No, You Cannot Touch My Hair.
No. You Cannot Touch My Hair! Campaign & Exhibition • Creative Director and Researcher Dr Mena Fombo • Photographer Roxene Anderson
NYCTMH campaign was launched in the summer of 2017 by BGC founder Dr Mena Fombo. The portrait photography exhibition accompanied a survey collection of over 230 hair attack stories from around the world, and was exhibited at the first Black Girl Convention in Bristol’s Arnolfini. The research findings from the survey we’re shared in Dr Mena’s Tedx Talk of the same name.
Almost half of respondents said they had their hair touched by people they had never met before on a monthly basis. 18% said it happened to them weekly.
65% of all hair attacks were committed by strangers.
3/4s of respondents said they felt invaded.
Respondents reported hair attacks happened everywhere from work, uni, school, in parks, on bus stops, in restaurants even in hospitals!
Many respondents shared that when challenging their attackers they were either dismissed, ignored or met with hostility.
Data was collected from across 6 continents.
No. You cannot touch my hair!
Through her own personal story and the hair-raising experiences of other women and girls, Mena Fombo’s TEDxBristol talk is a witty, yet compelling and sometimes dark exploration of the objectification of black women. It's an issue she has spent a lifetime experiencing and exploring, with both a political and creative lens.
People have touched my hair either uninvited or without asking permission my whole life. Some people ask, and then have the audacity to question my response when I tell them no! To me it's simple - my body, my choice. I hope this campaign serves to raise awareness, to educate, and promote that we all should have agency.
— Dr. Mena Fombo
There are those that ask at all times to touch my hair. After showing restraint, I finally took the decision to speak out against this ‘hair circus’, my hair although different from yours is no cause for your concern!
— Jeanette
