Donna's Salon Utopia

Folder: Salon Chat Politics of Black hair Welcome d_kakong | Sign out Discussions : Salon Chat Share the last conversation you heard in a hair salon - what are people chatting about their, or on virtual hair salon chats on other websites? Item Folder: Salon Utopia Feedback Discussions : Feedback on Salon Utopia What do you think of the virtual salon? All comments, the good, bad and the ugly are welcome. What improvements do you think could be made - the staff would really like to serve you in the best way. Item Posted by Date Posted

d_kakong March 24, 1999 Hi DivineMiss, I just wrote a whole response but my time expired before I could send it. Thank you for your profound comments and I did see the New Yorker article and bought it, but I haven't read it yet. There is a book by Grant McCracken called Big Hair that goes into the same issues raised in that article, based on how you describe it. It's interesting to contemplate how the political nature of Black hair changes. Just thinking about present times, where there are Black women blonding their hair, could fall right in line with Mariame Kaba's argument about straightening hair as rational choice. Perhaps blonding hair is a rational choice for Black women too, it's not enough to have straight hair to access the White power structures. I know that colouring hair is nothing new to Black women. An old boss of mine who had gone to Ethiopia had told me that the women there use henna (which I think originally comes from East Africa) so in the pure sun...

Ask the Administrator: From: Ingww Posted: February 15, 1999 Donna, when I was at Big Life, one of the producers did an item on black hair. You may want to get in touch with her to get a copy. Her name is Lisa Gabriele and she can be reached at 416-205-3064. As for me, I often wonders why Asian women want curly hair (which usually results in hair being fried into a Ronald Macdonald's poodle perm) and why black women want straight hair (resulting in breakage and oddly shaped bobs). Is it that women of colour are being encouraged to strive for a Caucasian ideal of beauty? I suspect so. No hair on this Chinese head has been permed or blonded once! Replies [1 of 2] tojane February 17, 1999 I was impressed with the website. There always seems to be a good reason for processed hair (it's supposedly easier to take care of; it's more accepted in the workplace; it goes on and on). Until we start seeing positive images of BLACK women in mainstream popular culture, we will continu...

What Happened to the Afro? Afro Forever Research Paper for the M.A. in Media Studies at Concordia University By: Donna Kay Kakonge, M.A. Advisor: Dr. Martin Allor Committee member: Dr. Kim Sawchuk Outside Examiner: Dr. Lorna Roth @ 2006 What Happened to the Afro? Afro Forever Research Paper Intro Transformation In Loree’s Beauty Shop hot combs sizzled against wet oily scalps branding grown woman fantasies into tender young heads. Thick busy afros became long glossy black curls transforming natural Black queens into commercial mahogany princesses (Boyd, 14). This poem by Julia Boyd from In the Company of My Sisters is tragic, but it happens all the time. Afros and natural hair is transformed into something artificial, “fake boobs, fake hair, men don’t seem to care whether a woman is real or false.” The hair salon is the main site where the transformation happens. This paper accompanies the web-based project Salon Utopia (now defunct) that aimed to transform its clients in a natural way...

When I think of the beauty of Michael Jackson, I think of him at all stages of his life. His style and grace became known world over. He will be missed. I am so happy that his music lives on.

Last night I sat down and tried to lock my hair. It actually looked good at first, however as I continued to do it...I realized it did not look the way I wanted it to. I would recommend that anyone that wants to lock their hair seriously go to a certified loctician. This would have been the second time I would have locked my hair and I was not pleased with the previous results either. The last time I tried to lock my hair I used bee's wax and that was a really bad idea. This time there was barely anything in my hair. Although the twists I formed stayed, I did not like the way the twists were sitting on my head and it did not look very good. I took the ones I had done out and decided to stick with the same hairstyles I have been doing for years now. They are "tried, tested and true." Does not mean I do not appreciate a beautiful head of locks though.

Turns out I will not be doing the Trey Anthony interview after all. It is the time commitment to do it and the editor does not think I have the time to do it, which is probably true. It is also a non-paying job and this is not completely "cool" with me, even though I do volunteer work for VoicePrint. Oh well, perhaps I will get my chance to meet Trey Anthony another time.

