Study Looks at How Millennial Black Women Handle Beauty Standards at Work and in Everyday Life.
A new study reveals that Millennial women follow cultural beauty standards outside of work but stick to Eurocentric standards while on the job.
A new study examines the beauty standards of Millennial women, revealing that many feel they “can’t afford to overlook mainstream beauty norms” both at work and in their personal lives.
The qualitative study, “Millennial Agency and Liberation Within Black American Beauty Standards,” featured in the new book “Embodiment and Representations of Beauty,” found that Millennial Black women experience freedom and flexibility with beauty standards in their personal lives. However, in the workplace, they often feel pressured to adhere to more rigid beauty norms.
Jaleesa Reed, the study’s author and assistant professor of human-centered design at the College of Human Ecology, interviewed 20 Black American millennial women to explore their experiences with beauty standards and how these relate to their identity. The participants, born between 1981 and 1996, covered the entire millennial generation.
The study revealed that participants associated American beauty standards with being “white,” “thin,” “blonde,” and “blue-eyed.” In their personal lives, they embraced an “intracultural” beauty standard, celebrating the variety of hair textures, body shapes, and skin tones within the African diaspora. However, in professional environments, they felt pressure to choose styles that balanced their personal identity with career advancement and workplace expectations.
Decisions about how to style their hair, what jewelry to wear, or how much makeup to apply are closely linked to their economic survival and their ability to support themselves and their families,” Reed explained.
“On one hand, it may seem like it’s just about how you style your hair, but on the other, they have to factor in their workplace environment, which makes them reconsider their style decisions.”
The findings highlight how Eurocentric beauty standards have been passed down to the Millennial generation and are often adhered to in the workplace.
“Participants knew from personal experience and stories that Black women who didn’t conform to workplace appearance expectations faced consequences,” Reed explained. “Popular media also reinforced these Eurocentric standards, teaching them from a young age that lighter skin and long, straight hair were seen as more beautiful.”
The 2019 C.R.O.W.N. Research Study found that Black women in the U.S. are 1.5 times more likely than other women to be sent home from work because of their hairstyle, leading to both social and economic consequences. Black women with straighter hair experience fewer workplace microaggressions compared to those with coiled or textured hair.
As a result, Reed explains, study participants felt that following intracultural beauty standards in predominantly white settings could jeopardize their job security and the financial stability of their families.
Reed wrote, “For Black women, hairstyle choices in professional settings carry deep cultural significance and are often misunderstood. Protective styles like cornrows, twists, or locs are frequently labeled as unprofessional, as demonstrated by numerous cases of hair discrimination.”
In 2024, the number of states enacting hair discrimination laws continues to grow. This movement stems from a coalition advocating for laws that prevent employers from discriminating against hairstyles, especially those commonly worn by Black or Biracial individuals.
These laws, called CROWN Acts (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair), were first introduced in 2019 when California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the initial bill into law. Currently, 28 states have passed laws supporting the CROWN Act.
