Inklings Hair/Power: Essays on Control and Freedom, (Paperback)

<p>Braiding together memoir and cultural criticism, <i>Hair/Power</i> explores the power, control, and ultimate liberation that hair can provide.</p><p>Growing up as a second-generation Indian immigrant, Kajal Odedra remembers the first time she cut her waist-length hair. It was an act of rage, of defiance, an attempt to push back against societal expectations and regain control</p><p>Odedra realized at an early age that hair is never "just hair," and both its presence and absence can have a profound impact on our lives across race, gender, and sexuality. While hair is a powerful form of self-expression, it is also a political battleground, where bodies are policed and normative beauty standards wreak havoc. But who is setting the standards, and how can we dispel these harmful cultural myths?</p><p>Interspersing intimate anecdotes with intersectional commentary, <i>Hair/Power</i> dives into the origins and cultural significance of hair--considering buzz cuts, Mohawks, Afros and the natural hair movement, baldness, and more--exposing the roots of a beauty industry built on discrimination. Ultimately Odedra is able to find joy and strength in hair, and she shows us how hair can be a powerful tool for activism, community building, and bringing about our shared liberation.</p>

• Inklings Hair/Power: Essays on Control and Freedom, (Paperback)
• Author: Kajal Odedra
• ISBN: 9781916637283
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2026-09-22
• Page Count: 112