View source for Cornrows

{{Short description|Style of hair braiding}}
[[File:Cornrows.jpg|thumb|Woman with cornrows]]
'''Cornrows''' (also called '''canerows''') are a style of three-strand [[Braid (hairstyle)|braid]]s in which the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to make a continuous, raised row.<ref name="cornrow noun">{{Cite web |title=cornrow (noun) |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/cornrow_n |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> Cornrows are often done in simple, straight lines, as the term implies, but they can also be styled in elaborate geometric or curvilinear designs. They are considered a traditional hairstyle in many [[Culture of Africa|African cultures]], as well as in the [[African diaspora]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baron |first=Robert |date=2010 |title=Sins of Objectification? Agency, Mediation, and Community Cultural Self-Determination in Public Folklore and Cultural Tourism Programming |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jamerfolk.123.487.0063 |journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=123 |issue=487 |pages=63–91 (89) |doi=10.5406/jamerfolk.123.487.0063 |issn=0021-8715|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Essah |first=Doris S. |title=Fashioning the Nation: Hairdressing, Professionalism and the Performance of Gender in Ghana, 1900-2006. |date=2008 |degree=Thesis |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/60728 |language=en-US}} p. 221.</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Leong |first=Nancy |date=2021 |title=Enjoyed by White Citizens |url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2021/08/Leong_Enjoyed-by-White-Citizens.pdf |journal=Georgetown Law Review |volume=109 |issue=1421 |pages=1430}}</ref> They are distinct from, but may resemble, [[box braids]], [[Dutch braid]]s, melon coiffures, and other forms of [[Braid (hairstyle)|plaited hair]], and are typically tighter than braids used in other cultures.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Underwood |first=Khalea |date=2019-08-24 |title=Cornrows, Braids, Twists, Oh My: How To Spot The Difference In Braiding Styles |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/braids-hairstyles-differences |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Refinery29}}</ref>

The name ''cornrows'' refers to the layout of crops in corn and sugar cane fields in the [[Americas]] and [[Caribbean]],<ref name="cornrow noun" /><ref name="Mensah20202">{{cite book |author=Charlotte Mensah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a67ODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42 |title=Good Hair: The Essential Guide to Afro, Textured and Curly Hair |date=29 October 2020 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-241-98817-6 |page=42}}</ref> where enslaved Africans were displaced during the [[Atlantic slave trade]].<ref>Quampah, B., Owusu, E., Adu, V. N. F. A., Agyemang Opoku, N., Akyeremfo, S., & Ahiabor, A. J. (2023). "Cornrow: a medium for communicating escape strategies during the transatlantic slave trade era: evidences from Elmina Castle and Centre for National Culture in Kumasi". ''International Journal of Social Sciences: Current and Future Research Trends'' (IJSSCFRT), 18:1. pp. 127-143.</ref> According to [[Black people|Black]] folklore, cornrows were often used to communicate on the [[Underground Railroad]] and by [[Benkos Biohó]] during his time as a slave in Colombia.<ref name="Irbahim">{{Cite web |last=Irbahim |first=Nur |date=2022-03-12 |title=Did Braiding Maps in Cornrows Help Black Slaves Escape Slavery? |url=https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/03/12/maps-cornrows-black-slaves-escape/ |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Snopes}}</ref> They often serve as a form of [[Black pride|Black self-expression]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Dash |first=Paul |date=2006-01-31 |title=Black hair culture, politics and change |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603110500173183 |journal=International Journal of Inclusive Education |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=27–37 |doi=10.1080/13603110500173183 |issn=1360-3116|url-access=subscription }}</ref> especially among [[African Americans]],<ref name="cornrow noun" /> but have been stigmatized in some cultures.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8">Spellers, R. E. (2000). ''Cornrows in corporate America: Black female hair/body politics and socialization experiences in dominant culture workplace organizations''. Arizona State University. p.iii.</ref> Cornrows are traditionally called "kolese" or "irun didi" in [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]], and are often nicknamed "didi braids" in the Nigerian diaspora.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kia |first=Kara |date=2021-02-05 |title=It's Time We Ditch the Words "Cornrows" and "Canerows" and Call Them Didi Braids Instead |url=https://www.popsugar.co.uk/node/48148196 |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=POPSUGAR Beauty UK |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Cornrows are worn by both sexes, and are sometimes adorned with beads, shells, or hair cuffs.<ref name="cornrow noun" /> The duration of braiding cornrows may take up to five hours, depending on the quantity and width.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://africanamericanhairstyling.com/cornrow-braid-styles/ |title=Cornrow Braid Styles |publisher=Africanamericanhairstyling |access-date=2018-08-11 |archive-date=26 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726195243/http://africanamericanhairstyling.com/cornrow-braid-styles/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Often favored for their easy maintenance, cornrows can be left in for weeks at a time if maintained through careful washing of the hair and natural oiling of the scalp. Braids are considered a protective styling on African curly hair as they allow for easy and restorative growth; braids pulled too tightly or worn for longer lengths of time and on different hair types can cause a type of hair loss known as [[traction alopecia]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6961935.stm | work=BBC News | title=Braiding 'can lead to hair loss' | date=2007-08-24 | access-date=2010-04-30}}</ref>

