“The Unspoken Business of Brows”

On Wednesday, Dr. McCoy challenged the class to take notice of their eyebrows, as well as the eyebrows of others. It’s pretty amazing to think about what something so seemingly insignificant can say about someone’s personality, and it is even more powerful to think about how eyebrows can also shape an outsider’s view of a person. I also find it curious that we are focusing on eyebrows and their significance in both Dante and Morrison, given that brows have become much more of a point of conversation in recent media. There is a new trend of having much thicker, darker, and sculpted brows than was the trend when I was younger. Though I have yet to “make meaning” from this focus on eyebrows, I found an interesting article that talks about the evolving symbolism of eyebrows throughout history, and I look forward to seeing if there is any overlap with Dante or Morrison’s works!

“The love-hate relationship brow aficionados have with their facial hair often has roots in the eyebrow’s most important job (beyond conveying emotion): silently sharing cultural and group affiliations, whether realized or not. Just like clothes and accessories, eyebrows are another way of shaping the impression of our social standing.”