I will be doing an interview with Trey Anthony, star and creator of the "'Da Kink in My Hair" fame. This was a play that performed at the Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto and is also a television show on Global TV. I'm excited about interviewing her. Anthony has achieved a lot through hard work when it comes to bringing artistic expression to hair. The article will be for a magazine called Black Ink , however I am also hoping the information will help with research I am doing into beauty aesthetics that will follow from my book What Happened to the Afro? . Recently I have also done an article about Gifty Serbeh-Dunn's Shea Butter Market company that provides healthy beauty products. I will be posting that article soon on this site. Have a beautiful day!

Site Structure Summary There will be three main types of metaphors included with this website, organizational, functional, and visual. The organizational metaphor will be of a hair salon and the links will be like different conversations going on inside of the salon. The functional metaphor will be an afro pick. The audience will be able to use the pick to pick from the different elements of the site and to move back and forth through the site. The visual metaphor will be of a waiting room. While the audience has to wait to get their link and listen in on the conversation going on in the hair salon (the organizational metaphor), there will be a picture of a waitingroom. The fourth metaphor will be oral. To simulate the atmosphere of a hair salon, music will play on the site, all related to hair. Such artists like Arrested Development, Des’ree, Digible Planets, Erykah Badu and Nina Simone will be played, particularly their songs about hair. Home Page Set-up for Hairnet: 1. Cutting ...

Pieces of Content and Sorts of Functionality The static elements of the site will include: the homepage of Salon Utopia consisting of a video picture of a real life salon with haircuts, press and curls, relaxers and weaves going on. Ultimately I would like music to open with this page, preferable Nina Simone singing “Black is the colour of my true love’s hair.” The other static content elements will include links in the banner ad to cutting edge book buy, a hair-must resource list, itchin’ for your feedback, the politics of Black hair from Mariame Kaba’s perspective, the politics of Black hair from Donna Kakonge’s perspective, and weaving hair knowledge with other web links. Other elements such as the information in the links will be dynamic. The dynamic elements will include the updating of the hair-must resource list. The feedback will also be posted on-line for everyone to read and respond to, and that will always be changing. Weaving hair knowledge with other web links will also...

Audience Definition (3 Scenarios) Cindy is an American graduate student doing her dissertation on Black style and its political significance. She plans to include a chapter which concerns hair. Cindy comes across the Hairnet site and finds out about the research Mariame Kaba has done on the topic, as well as the research Donna Kakonge is doing. She jots down the names as people to email in future with research questions. As well, she receives an impressive list of resources for her dissertation, that include a summary of the materials. Right there on the web she is able to make an instant order for books and videos that will be useful to her research. As well, she continues her web research by checking out the recommended sites from Hairnet: other hair web links. Arnold is a journalist for the Toronto Star. He is doing a story on the oldest living hairdresser for the Life section of the Saturday edition. In a pre-interview with the woman, (Mrs. Barnett), she goes on at length about t...

Q1: What is the mission/purpose of the organization? A1: The organization being represented on this website is owned by Mariame Kaba. She produced an essay entitled Restoring Black Women’s Agency: Hair Straightening as Rational Choice. Briefly, the background on the client and the product is that Ms. Kaba is a PhD student at Northwestern University in the Department of Sociology. She has an B.A. degree from McGill University and an M.A. from the City College of New York. It is her master’s level work where the 21-page essay on Restoring Black Women’s Agency comes from. Her thesis was on the topic of the politics of Black women’s hair and the essay is a shortened version of that thesis. The client originally wanted the entire thesis to be turned into a website. Unfortunately, there are some logistical problems involved with retrieving the entire document. Therefore, the shortened version will become the main knot that will hold the website together. The rationale of the essay is base...

Design Document for Hairnet: Curly Q & A for Web Design Donna Kay Kakonge #4021932 New Tek 1 - Multimedia Authoring for the Internet Instructor: Iain Cook Tuesday, October 13, 1998 Intro Black hair is the super curly hair found naturally on most Black people, as well as other races. It is difficult to define what is a Black person, and I will leave that up to self-definition. The author of this hair design document considers herself Black. The following outline for a website is primarily concerned with the super curly hair that exists on Black people due to the racialized society that we live in. The super curly hair is sometimes referred to as kinky, nappy, or coily. For this document the hair will be described as super curly. When one combs natural Black hair it has to be parted and put it into sections. Then, a wide tooth comb is used to prepare it for a style. This is what I have done with this hair design document, I have put it into sections and tried to comb through all the ...