== History ==
===Africa===
[[File:SMITH(1890) p211 JOHANNIS, KING OF ABYSSINIA.jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[Yohannes IV|Emperor Yohannes IV]] wearing traditional Ethiopian braids.]]
Cornrows originated in Africa,<ref name="cornrow noun" /> where they likely developed in response to the unique textures of African hair,<ref name=":14" /><ref name="White 1995">{{Cite journal |last=White |first=Shane |last2=White |first2=Graham |date=1995 |title=Slave Hair and African American Culture in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2211360 |journal=The Journal of Southern History |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=45–76 |doi=10.2307/2211360 |issn=0022-4642|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and have held significance for different cultures throughout recorded history.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2011-06-12 |title=History of Cornrow Braiding: African Orgins 1.d |url=http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/african/CORNROW_CURVES/culture/african.origins.2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612120134/http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/african/CORNROW_CURVES/culture/african.origins.2.htm |archive-date=2011-06-12 |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=ccd.rpi.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The evolution of cornrows - Reader's Digest |url=https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/the-evolution-of-cornrows |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=www.readersdigest.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dreadlocks {{!}} Hairstyle, History, Cultural Appropriation, & Locs {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/dreadlocks |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> Early depictions of women with what appear to be cornrows have been found in [[Stone Age]] paintings in the [[Tassili Plateau]] of the [[Sahara]], and have been dated as far back as 3000 B.C. A similar style is also seen in depictions of the ancient [[Cushitic]] people of the [[Horn of Africa]], who appear to be wearing this style of braids as far back as 2000 B.C.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African history and culture: Ancient Africa (prehistory to 500 CE), Volume 1 |publisher=Facts on File |year=2001 |isbn=978-0816044726 |editor=Willie F. Page |page=36}}</ref> In Nubia, the remains of a young girl wearing cornrows has been dated to 550–750 A.D.<ref>DeLongoria, M. (2018). Misogynoir:* Black Hair, Identity Politics, and Multiple Black Realities. ''Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies'', ''12''(8), 39-49 (40).</ref> Cornrows have also been documented in the ancient Nok civilization in Nigeria,<ref name=":3" /> in the Mende culture of Sierra Leone,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-06-12 |title=History of Cornrow Braiding: African Origins1.c |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612120129/http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/african/CORNROW_CURVES/culture/african.origins.1.b.htm |archive-url=http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/african/CORNROW_CURVES/culture/african.origins.1.b.htm |archive-date=2011-06-12 |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=ccd.rpi.edu}}</ref> and the Dan culture of the [[Ivory Coast|Côte d'Ivoire]].<ref name=":2" /> 

