Fabulous Transactions: Hair Braiding in a Jamaican Resort Salon

Abstract

Abstract This article focuses on the commodification of Jamaican Blackness and associated images through institutionalized hair‐care services. Drawing on the notion of fabulousness (the unapologetic performance of Black feminine beauty), I present findings from ethnographic research conducted in the hair‐braiding salon of a resort in Ocho Rios. I detail how Jamaican Blackness unfolds differently depending on the consumer's demographic category: white tourists, Black tourists, and local customers. I also draw on salon dynamics to unpack the transformative power the salon holds in (1) validating and decolonizing Black beauty and femininity via what I call fabulous hairstyles, (2) normalizing Blackness for non‐Black tourists, (3) normalizing Blackness for African American tourists, and (4) creating a space where local Black women may consume resort services with the same dignity and quality of customer service as the Western tourists.