His name is Dr. Samuel Boles and he is the medical director and an ophthalmologist at Anne Arundel Eye Center in Annapolis. His salary is $150,000 and he is 46-years-old. Boles received his medical degree from Georgia in 1989. His post-doctoral work involved an internship at Yale University, a cornea research fellowship at Harvard University and a residency at George Washington University. He went into ophthalmology because the demand is great. He worked at the University of California, San Diego, as well as a private practice in Baltimore for nine years before opening the Anne Arundel Eye Center in 2007. Boles works 60 to 80 hours a week. He is in the office about three to four days a week and is in surgery for about two days a week. In an average day he sees almost 30 patients. The patient care involves everything from follow-ups to in-depth patient consultations. With each patient he spends about 15 to 30 minutes. For operations he does anywhere from two to 10 a week. He has two fr...

For some people who may think the problems with their eyesight stem from old age or heredity, it is actually coming from Lasik eye surgery. In April, patients who have had the surgery told the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States stories about side effects including glare, halos, dry eyes and pain. In one situation the pain was so bad for a young man that it drove him to suicide. About 7.6 million Americans have had the surgery and about 40,000 people are showing major side effects. Increases in technology have reduced the amount of cornea cutting, making it easier to predict problems after an operation. This story comes from the St. Petersburg Times and the original author is glad she had the surgery. At least she can read without her glasses.

An eye surgery network in India that has prevented blindness in millions of people won $1 million from a Gates Award. This is the world's largest prize for international health. This award for global health is given by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Aravind Eye Care System is based in Tamil Nadu in southern India. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN20319164

I knew I had a problem seeing far when I would sit really close to the television by about the age of six. Once I reached higher up in the school and I needed to sit at the front of the class to see the chalkboard, glasses were an obvious consequence by time I turned about 12. At first I did not want to wear glasses, however I found the frames fun. I came across a pair of white ones and would wear them without the lenses, even though I needed still needed to see. Growing up in the 1980s in the age of the material girl, looking your best was a priority and glasses did not always go with that image. I had not heard of anyone who had received laser eye surgery – I really did not even know what it was. At first when laser eye surgery came out there were reports about people going blind. Others would say it changed their lives. I decided to just stick with my contacts, no matter how much they bothered me. I did know of some cultural groups who would get surgery to add an eyelid to their eye...

There are many ways you can prevent needing eye surgery at all and always make sure that you have 20/20 eyesight. If you are a parent, make sure you do not allow your children to sit too close to a television set. As well, when they are reading, the area should be well-lit. This is also true when you are an adult and your are parenting yourself. Always make sure that you do not sit too close to the television set, as well keep in well-lit places when you are reading. You may also want to try to purchase or borrow books from the library that are in large print, creating less strain on your eyes from small type. Make sure you get enough sleep, this is also important for maintaining proper eye care. Try to avoid rubbing your eyes as well because this disturbs your cornea. When in front of the computer screen, make sure it is set up properly so that it does not disturb your eyes. Make sure you have enough light to do your work. As well, it is important to take breaks when you are working a...

Most people feel fear when it comes to doing any surgical procedure. The eyes are a delicate area and anything can happen. If you pick the right time to do your surgery, this may help problems to occur. Choosing the right time to do your eye surgery is key to the success of it. If you are already feeling stress in your life and things are quite chaotic, it is probably not the ideal time to have surgery done on your eyes. It is best to choose a time when everything is going well for you – when things are going smoothly. This way you can also find the time to heal and enjoy the new change in you. Making sure you get the adequate time off work, or even scheduling it during your holiday may make for a pleasant experience as well.

When I think of how difficult it is for me to see at night, this does make me think of laser eye surgery. My vision is so bad at night that sometimes I do not even go out. When I am sitting in my backyard and have seen raccoons passing by around garbage and recycling days, once in awhile I have mistaken them for cats. My vision is really bad at night. Laser eye surgery could be something that would correct this. I have heard some people say that they find when they do the surgery their night vision looks a little like a cable TV when the connection is not as strong. I know other people where their vision with laser eye surgery is so good it is like looking at HDTV. This must be really great. During the day when I can see better, I once saw the brothers from Lasik and Lasik Eye Surgery bicycling down the street close to where I live. This is something else that would be great with eye surgery too. There would be an ability to bicycle without worrying about wearing eyeglasses that can re...

Considering this column is called Iris's Perspective, I could not help but focus on a place called IRIS Laser Eye Surgery. Eye surgery allows more freedom when you are golfing, swimming, driving or shopping. Restoring one's natural vision can be a dream of a lifetime. The process of gaining the freedom to see without glasses or contact lenses can be quite easy. IRIS has been the business of providing laser vision surgeries since 1998. They have clinics in Montreal and Vancouver. Both of the locations feature North America's Carl Zeiss MEL 80 laser, Wavefront Sciences Aberrometre and AMO Amadeus Microkertome – this is the latest and most advanced equipment. Visit IRIS to find out how laser vision correction may be the right choice for you.