Women in West Africa have been attested wearing complex hairstyles of threaded or wrapped braids since at least the 18th century. These practices likely influenced the use of cornrows and headwraps (such as [[durag]]s) among enslaved Africans taken to the Americas.<ref name="White 1995" /> In Ethiopia and Eritrea, there are many braided hairstyles which may include cornrows or "shuruba", such as Habesha or Albaso braids, and Tigray shuriba.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Shine My Crown |date=2023-06-20 |title=Albaso Braids: Modern Ethiopian Braids & Hairstyles |url=https://shinemycrown.com/hairstyle/albaso-braids/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Shine My Crown |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-04 |title=20 Ethiopian Hairstyle Ideas – Forever Braids |url=https://foreverbraids.com/ethiopian-hairstyles/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |language=en-CA}}</ref> Though such hairstyles have always been popular with women, Ethiopian men have also worn such hairstyles. In 19th century [[Ethiopia]], male warriors and kings such as [[Tewodros II]] and [[Yohannes IV]] were depicted wearing braided hairstyles, including the shuruba.<ref>{{Cite web |title=African Ghana Wall Mask, Woman with Braided Hair, Hand Carved Ebony. |url=https://www.roadshowcollectibles.ca/products/african-ghana-decorative-wall-mask-woman-with-braided-hair-hand-carved-ebony |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Roadshow Collectibles}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Kiya |date=2019-04-16 |title=Returning to Roots: Braids Make a Comeback |url=https://ethiopianbusinessreview.net/returning-to-roots/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Ethiopian Business Review |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Aning |first=Laurencia |title=A hair journey through time {{!}} Hair Journey with Laurencia |url=https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/laurenciaaning/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=blogs.brighton.ac.uk |via=University of Brighton}}</ref>

Cornrow hairstyles in Africa also cover a wide social terrain: religion, kinship, status, age, racial diversity, and other attributes of identity can all be expressed in hairstyle. Just as important is the act of braiding, which passes on cultural values between generations, expresses bonds between friends, and establishes the role of professional practitioner.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |title=History of Cornrow Braiding: African Origins 1.b |url=http://csdt.rpi.edu/african/cornrow_curves/culture/african.origins.1.a.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623170048/http://csdt.rpi.edu/african/cornrow_curves/culture/african.origins.1.a.htm |archive-date=2015-06-23 |access-date=2015-06-20 |publisher=Csdt.rpi.edu}}</ref><ref name=":14" /> Braiding is traditionally a social ritual in many African cultures—as is hairstyling in general—and is often performed communally, as White and White explain:

{{Blockquote |text=In African cultures, the grooming and styling of hair have long been important social rituals. Elaborate hair designs, reflecting tribal affiliation, status, sex, age, occupation, and the like, were common, and the cutting, shaving, wrapping, and braiding of hair were centuries-old arts. In part, it was the texture of African hair that allowed these cultural practices to develop; as the historian John Thornton has observed, "the tightly spiraled hair of Africans makes it possible to design and shape it in many ways impossible for the straighter hair of Europeans."<ref name=":14" /> }}

===Europe===
[[File:Reconstruction of the Lady of Brassempouy by Libor Balák, Czech Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Archaeology in Brno, The Center for Paleolithic and Paleoethnological Research.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of Venus of Brassempouy by Libor Balák. Czech Academy of Sciences. Although this may be inaccurate due to Europeans having darker skin 23-29,000 years ago<ref>{{Citation |last=Carlberg |first=Andrea HanelCarsten |title=English:  History of human pigmentation in Europe. |date=2020-07-03 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Archaeogenetic_analysis_of_human_skin_pigmentation_in_Europe.jpg |access-date=2024-05-15}}</ref>|left|110x110px]]There have been a number of examples of European art and sculpture described as similar to modern cornrows,<ref name="White 2006" /> such as plaits, the melon coiffure and sini crenes.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Witcombe3" /><ref name=":5" />

[[File:Female funerary statue (detail) (2nd cent. B.C.) at the National Archaeological Museum on 2 July 2018.jpg|thumb|Melon coiffure on Small Herculaneum woman, ca. 2nd century, [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]].|165x165px]]

