• Intelligencer
  • The Cut
  • Vulture
  • The Strategist
  • Curbed
  • Grub Street
  • Subscribe to the Magazine Give a Gift Subscription Buy Back Issues Current Issue Contents
    Subscribe to New York Magazine
  • Subscribe
  • Profile
    Sign Out
The Cut
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
Style
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Shopping
  • Design Hunting
  • New York Weddings
  • Parties & Red Carpet
  • Fashion Shows
  • Cathy Horyn
Self
  • Health & Wellness
  • Motherhood
  • Advice
  • Sex & Relationships
  • Science of Us
  • Horoscopes
  • Ask Polly
Culture
  • Books
  • Television
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Celebrity
Power
  • Politics
  • Work
  • Money
  • Rebecca Traister
More
  • Latest Stories
  • Video
  • About Us
  • The Cut Shop
  • nymag.com
  • New York Magazine
  • Intelligencer
  • Vulture
  • The Cut
  • The Strategist
  • Grub Street
hairy situations
April 22, 2016

Understanding the Politics of Prince’s Hair

By Ashley Weatherford

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet

I remember when I first saw Prince. I was 7 or 8, and I was confused. My mind — naive, affixed to what society had told me to expect from men — couldn’t wrap itself around the idea that the velvety voice that sung about 1999 and red Corvettes came from the same man with the freshly laid hair.

As a child in a small town in Ohio, I knew few things for sure. I knew that men had short hair; men didn’t dye their hair; men didn’t do much at all to their hair, aside from brushing it so that it didn’t look messy. I knew from looking at my father that black men, especially, didn’t blow-dry their hair into fluffy masterpieces. Prince contradicted everything that I knew about men and hair, and I am better because of it.

Prince was royalty, and his hair was his crown. Photos of Prince in his teens show he chose to wear the popular hairstyle of the time — an Afro that grew concurrently with the years. He kept that hair for his first album cover, entering our world with the same picked-out, larger-than-life hair that he wore to exit it yesterday.

It was his second album, Prince, that I remember staring at as a child in bewilderment. His hair was full, straight but with body, and flipped at the ends. You might say it was the Farrah Fawcett do, but Prince did it better, and with a mustache. On the back of that same album, Prince is naked and riding Pegasus. He was good at so many things, and giving the middle finger to norms and expectations was one of them.

Some of my favorite Prince hairstyles took place during his curly-hair days. He wore it short with tight, bouncy curls. As a child, I saw the imagery for Purple Rain and it reminded me of my mother. For a time, she and Prince shared a hairstyle, like two pretty people might just happen to wear the same shirt.

It’s funny, because when I compare Prince to my mother, it sheds a light on the barriers that he so easily traversed. These days, if we say that Justin Bieber looks like Miley Cyrus, it’s meant as a joke because we know Justin wouldn’t like it. But when we say that Prince remotely resembled anyone, it’s taken as the highest praise, because, for him, crossing boundaries was a higher calling. He didn’t just climb over the wall that separates women from men; he rode over it, naked, on a winged horse.

I’m a black woman, so my understanding of what his hair meant to black men is limited, but I know that meaning was there. If I can guess, his freedom of expression — in hair, clothes, and style — was an invitation to others to bravely bend gender norms in a culture in which the laws of how to be a man are so deeply ingrained. For so long, little black boys have been told that they must achieve a kind of independent black manhood, one actively denied their fathers and grandfathers. This meant they must always behave a certain way, leaving no room for nonconformity. But Prince openly defied this notion and many, either consciously or subconsciously, followed suit.

For instance, when I look at Jaden Smith, with sprouts of blond at the crown of his head, I see Prince and his highlights from two decades before. When I see Lenny Kravitz embrace fashion and nonconformity, all the while wrapped up in being a sex symbol, I see Prince there too. Prince made it easier for everyone in his wake to be a little more open, and a little more weird. His eccentricity and willingness to shirk the benchmarks that were laid before him were gifts we never knew we needed, but ones that we thoroughly deserved.

