Power, Pleasure, and White Women’s Hair with Sarah Mesle

About this episode

The episode explores the cultural significance of white women's hair and its implications for beauty, identity, and power through a conversation with Sarah Mesle.

Only a small percentage of women are naturally blonde, yet blonde hair has become one of the most powerful symbols of beauty and privilege in American culture. This week, Christiana sits down with Sarah Mesle, USC professor and author of Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity, to examine the cultural politics of white women’s hair. Through stories of blonde privilege, Britney Spears, and Princess Diana, Sarah explains how hair reveals the complicated relationship between beauty, identity, and power. Sarah’s website: https://sarahmesle.com/  Follow Sarah: Instagram Follow Pop Syllabus: YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Substack   Merch available now! Sponsor Pop Syllabus: [email protected] If there’s a topic you’d like us to deconstruct, tell us in the comments. Email: [email protected]  1:26 Meet Sarah  1:47 Hair and white feminine power 3:50 Sarah’s interest in hair 5:08 White visual performances and whiteness as a currency  8:50 January 6th uprising 10:40 Partisan aesthetics  13:50 Princess Diana and women with short hair 18:43 Blonde hair  20:58 JoJo Siwa…

People in this episode

Host: Christiana Mbakwe Medina

Guest: Sarah Mesle

Topics covered

• cultural politics of hair
• beauty and privilege
• white women's identity
• blonde privilege
• power dynamics
• racial and class issues

Keywords

• white women's hair
• blonde privilege
• cultural politics
• beauty standards
• identity
• power
• racial dynamics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: USC

Books & works: Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity

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