The oldest of these depictions are the statues known as the [[Venus of Brassempouy]]<ref name="White 2006">{{Cite journal |author=Randall White |date=December 2006 |title=The Women of Brassempouy: A Century of Research and Interpretation |url=http://blogimages.bloggen.be/evodisku/attach/166144.pdf |journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=251–304 |doi=10.1007/s10816-006-9023-z |s2cid=161276973}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-30 |title=Echoes of the Past: Prehistoric Wonders in Southern France |url=https://francetoday.com/culture/art_and_design/echoes-of-the-past-prehistoric-wonders-in-southern-france/ |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=France Today}}</ref> and the [[Venus of Willendorf]],<ref name="Witcombe3">[http://witcombe.sbc.edu/willendorf/willendorfwoman.html "Woman from Willendorf"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005031914/http://witcombe.sbc.edu/willendorf/willendorfwoman.html|date=2007-10-05}}.  Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, 2003: "The rows are not one continuous spiral but are, in fact, composed in seven concentric horizontal bands that encircle the head and two more horizontal bands underneath the first seven on the back of the head."</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaw Nevins |first=Andrea |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/856869915 |title=The embodiment of disobedience : fat black women's unruly political bodies |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-7391-5457-1 |location=Lanham, MD |oclc=856869915}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shell |first=Ellen Ruppel |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53434322 |title=The hungry gene : the inside story of the obesity industry |date=2003 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=0-8021-4033-5 |edition=1st Grove Press |location=New York |oclc=53434322}}</ref> which date between 23,000 and 29,000 years ago<ref>{{Cite web |title=The earliest artistic depiction of a hairstyle {{!}} New Scientist |url=https://www.newscientist.com/letter/mg23631540-900-15-the-earliest-artistic-depiction-of-a-hairstyle/ |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=www.newscientist.com |language=en-US}}</ref> and were found in modern day [[France]] and [[Austria]]. Whether these statues feature cornrows, another type of braids,  headdresses, or some other styling has been a matter of vigorous debate — most historians rule out cornrows, however.<ref name="White 2006" /><ref name="Witcombe3" /><ref name=":6" /> The Venus of Brassempouy is often said to wear a wig or a patterned hood,<ref name=":6">{{cite book|last=Lawson|first=Andrew|title=Painted Caves: Palaeolithic Rock Art in Western Europe|date=24 May 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-969822-6|page=47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kU-10lGjDYoC&q=Venus+of+Brassempouy+hood&pg=PA47}}</ref> while the Venus of Willendorf is said to be wearing [[plaited hair]] or a fibrous cap.<ref name="Witcombe3" />

Since the early 5th century B.C., Ancient Greek and Roman art shows men and women with a characteristic melon coiffure, especially in the "[[Aphrodite Areia#Origins|Oriental Aphrodite]]" tradition, which may be confused with cornrows.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seated Nude Woman with "Melon Coiffure" |url=https://www.library.fordham.edu/digital/item/collection/Hist/id/655 |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Fordham University Libraries}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Herculaneum Women |url=https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/herculaneum_women/index.html |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=The J. Paul Getty Museum}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2015-12-16 |title=Hairstyles in the Arts of Greek and Roman Antiquity |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X15526158 |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Journal of Investigative Dermatology Symposium Proceedings}}</ref> The traditional hairstyle of Roman [[Vestal Virgins]], the sini crenes, also incorporates two braids that resemble cornrows.<ref>{{Cite book |last=León |first=Vicki |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/879285569 |title=Working IX to V : orgy planners, funeral clowns, and other prized professions of the ancient world |date=2013 |isbn=978-0-8027-1862-4 |location=New York |pages=18 |oclc=879285569}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Oldest Roman Hairstyle Recreated for First Time |url=https://www.livescience.com/26112-oldest-roman-hairstyle-recreated.html |website=LiveScience |date=9 January 2013 |accessdate=13 February 2019}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Ancient Roman Vestal Virgin hairstyle re-created for very first time |url=https://gizmodo.com/ancient-roman-vestal-virgin-hairstyle-re-created-for-ve-5975123 |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=Gizmodo |date=11 January 2013 |language=en-us}}</ref>

===Americas===
The first recorded use of the word "cornrow" was in America in 1769, referring to the corn fields of the Americas. The earliest recorded use of the term "cornrows" to refer a hairstyle was in 1902.{{efn|"Alice hunted up faithful old nurse Calline at once, sure of overflowing black motherly sympathy. She found her perched on the railing of the back gallery, combing her hair in long 'corn-rows'."
''Century Magazine'', October 1902, 966/1.}}<ref name="cornrow noun" /> The name "canerows" may be more common in parts of the [[Caribbean]] due to the historic role of [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|sugar plantations]] in the region.<ref name="Mensah20202"/>

