Provocation Assignment
In Chapter 11 of Americanah, Ifemelu is adjusting to her new life in America, and notices her Aunty Uju has changed to “fit in” in America. A section in the book that made me take a step back and think about how closed- minded Americans are is when Aunty Uju says:
“I have to take my braids out for my interviews and relax my hair… If you have braids, they will think you are unprofessional.” “So there are no doctors with braided hair in America?” Ifemelu asked. I have told you what they told me. You are in a country that is not your own. You do what you have to do if you want to succeed.” There it was again, the strange naivete with which Aunty Uju had covered herself like a blanket. Sometimes, while having a conversation, it would occur to Ifemelu that Aunty Uju had deliberately left behind something of herself, something essential, in a distant and forgotten place (Adichie 146).
Ifemelu has noticed that Aunty Uju has left behind some of her Nigerian roots to try to adapt to American culture, even by changing her hair. Aunty Uju believes that she must fit in with the American culture in order to find a job or success in America. Ifemelu seems annoyed by her aunt changing herself to fit in, but she is still new to America and she has not experienced as much pressure to fit in as her Aunty Uju does.
Americans are obsessed with their appearance, and they feel they have to change to be happy or find success. Many employers openly admit to accounting for an applicants appearance (as in the clothes they are wearing, their hairstyle, if they are wearing makeup, etc.) during the hiring process. Do you think that during the hiring process someones appearance plays just as large of a role as their actual qualifications or abilities?
Sources
“Chapter 11.” Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Anchor Books, A Division of Random House LLC, New York, 2013, pp. 141–158.
This is definitely a intriguing question and observation because it makes you think about what is that American’s value. Is it about who someone is or how they look? I think we tend to fall into the latter when coming to our conclusions about people. However, I would argue that how someone looks is surface in explaining who they are.
Being the Training Coordinator at Chick-fil-A Hunt Valley, I interviewed dozens of people. One thing I learned that was so important for an interviewer is to seek who that person actually is, not what face their are putting on. Even if someone was 100% well dressed and well-mannered, they may have not demonstrated the character I was looking for to add to our team. However, there were times someone demonstrated intelligence, genuine care, and strong work ethic, even if they were only fifteen and weren’t really “professional.” I saw them for who they were and their potential too.
I would say too how someone dresses for an interview also demonstrates how much they care about the job. So if someone shows up to a interview in jeans, it would be a sign/red flag of their character, however, it was never a determiner of who they are.
In Chapter 20, we find out that Ifemelu was “careful not to let on whether she was African or Caribbean, because her readers did not know which she was.” (p. 256) This is intriguing because Ifemelu is hiding who she truly is from her readers. I think to a certain extent we all hide a part of who we are, especially in an interview because we fear risk of not getting the job. However, we should choose our appearance or how “professional” we are in an interview at the cost of losing who we truly are.
I believe that someones appearance plays just as big as a role as someones qualifications, when it comes to the hiring process. I believe how someone’s dress truly represents who you are. How someone’s dressed for an interview, is going to be the first impression the interviewer is going to see, so you’d want it to mostly represent you.
If someone dresses nice, and took effort to look as best as they can, it shows how much they truly care about wanting this job. For example, when I had to hire somebody at my manager role at Sunglass Hut, they came in dressed in gym shorts and a t shirt, with tattoos. The tattoos were not my concern, but the gym shorts and t shirt shows they truly didn’t care about dressing to get the job.
It also shows if someone carries themselves nicely, it’s known to have direct correlation to their confidence, that an interviewer wants to know that they have.
“‘Just a little burn’,the hairdresser said. ‘But look how pretty it is. Wow, girl, you’ve got the white-girl swing!'”(Adichie 251). This quote make me feel that society wants to make people of different cultures the same.
Overall, the way one carries themselves plays a huge role in the hiring process; but certain things such as skin color, hair, body art or piercings, represents who someone is and should not be judged in any scenario.
Sources:
“Chapter 19.” Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Anchor Books, A Division of Random House LLC, New York, 2013, pp. 251.
I agree that how someone dresses is a direct correlation with how serious they are about the job and how confident they are. I think that people should dress for the position that they want, but at the same time people should not be judged so harshly in certain situations based on their looks such as skin color, hair style, etc.