Not everyone who wants to get eye surgery can get eye surgery because something may be wrong with their eyes that would prevent getting the surgery done. If this is the case for you, there are some inexpensive choices you can make to find eye wear. Many people will go to the Dollar Store to buy reading glasses. For the cost of just $1 CDN, you can find reading glasses that will help you to get through everything you need to see with to read. As well, at one time when I was not receiving benefits, I went to the Dollar Store and bought a pair of sunglasses, punched out the lenses and got prescription lenses put in to help with the near-sighted life I lead. I found this to be an extremely inexpensive way to deal with not having an insurance plan to pay for my glasses at the time. The whole thing cost me about $40 to $60. Later when I did have an insurance plan I bought other glasses that snapped because a child in my life kept playing with them. I went back to my old glasses from the Doll...

Despite what people are saying about actress Nicolette Sheridan having cosmetic surgery, she insists that her looks come down to “good genes.” Sheridan is one of the stars of “Desperate Housewives.” At 44 she says she has not been under the knife yet, however does not rule it out for the future.

Plastic surgery is not just for the wives of Hollywood stars anymore – their husbands are getting it too. George Clooney has admitted to some eye work, many other men are spending thousands to fight the signs of aging. Chiseling the jaw line, getting rid of fat in the rear end and bellies, as well as smoothing wrinkles around the eyes are some of the surgeries men are performing to give them the edge in the business world, physicians are saying. In 2007, men did 1 million cosmetic procedures; this is an increase of 17 percent from 2006. The major growth for men is in non-surgical procedures such as Botox, lip plumping and skin resurfacing. These procedures have increased 21 percent. In the United States, the common surgical procedures for men are liposuction, eyelid surgery, nose work, male breast reduction and hair transplants. Men are also getting laser hair removal, micro-dermabrasion, and fillers to plump up sagging cheeks and laser skin resurfacing.

There are so many people out there who believe that looks make them matter that are seeking out professional experts. This results in cosmetic surgery. Sometimes, not everyone can afford plastic surgery that would then lead them to find other ways to finance it. Taking out loans for cosmetic surgery has become more common. In some cases, people are taking out any where from 1,000 to 2,5000 British pounds sterling to get such treatments done as breast augmentation, liposuction, hair transplantation, plastic surgery and laser treatments. These loans are different from other loans and are available in a secured and as an unsecured way. With the secured loans, you would need to pledge any valuable asset. This is beneficial for major surgeries and the interest rate is lower. Unsecured loans offer a smaller amount and are good for minor surgeries. The interest rate is slightly higher. These loans are basically short term loans where the repayment usually takes about two to five years maximum...

Britney Spears is planning to undergo cosmetic surgery because she has slacked off her diet sources say. Spears would like her body to be the way it was before she had kids. Spears has been ripping pages out of magazines to choose what she thinks are her favourite body parts. Sources say Spears is insecure over how much her body has changed since having her kids. She is reported wanting to do whatever it takes to be back to her best, even if that means plastic surgery. Psychologist Linda Blair says that Britney may need more than just plastic surgery to feel better about herself. Blair says people often think plastic surgery is the answer and will solve their problems when it really does not. Spears is looking into getting a tummy tuck, liposuction, breast enhancement and rhinoplasty. She is also looking to get a chemical peel for her facial skin.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) says that 2.8 million botox procedures were done last year. This makes botox the most popular cosmetic procedure since 2000. The numbers just keep rising and have jumped to 82 percent in the past five years. Although many reports about botox have been positive, there have also been some alarming trends such as “Botox parties.” This is when a group of people get together to have botox performed. The ASAPS says that it is important that if you are seeking botox you need to make sure a qualified person does it. These are some of the questions they would ask: · Have you been asked to provide a complete medical history? · Have you been advised on alternative treatments? · Have you been advised of the risks and given your informed consent? Is a qualified clinician administering the treatment? · Is the physical setting appropriate for administering medical treatment, including handling emergency situations? · Do you kno...