As in Africa, grooming was a social activity for Black people on the [[Plantation complexes in the Southern United States|American plantations]]; the enslaved Africans were reported helping each other style their hair into a wide variety of appearances. On his visit to a plantation in [[Natchez, Mississippi]], New Englander [[Joseph Ingraham|Joseph lngraham]] wrote, "No scene can be livelier or more interesting to a Northerner, than that which the negro quarters of a well regulated plantation present, on a Sabbath morning, just before church hour."<ref name=":142">{{Cite book |last=White |first=Shane |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7591/9781501718083/html |title=Stylin': African-American Expressive Culture, from Its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit |last2=White |first2=Graham |date=1999 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-5017-1808-3 |place=Ithaca, NY |pages=37–39 |language=en |doi=10.7591/9781501718083 |access-date=2024-10-28}}</ref> Hairstyles were so characteristic of a person, even when their appearance and behaviour was otherwise heavily regulated, that they were often used to identify [[Fugitive slaves in the United States|runaways]], and enslaved Africans sometimes had their hair shaved as a form of punishment. Generally, however, slaveholders in the British colonies gave their Black slaves a degree of latitude in how they wore their hair.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=White |first=Shane |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7591/9781501718083/html |title=Stylin': African-American Expressive Culture, from Its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit |last2=White |first2=Graham |date=1999 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-5017-1808-3 |place=Ithaca, NY |pages=40–1 |language=en |doi=10.7591/9781501718083 |access-date=2024-10-28}}</ref> Thus, wearing traditional hairstyles offered a way to assert their [[Bodily integrity|bodily autonomy]] when they otherwise had none.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Susannah |date=1999 |title=Stylin': African American Expressive Culture from its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit. By Shane White and Graham White (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1998. xv plus 301pp.) (Review) |url=https://academic.oup.com/jsh/article-lookup/doi/10.1353/jsh.1999.0077 |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Journal of Social History, Volume 33, Issue 2, Winter 1999 |pages=483–5 (483) |doi=10.1353/jsh.1999.0077}}</ref> 

Enslaved Black people may have chosen to wear cornrows to keep their hair neat and flat to their scalp while working; the other styles they developed alongside cornrows blended African, European and Native American trends and traditions.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=History of Cornrow Braiding: Middle Passage 2.b |url=http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/african/CORNROW_CURVES/culture/middle.passage.1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612120144/http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/african/CORNROW_CURVES/culture/middle.passage.1.htm |archive-date=2011-06-12 |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=ccd.rpi.eduvvv}}</ref> African-American, Afro-Latino and Caribbean folklore also relates multiple stories of cornrows being used to communicate or provide maps for slaves across the "New World".<ref name="Irbahim" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anangonó |first=Pablo Tatés |last2=Moreno-Montoro |first2=María-Isabel |date=2024-09-30 |title=Pelo negro y dramaturgia: sentir, pensar y politizar el pelo negro mediante dos piezas cortas de teatro |url=https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/RTC/article/view/9203 |journal=Tercio Creciente |language=es |pages=111–138 (115) |doi=10.17561/rtc..9203 |issn=2340-9096|doi-access=free }}</ref> Today, such styles retain their link with Black self-expression and creativity, and may also serve as a form of political expression.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jaima |first=Felicitas R. |date=2017-09-02 |title=When things get hairy: afros, cornrows, and the desegregation of US military hair salons in West Germany |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17528631.2017.1363477 |journal=African and Black Diaspora|language=en |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=269–280 |doi=10.1080/17528631.2017.1363477 |issn=1752-8631|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Chapman |first=Yolanda |date=2007-11-28 |title="I am Not my Hair! Or am I?": Black Women's Transformative Experience in their Self Perceptions of Abroad and at Home |url=https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/anthro_theses/23 |journal=Anthropology Theses |doi=10.57709/1059174}}</ref>