View
1 / 14 Photos
Photo: BERTRAND GUAY
Photo: NBC/2013 NBCUniversal Media, LLC
Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./1994 Ron Galella, Ltd.
Photo: Kevin Mazur/2012 Kevin Mazur
Photo: L. Busacca/2008 Larry Busacca
Photo: Craig Blankenhorn/2012 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Photo: Kevin Winter/2011 Getty Images
Photo: L. Busacca/2008 Larry Busacca
Photo: SGranitz
Photo: Rob Verhorst
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/2015 Getty Images
1 / 14

Tags:

  • beauty
  • prince
  • hair
  • hairy situations

More Galleries

in memoriam Dec. 30, 2020
30 Incredible Fashion Moments From Pierre Cardin  Remembering a creative visionary. 
By Andrew Nguyen
rest in power Dec. 23, 2020
A Photo Memorial for an Iconic Model  She passed away suddenly at the age of 50 this week. 
campaign trail Nov. 18, 2020
‘Tis the Season for New Fashion Ads  See the best ones from Gucci, Prada, Versace, and more. 
By Emily Burns
nyfw spring 2021 Oct. 26, 2020
How a Great Collection Comes Alive  Christopher John Rogers launched its first-ever online shop, along with a new campaign. 
By Andrew Nguyen
campaign trail Sept. 24, 2020
See the Fashion Campaigns for Fall 2020  From Prada, Michael Kors, Celine, Louis Vuitton, and more. 
By Andrew Nguyen
nyfw spring 2021 Sept. 22, 2020
See the Coach Spring 2021 Collection  Worn by Megan Thee Stallion, Kate Moss, Cole Sprouse, and more. 
By Andrew Nguyen
fashion Sept. 16, 2020
The Stunning Awkwardness of Face Masks on the Red Carpet  Celebrities tried to make the best of a strange situation at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. 
one word one shot Sept. 15, 2020
72 Designers on Their Spring/Summer Inspirations  Just in time for Fashion Week. 
By the Cut
red carpet Sept. 8, 2020
This Red Carpet Was Totally Surreal  But also amazing. See all the looks at the Venice Film Festival. 
By Emilia Petrarca and Andrew Nguyen
in memoriam Aug. 31, 2020
Remembering Chadwick Boseman on the Red Carpet  His style was bold, risk-taking, and always impeccable. 
the wedding files Aug. 21, 2020
The Design-Minded Couple Who Didn’t Want to Try Too Hard  The bride got a wonderful surprise the morning of her wedding. 
By Kaitlin Menza
the wedding files Aug. 14, 2020
A Costa Rica Wedding During the Rainy Season  Thunder roared during the toasts. 
By Kaitlin Menza
the wedding files Aug. 7, 2020
A San Francisco Wedding at a Big, Empty Pier  The bride changed into crushed-velvet pants for the disco-infused reception. 
By Kaitlin Menza
the wedding files July 31, 2020
An Elopement Among the Lupines in Iceland  The late afternoon was spent snapping photos near waterfalls and black beaches. 
By Kaitlin Menza
the wedding files July 24, 2020
A Pennsylvania Potluck for 280 People  “I looked at her for the first time and had this feeling like, You. I know you.” 
By Kaitlin Menza
milan fashion week July 22, 2020
Behind the Scenes at Gucci’s Virtual Show  Instead of models, members of the design team sported the eccentric collection. 
By Andrew Nguyen
the wedding files July 17, 2020
A Dance Party Under Puerto Rican Palm Trees  Bad Bunny blasted and pitorro flowed. 
By Kaitlin Menza
the wedding files July 10, 2020
A Zoom Wedding Only Two Digital Creatives Could Produce  The couple coordinated multiple video segments, breakout rooms, and a dance party. 
By Kaitlin Menza
the wedding files July 3, 2020
The Anti-Spectacle Wedding That Turned Into a Spectacle  Brooklyn Bridge Park was the site of their first date, proposal, and wedding. 
By Kaitlin Menza
the wedding files June 26, 2020
A Night at the Philadelphia Museum of Art  The flowers were specially treated to protect the masterpieces. 
By Kaitlin Menza
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Help
  • We’re Hiring
  • Press
  • Trademark
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Ad Choices
  • Do Not Sell My Info
The Cut is a Vox Media Network. © 2021 Vox Media, LLC. All rights reserved.