In the past, the only place available for Filipinos to look great was to go to their neighbourhood beauty salon. Now there are many places to choose from such as the facial salon, the spa, the medi-spa, the cosmetic surgeon and more. Dr. Jay, who established his cosmetic surgery and beauty services eight years ago, says he has seen an increase in Filipinos requesting his services. He also says the prospects for the future are good. Jay’s business called Faces & Curves also gets many foreign clients through the medical tourism program. They call these clients balikbayans, from the U.S., Japan and Europe. In the Philippines, prices for plastic surgery are more affordable. They are one-third less than in the U.S. or Europe. Breast augmentation can be anywhere from $3,000 to $4,000. Their website also helps to drive a lot of clientele to Faces & Curves too. They do about 30 surgeries a month. Not just anyone can get surgery; they do a test before they decide to take the client on. ...

If you are looking for that perfect get-away and to rejuvenate yourself to look younger at the same time, you just might find it in Malaysia. There is a holiday called “Beautiful You” offered in Malaysia. This holiday specializes in cosmetic surgery abroad. It is the first of its kind. This unique world-renowned medial organization is located in Malaysia. These foreign top-quality medical facilities offer cosmetic surgery at the fraction of the cost you would find them in places like the United States, Europe and Japan. The added benefit to doing these services abroad is that you would not need to pay taxes on them either. The facility makes sure that if you are at all worried about traveling to a foreign country alone, a patient coordinator will assist you with everything you need such as learning the local customs, as well as helping you with the language differences. This will allow you to relax and to be able to truly call it your “beauty holiday.” Instead of needing to go to follo...

The popularity of plastic surgery is huge. In Toronto, Canada there have been reported cases of people who have had the surgery and things have happened to them as serious as death. Does this mean there should be stricter regulations on cosmetic surgery? Some places in the world have strict regulations, while others do not. The training of the surgeon should be considered an important factor, as well as the research you have put into finding the perfect doctor for you to do the surgery. Going with recommendations can help a lot. At least you would know that the surgeon has a good reputation and will most likely do a good job for you too. In Canada, there is an association called the College of Physicians and Surgeons where you can find out more about the surgeons you are researching. You can also find out what are the ideal qualifications for a surgeon for you. Most surgeons have studied for about eight to 10 years after graduating from medical school. You should also find out in terms...

Many people will choose cosmetic eye surgery to prevent the signs of aging. Surgical methods can lift the eyes, known as an eyelift as well as smooth the contours under the eyes to make you look younger. Some cultural groups also get a surgical procedure done to add an eyelid where a significant one was not there before. Laser eye surgery is used to reverse poor vision back to 20/20. The procedure costs anywhere from $4,000 to $5,000 for both eyes – even less in some cases. Those figures are maximum ballpark ones. Laser eye surgery is relatively unobtrusive for those people who are little squeamish when it comes to knives, needles and blood. One of the benefits of cosmetic surgery is that it is meant to enhance your existing features. If this is something you would like to consider, perhaps you are tired of your eyeglasses and the way they make you look – or you are simply aiming to look younger because that is a value that you hold dear, then speaking with a cosmetic eye surgeon may b...

I had my days when I was in the model world. Weighing in at 118 pounds at the height of 5 feet 10 inches, my model agent once told me that I should lose five pounds at that time. The main reason why I got into modeling was because a boyfriend of mine was doing it too. I had a lot of fun doing it and when I was in my late teens and early 20s I did not ever think of getting cosmetic surgery – nor did I plan to in the future. As the years rolled by and friends that knew me for a long time starting telling me I was gaining weight – those were the brave ones – I must admit that once or twice I did think about going under the knife. It is a good thing I am afraid of knives though because this is probably one of the main reasons why I have not considered cosmetic surgery. I really do think many people need to be thankful for the looks and the body they have. A lot of weight issues for example can be solved through exercise, rather than cosmetic surgery. Perhaps in some cases if there is a gra...

I remember the days when I was young and skinny – they really were not all that long ago. Those days are gone now and it is probably a good thing that I am afraid of knives that keeps me from doing cosmetic surgery. In general I am happy with the way I look. It is an au naturel look that I strive for, an Earth Goddess kind of thing. At least I tell myself this and it helps me sleep at night so I do not miss being the “hottie” I once was. There is an expression that “beauty is wasted on the young.” I would say this is absolutely true. All of the beauty I had when I was younger would come in more handy now and be a lot more useful. On the other hand though, I have things like wisdom at my age that I did not have in my teens and in my 20s that is hard to get from a knife. I do understand why some older people would choose to get plastic surgery to have a look that they feel will give them the competitive edge in the career market. Some occupations really require a certain look. I am glad ...