100 Objects #18: Hair Relaxer
99% Invisible

100 Objects #18: Hair Relaxer

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 18, 202635 min

Somewhere between 85 to 95 percent of Black women in the United States have used a chemical hair relaxer at least once in their lifetime. It is a ubiquitous American product with a complicated legacy: it built Black wealth and opened economic doors, but also taught generations to see their hair as a problem to be solved. And now research is revealing a physical cost. Roman Mars and producer Priscilla Alabi explore how a single product became a mirror for all of America's contradictions. A History of the United States in 100 Objects is a production of 99% Invisible and BBC...

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A salon our producer Priscilla Alabi visited a few weeks ago.

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  • B23:38
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B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 33%A2 40%B1 18%B2 8%C1 2%
  • 90% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 143 words a minute: a natural pace.
  • 142 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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0:00

Off a busy street in Brooklyn, New York sits a storefront called Monica's Hair Salon. A salon our producer Priscilla Alabi visited a few weeks ago. I've been going to hair salons like this since I was little. There are places where people come for their hair, but also for advice, gossip, celebrations.

0:24

Oh, I love us. I just love us so much. A woman pops it. What did you want?

0:29

Not for an appointment. But to ask for a birthday hug. This is Lorraine Samo's salon. She's been here since 1996.

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