In chapter 45 of Americanah, Ifemelu has just moved back to Nigeria and has accepted a position with a magazine company. The owner of the company has invited Ifemelu to her house to get to know one another before she starts working that week. When Ifemelu gets to the owners house, the owner says “‘you are a pretty girl,’ Aunty Onenu said, nodding, as though being pretty were needed for the job and she had worried that Ifemelu might not be” (Adichie, 483). This was surprising to me because this was the first interaction in person between Ifemelu and Aunty Onenu. Most people judge others based on their looks within the first seconds of seeing another person, but based on the quote it seemed as though Aunty Onenu was looking for someone that was “pretty” to fill the position within the magazine.
It’s not a bad quality to look for attractive or professional looking people to fill out positions within your company. However, if you are making physical appearances a requirement to receive the job, then you are ruling out many people that may be just as good if not better at completing the tasks that you are looking to get done.
“Chapter 45.” Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Anchor Books, A Division of Random House LLC, New York, 2013, pp. 483.
I do think that a person’s appearance plays just as big as a role as a person’s qualifications during the hiring process. Most employers don’t like to admit to the fact that a persons appearance does have an effect on their hiring process. In most cases, if an applicant is not dressed to fit the job, then most likely they won’t get the job that they’ve applied for. I also happen to think that it also depends on what type of job a person is applying for. If it’s for an office job then clearly, you have to go to the interview looking as professional as possible. If it’s a waitressing job then that may not be the case. But really when it comes down to it, no matter how professional you look for a job interview, you don’t control peoples prejudices.
In chapter 15 of Americanah, Ifemelu is seen struggling with the fact that she can’t find a job, “at each interview, she smiled warmly and shook hands firmly, all the things that were suggested in a book she had read about interviewing for American jobs. Yet there was no job. Was it her foreign accent? Her lack of experience?” (Adichie 178).
It’s clear that Ifemelu does her best to try to acquire a job but no matter what she does, she always ended up without a job. It’s disappointing to admit that the reason for it could most likely be because of her ethnicity. It’s not like Ifemelu shows up to jobs unprepared, she shows up to all of her interviews, prepared and as professional as she can be and yet she somehow still can’t a simple waitressing job that doesn’t require many qualifications out of a person.
“Chapter 15.” Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Anchor Books, A Division of Random House LLC, New York, 2013, pp. 178.
This is an interesting question because it is a very legitimate concern. I believe that professionalism in an interview setting is extremely important. Professionalism can be modeled through clothing, verbal and non-verbal communication. However, there is a difference between judging professionalism and simply judging someone because of the way they look.
Ifemelu goes for an interview at a restaurant and feels that she did a great job with professionalism. In chapter 14, Adichie writes: “Ifemelu thought the interview at the restaurant where Dorothy worked had gone well. It was for a hostess position, and she wore her nice shirt, smiled warmly, shook hands firmly.” (p. 173). While Ifemelu thought she was professional, she still did not receive the job. Although it is not stated exactly why she didn’t get the job, previous situations can allow us to infer that it was because of her image.
I do not believe it is ever acceptable to deem natural hair or protective hair styles as “unprofessional.” People who do not wear protective styles should have no say on their level of professionalism.
Many brands and businesses are beginning to emphasize diversity and their diversity statements. I believe that if a business calls themselves a diverse workplace, they should be accepting of all levels of diversity, not just what they are comfortable with. This means accepting the culture of others, even if it is not apart of their own.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah (Ala Notable Books for Adults) (p. 173). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
I agree with the fact that your appearance plays just as big of a role as your qualifications when it comes to a job interview. However, I think our society has one outlook on what a person should look like when they go for a job interview. It’s important to look professional for a job interview because it shows that you are serious about the job. But at the same time, you shouldn’t have to change anything about your physical appearance that doesn’t make you confident just because of what is considered professional in society’s eyes.
In the novel, Ifemelu changed her hair because of the job she was going for, saying “My full and cool hair would work if I were interviewing to be a backup singer in a jazz band, but I need to look professional for this interview, and professional means straight is best but if it’s going to be curly then it has to be the white kind of curly, loose curls or, at worst, spiral curls but never kinky” (Adichie 251). Ifemelu felt that in order to be accepted for the job, she had to change her natural hair. In her eyes, professional means that her hair has to be straight. Personally, I don’t think you should have to change something like natural hair just so you can look “professional” in someone else’s eyes. Everyone looks different and I think as long as you look professionally clothing wise, and your whole appearance is cleaned up well, you’ll look professional. No matter if you decide to have your hair long or short, straight or curly, makeup or no, you shouldn’t have to change your physical looks because of what society defines “professional” as.
Adichie, Chimamanda, N. “Chapter 19”, Americanah. A Division of Random House LLC, New York, 2013, pp. 251.