The Political History of Nail Art – Essence

Nail art is one of many beauty practices that highlights parallels in cultural and temporal evolution. The sociopolitical landscape of the nail industry in America highlights the nuances behind the ritual of beauty and the way it may well be framed as a tool for cultural understanding and collaboration.

The influence of black and Vietnamese on contemporary American and global nail culture has been evident over the past 50 years, especially for those living in Southern California and Los Angeles County. This influence paints a history of class relations, migration, and ethnic identity—stemming from major world events.

The Vietnam War sparked justifiable division and social unrest across the country, as many Americans protested unnecessary violence motivated by U.S. imperial and capitalist goals. As a result, Vietnamese civilians fled the country and sought refuge in America. Their presence It has aroused hostility amongst many individuals and support from others, especially American figures corresponding to Tippi Hedren.

Tippi Hedren is an American Hollywood star of the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties whose starring role in Hitchcock’s 1963 cult classic brought her national recognition. Acrylic nails were already a thing when the film debuted, but seeing them on the massive screen cemented their popularity in mainstream conversation.

Hedren’s beauty practice became something of a buzzword, which she capitalized on in 1975 when the war became a turning point. After her community service led her to the experience of Vietnam War refugees in California, she decided to assist them with their financial circumstances. Together along with her personal manicurist, Hedren trained the primary twenty Vietnamese nail technicians, who later mobilized a complete generation of Vietnamese and other members of the Southeast Asian community to enter the nail industry as a method of financial security and social advancement.

Documentary film Directed by Adele Free Pham, the film details Hedren’s influence, the rise of Vietnamese nail salons in America, and the contributions of Vietnamese and black women to the business. The film also explores the cultural and political significance of beauty in society.

Black women leading the best way in style and cultural innovation is a trend as constant as time itself. Beauty icons like Diana Ross, Donna Summer, and Florence “FloJo” Griffith-Joyner set trends and defied stereotypes with their daring acrylic styles and posed as black women because the faces of daring nail art. The stylistic influence of black women has permeated every layer of culture, starting within the hood, making it to the foremost stage, and continuing throughout the culture to at the present time. Similarly, Wanna Thompson details the importance of nail art for the non-public expression of Black women throughout history and highlights its role for many ladies of color today.

“Base” nail salons, as Kevin Saint Pham affectionately calls them within the documentary, were the birthplace of modern nail culture and creativity. In the Eighties, black women visiting Vietnamese nail salons played an energetic role in cultivating this avant-garde culture and making a space for 2 seemingly different cultures to attach through beauty and art.

The unique collaboration between Vietnamese nail technician Charlie Vo and a black skilled at Olivetta Robinson salon revolutionized the wonder industry and ushered in the primary era of beauty salon chains.

Their pioneering nail shop “Trap” sprouted in a number of locations in South Los Angeles and further developed the American nail industry. The union of Vo and Robinson embodied a fusion of cultural ingenuity and prolonged the legacy of marginalized diasporas who use artistic expression as a method of survival.

However, this cooperation was rare. Hatred and tension, fueled by anti-Black racism, xenophobia and manufactured by white supremacy scarcity mentality has caused conflict between the black and Asian communities for generations. The densely populated but segregated communities comprised of black American, black immigrant, and Asian immigrant communities have had exclusionary and sometimes dangerous experiences on account of racial profiling from all sides.

The brutal murder of 15-12 months-old Latasha Harlins by Korean merchant Soon Ja Du in 1991 in South Los Angeles painted a horrifying picture of the socio-political environment that leaves communities of color in conflict. Racial profiling of black consumers by store owners, together with xenophobic behavior toward non-native English-speaking employees, are ingrained social practices that proceed to divide ethnic groups today.

Having lived in Los Angeles for nearly a decade, there are select Asian-owned, Black beauty supply stores that I can not bring myself to go to on account of the baseless accusations, racist profiling, and aggression I actually have experienced firsthand. While experiences of unity might be transformative, each truths still matter.

In an earlier conversation with Professor Omise’eke Tinsley, which discussed the politics of black femininity, the scholar speaks to the potential for conversations about Asian and black relationships through beauty and politics, noting that she is more enthusiastic about the chances of intersectional solidarity between these groups than in marginalized attempts to realize acceptance through assimilation of beauty standards.

Tinsley states that “Black and Asian women are portrayed as opposites, which always ends up benefiting white supremacy, [but] if we can find a way to work together and have these conversations, it will be truly subversive.” By difficult these narratives, we are able to counter white supremacists around beauty and politics that seek to divide us.

Some of essentially the most moving elements of cross-cultural beauty spaces emerge through the communal environments they cultivate. The deeply resonant love that salon owners have for his or her longtime clients who’ve develop into family, and the mutual support between Asian merchants and their black patrons, are poignant reminders of the unifying power of beauty. Beauty is a strong tool that, when used compassionately, pushes people to see the humanity in one another. A recognition that is crucial to the work of movement and survival.

While cross-cultural solidarity could also be complicated by the inescapable anti-Blackness that permeates the globe, one fact is definite: we is not going to achieve complete liberation by perpetuating the tools of white supremacy—whether through racism, xenophobia, or another means. We would do well to heed Audre Lorde’s admonition: “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”

The differences and similarities between Black and Asian communities world wide are each beautiful and difficult. Yet, through universal media of self-actualization corresponding to beauty and commerce, we are able to find common ground to weather the storms of global capitalism that plague all of our communities and threaten our collective existence and well-being.

Nail art is one example that proves that beauty is just not simply a practice of vanity. Rather, it’s a method of expression and solidarity.