Cornrows gained in popularity in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and again during the 1990s and 2000s. In the 2000s, some athletes wore cornrows, including NBA basketball players [[Allen Iverson]], [[Rasheed Wallace]], and [[Latrell Sprewell]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book |author=Sherrow, Victoria |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofha0000sher |title=Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2006 |isbn=9780313331459 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofha0000sher/page/97 97] |url-access=registration}}</ref>  Some female mixed martial artists have chosen to wear cornrows for their fights as it prevents their hair from obscuring their vision as they move.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-23 |title=For Professional Fighters, Hairstyles Can Make the Difference Between Winning and Losing |url=https://www.allure.com/story/professional-fighter-hairstyles-braids |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Allure |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-20 |title=Michaela Angela Davis on the Power of Protective Hairstyles |url=https://www.allure.com/story/protective-styles-meaning-history-michaela-angela-davis |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Allure |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dsalita |date=2023-11-08 |title=why do female mma fighters have cornrows |url=https://www.dsalita.com/mma/why-do-female-mma-fighters-have-cornrows/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Dsalita Boxing |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Attitudes to cornrows ==
[[File:Nuba woman Kau.jpg|thumb|A [[Nuba]] woman wearing cornrows in a traditional styling]]
Colonial attitudes and practices towards Black hairstyles have traditionally been used to reinforce racism, exclusion and inequality.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Anangonó |first=Pablo Tatés |last2=Moreno-Montoro |first2=María-Isabel |date=2024-09-30 |title=Pelo negro y dramaturgia: sentir, pensar y politizar el pelo negro mediante dos piezas cortas de teatro |url=https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/RTC/article/view/9203 |journal=Tercio Creciente |language=es |pages=111–138 (111) |doi=10.17561/rtc..9203 |issn=2340-9096|doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, during the 18th century, slaves would sometimes have their hair shaved as a lesser form of punishment.<ref name=":14" /> [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] beauty standards, which often denigrate Black hairstyles, can lead to internalized racism, colorism, and marginalization, which negatively affect Black people—and Black women in particular.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Cynthia L. |date=2011 |title=Hair as Race: Why “Good Hair” May Be Bad for Black Females |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10646175.2011.617212 |journal=Howard Journal of Communications |language=en |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=358–376 (359–360) |doi=10.1080/10646175.2011.617212 |issn=1064-6175|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-30 |title=Black Women’s Hair and Natural Hairstyles in the Workplace: Expanding the Definition of Race Under Title VII - Virginia Law Review |url=https://virginialawreview.org/articles/black-womens-hair/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=virginialawreview.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Related valuations of hair texture—which portray straighter hair as "good hair" and curlier hair as "bad hair"—are emphasized through the media, advertising, and popular culture.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2016-03-25 |title=La locura por las pelucas en África |url=https://www.elmundo.es/sociedad/2016/03/25/56f532c1ca47411e138b45a3.html |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=ELMUNDO |language=es}}</ref> These attitudes to hair can devalue African heritage and lead to discrimination.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last=Henson |first=Renee |date=2017-11-01 |title=Are my Cornrows Unprofessional?: Title VII's Narrow Application of Grooming Policies, and its Effect on Black Women's Natural Hair in the Workplace |url=https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/betr/vol1/iss2/9/ |journal=The Business, Entrepreneurship & Tax Law Review |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=521}}</ref> The unique type of discrimination that arises from prejudice towards Black women's hair is called ''[[Discrimination based on hair texture|natural hair discrimination]].''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-10 |title=Natural Hair Discrimination: Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.naacpldf.org/natural-hair-discrimination/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Legal Defense Fund}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nkimbeng |first=Manka |last2=Malaika Rumala |first2=Bernice B. |last3=Richardson |first3=Crystal M. |last4=Stewart-Isaacs |first4=Shemekka Ebony |last5=Taylor |first5=Janiece L. |date=2023-08-01 |title=The Person Beneath the Hair: Hair Discrimination, Health, and Well-Being |url=https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/heq.2022.0118 |journal=Health Equity |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=406–410 |doi=10.1089/heq.2022.0118 |issn=2473-1242 |pmc=10457631 |pmid=37638116}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Arefin |first=D Sharmin |date=2020-04-17 |title=Is Hair Discrimination Race Discrimination? |url=https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-today/2020-may/is-hair-discrimination-race-discrimination/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=American Bar Association}}</ref> Despite these challenges, cornrows have gained popularity among Black people as a way to express their Blackness, creativity and individuality.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":11" /><ref name=":13" /> 

