Institutions (HWI) today, particularly concerning embodied markers of identity, and what factors contribute to their decision to ascribe to or reject whiteness. More specifically, this study gives a phenomenological account of the experiences of ten (10) self-identifying Coloured students at Stellenbosch University and describes the bidirectional interaction between their external features (hair texture and skin colour) and the construction of their identity in a space still characterized by a white cultural ethos. Based on the analysis of the data, the study identified three major themes: (i) Existing in a predominantly white space, (ii) Hairarchy (a specific kind of hierarchy that affords social status to a person of colour based on their hair texture), and (iii) Transition into true self. The findings show that Coloured students appear to experience pressure to appropriate whiteness through alternation and assimilation, thereby gaining social capital for a better social experience. They also realise, however, that the pursuit to be white is unattainable and could cause an internal conflict in the self, or double consciousness (Du Bois, 1903; Molinsky, 2007). Some resolved this ambiguity in their identity through a critical reflection of the value systems that imbued their upbringing and by embracing their natural hair, also described as “going natural”, which facilitated a transition into the perceived true self I contend that an inability to critically engage with subjects like hair prejudice, colourism, and historical pain that could be perpetuated through external markers within Coloured communities and white spaces could add further contention to an already complex social identity. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mense gebruik verskillende merkers en simbole wat dien as beliggaming van wie hulle is; hetsy dit etnies, sosiaal, polities of individueel is. Vir sommige word hulle identiteit deur fisiese of eksterne merkers uitgedruk (Gonzales, 2019). Diegene wat as kleurling binne die apartheidsrashiërargie geklassifiseer is, het oor die algemeen oor meer sosiale mobiliteit beskik as swart mense, omdat hulle eksterne merkers nader aan dié van wit mense was. Die huidige navorsing ondersoek of en op watter maniere studente, wat as bruin identifiseer, tans witheid aan ʼn histories wit instelling (HWI) onderskryf, veral met betrekking tot beliggaamde identiteitsmerkers, en watter faktore tot hulle besluit om witheid te onderskryf of te verwerp, bydra. Meer spesifiek bied hierdie studie ʼn fenomenologiese verslag oor die ervarings van tien (10) studente aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch, wat as bruin selfidentifiseer, en beskryf dit die tweerigting-interaksie tussen hulle eksterne kenmerke (haartekstuur en velkleur) en die konstruksie van hulle identiteit in ʼn ruimte wat steeds deur ʼn wit kulturele etos gekenmerk word. Die studie het drie hooftemas op grond van die ontleding van die data geïdentifiseer: (i) bestaan in ʼn oorwegend wit ruimte; (ii) haarrangorde (ʼn spesifieke soort hiërargie wat sosiale status aan mense van kleur verleen op grond van hulle haartekstuur); en (iii) oorgang tot die ware self. Die bevindings dui aan dat bruin studente wel druk ervaar om witheid deur verwisseling en assimilasie toe te eien, en daardeur sosiale kapitaal vir ʼn beter sosiale ervaring op te bou. Hulle besef egter ook dat die strewe na wit wees onbereikbaar is en interne konflik in die self, of dubbele bewussyn (Du Bois, 1903; Molinsky, 2007), veroorsaak. Sommige het hierdie dubbelsinnigheid in hulle identiteit opgelos deur ʼn kritiese oorweging van die waardestelsels wat hulle opvoeding deurdrenk het en deur hulle natuurlike hare te aanvaar (ook beskryf as “natuurlik gaan”), wat ʼn oorgang tot die ware self gefasiliteer het. Ek voer aan dat ʼn onvermoë om krities om te gaan met onderwerpe soos haarvooroordeel, kleurisme en historiese pyn wat deur eksterne merkers in bruin gemeenskappe en wit ruimtes laat voortbestaan word, steeds verdere stryd sal toevoeg tot ʼn reeds komplekse sosiale identiteit. Masters 2021-12-07T09:20:37Z 2021-12-22T14:32:31Z 2021-12-07T09:20:37Z 2021-12-22T14:32:31Z 2021-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/123975 en_ZA Stellenbosch University 144 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Colored people (South Africa) External markers of identity Hair -- Identity Colored people (South Africa) -- Natural hair Colourism Historically white institution Memory and trauma UCTD Race bias -- Students Ceasar, Westley Grant Hairstory: exploring coloured students’ experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution |
| title | Hairstory: exploring coloured students’ experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution |
| title_full | Hairstory: exploring coloured students’ experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution |
| title_fullStr | Hairstory: exploring coloured students’ experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hairstory: exploring coloured students’ experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution |
| title_short | Hairstory: exploring coloured students’ experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution |
| title_sort | hairstory exploring coloured students experiences and expression of identity at a historically white institution |
| topic | Colored people (South Africa) External markers of identity Hair -- Identity Colored people (South Africa) -- Natural hair Colourism Historically white institution Memory and trauma UCTD Race bias -- Students |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/123975 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ceasarwestleygrant hairstoryexploringcolouredstudentsexperiencesandexpressionofidentityatahistoricallywhiteinstitution |