Would You Let a Caucasian Touch Your Hair? Huffington Post Explores a New Human Zoo

It seems that one woman was tired of all the stares and questions from white folks and other non-blacks about her natural African-American hair, so she decided to go back to the days of vaudeville and the early-circus and host a 'Human Zoo' exhibit.

According to reporting done by Cascade Patch's big sister site, The Huffington Post, "Antonia Opiah, founder of un-ruly.com, a site dedicated to black hair, held the interactive exhibit in the heart of New York City, encouraging strangers to touch black female participants' hair."

The following is an excerpt from The Huffington Post article.  For the entire article please click the link:

To some, the art exhibit mirrored characteristics of the "human zoo," a phenomenon that emerged in the 1800s that capitalized on the exploitation of groups of people who were considered exotic.

In the mid 1800s, the "Other"-- a subject considered separate from an established, conventional group -- was put on display in a series of human zoo exhibitions in European societies.

Similar to the human zoo, the "You Can Touch My Hair" exhibit featured a group of people possessing an "exotic" characteristic for spectators to examine. Black women were, quite literally, put on display to observe and touch, with respect to their hair.

People expressed immense aversion to the concept of strangers intruding personal space to touch hair. However, Thursday's exhibit contributed to an ongoing conversation exploring why something as biologically banal as hair is transcended into a racial, political and social issue.

The new exhibit was held this past Thursday in New York City.  Its creator, Antonia Opiah defends the exhibit saying that it helped to further discussion.

Read the full article and lets us know what you think in the comments below.  Was the Human Zoo a bad thing to do, or does it shed some light on issues?  Would you let a curious stranger touch your hair?  Do you have any desire to touch a foreigner's hair?  Why do you think white's have such a curiosity?