Bikuda: hair, aesthetic, and bodily perspectives from women in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

• Published in: African and black diaspora Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 269 - 282
• Main Author: Means, Sheryl Felecia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01-09-2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Afro-Brazilian women; Biko; Black people; Brazilian culture; Families & family life; Hair; Higher education; Identity; Intersectionality; Positioning; Racial identity; Relatives; Salvador; Social status; Socioeconomic factors; Womanhood; Women; Brazil; Salvador da Bahia Brazil
• ISSN: 1752-8631; 1752-864X
• DOI: 10.1080/17528631.2020.1723849

The Steve Biko Cultural Institute (Biko) is one of various institutions that aim to educate civically active Afro-descendant youth in Salvador who hope to enter higher education spaces. From this institution emerge the Bikudas, the female students. This paper analyzes semi-structured interviews and observations of this group from 2015 to 2016 and their shared experiences. The three aims of the paper are as follows regarding analysis of: (1) the plurality of Black identity; (2) the intersectionality Bikudas navigate as part of their social positioning within family, and relationships; and (3) how Black womanhood manifests on the body. This paper discusses how participants described their social standing as the lowest rank and struggled with their interactions with others on the basis of color, were often rejected by family members for wearing their hair naturally and assuming outward markers of Black identity, and endured greater socioeconomic burdens than their male counterparts.