Over the decades, cornrows, alongside [[dreadlocks]], have been the subject of several disputes in U.S. workplaces, as well as universities and schools. Some employers and educational institutions<ref name=":13">{{cite web|last1=Harris|first1=Sherry|title=Cornrows: History, Controversy & Freedom of Expression|url=http://sherryslife.com/cornrows/|publisher=Sherry's Life|access-date=28 August 2016|archive-date=14 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814144131/http://sherryslife.com/cornrows/|url-status=dead}}</ref> have considered cornrows unsuitable or "unprofessional", and have banned them.<ref name=":0" /> Employees and civil rights groups have countered that such attitudes evidence cultural bias or racism, and some disputes have resulted in litigation.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Alison Dundes Renteln |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zyWr3dSXUrIC&q=cornrows+in+litigation&pg=PA143 |title=The Cultural Defense |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780195154030 |page=143 |access-date=10 August 2011}}</ref> In 1981, Renee Rogers sued American Airlines for their policy which banned cornrows and other braided hairstyles. Other cases, such as Mitchell vs Marriott Hotel and Pitts vs. Wild Adventures, soon followed.<ref>DeLongoria, M. (2018). Misogynoir:* Black Hair, Identity Politics, and Multiple Black Realities. ''Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies'', ''12''(8), 39-49 (45).</ref> Since other traditional Black hairstyles are also often banned, Black women may be forced to straighten their hair or emulate European hairstyles at significant additional cost.<ref name=":15" /> The intersection of racialized and gendered discrimination against Black women is often called [[misogynoir]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mjr&l |date=2021-03-09 |title=“Professional” Hairstyles: How Title VII Protections Have Condoned the Policing of Black Women’s Hair |url=https://mjrl.org/2021/03/09/professional-hairstyles-how-title-vii-protections-have-condoned-the-policing-of-black-womens-hair/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Michigan Journal of Race & Law |language=en}}</ref> In [[California]], the [[CROWN Act (California)|CROWN Act]] was passed in 2019 to prohibit [[Discrimination based on hair texture|discrimination based on hair style and hair texture]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 4, 2019 |title=California becomes first state to ban discrimination against natural hair |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/crown-act-california-becomes-first-state-to-ban-discrimination-against-natural-hair/ |access-date=2021-05-13 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 2011, the [[High Court]] of the United Kingdom, in a decision reported as a [[test case (law)|test case]], ruled against a school's decision to refuse entry to a student with cornrows. The school claimed this was part of its policy mandating "short back and sides" haircuts, and banning styles that might be worn as indicators of gang membership. However, the court ruled that the student was expressing a tradition and that such policies, while possibly justifiable in certain cases (e.g. skinhead gangs), had to accommodate reasonable racial diversities and cultural practices.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/school-braids-ban-not-justified-2298925.htm | work=The Independent | title=School braids ban 'not justified' | date=2011-06-17 | access-date=2011-06-17}}</ref>

In some African nations, regularly changing hairstyles can be seen as a sign of social status for a woman, while advertising continues to promote straighter hairstyles as fashionable. Braids provide a way for women to maintain their hair, and are sometimes used with Chinese or Indian wigs to rotate hairstyles.<ref name=":12" />

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="140" heights="140" perrow="4">
File:Braid-wil7148.jpg|Styled cornrows
File:Braid.jpg|Cornrows
File:Artistic Braiding by Yessenia.jpg|Artistic braiding
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[African hair threading]]
*[[List of hairstyles]]
*[[Crochet braids]]
*[[French braid]]
*[[Waves (hairstyle)]]
*[[Box braids]]
==Notes==
{{noteslist}}
==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}

{{Human hair}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

[[Category:1970s fashion]]
[[Category:1980s fashion]]
[[Category:1990s fashion]]
[[Category:2000s fashion]]
[[Category:2010s fashion]]
[[Category:2020s fashion]]
[[Category:African-American hair]]
[[Category:Braid hairstyles]]