A Johannesburg mother pays hundreds of dollars so her daughter can get Brazilian hair extensions sewn into her head.
After Hope negotiates with the hairstylist for the price of the hair, she makes payments for two months. She says she has heard people pay up to $500 for Brazilian hair. Hope calls that amount “the cost of what some people pay for rent.” Once all of the expenses have been made, the hair can be installed onto her daughter Tracy’s head.
Hope says she has to give her daughter what she wants or else she will get it from men, and “that I cannot have in my house.” She also notes the South Africa she grew up in is different from the way it is as Tracy comes of age.
