Washington Heights/Harlem
African Americans:
Hair is part of the daily regimen of most African Americans; this includes the washing, styling, chemical usage, and overall care of hair. Hair care can be considered a struggle for most African Americans, since the quality of their hair (kinky, curly, and nappy) is generally difficult to clean and style. African Americans style their hair in a variety of ways, such as braiding, perming, straightening, wearing it natural, having it chemically modified, and so on. Overall, African American hair is generally known to require a lot of maintenance.
The amount of time put into the care and maintenance of African American hair can be considered a defining moment in the lives of those in the black culture. African American children’s first experience with hot comb (a process of hair straightening in which a heated comb is run through greased hair) is often a traumatizing experience because of the threat of burns and the rigorous combing process. The long hours taken into 
straightening and combing one’s hair is also part of this trying process, but black families often use this time as a bonding experience. A young girl’s process of having her hair straightened with the hot comb can also be considered a type of passage into womanhood, since the care of her hair will be a constant aspect of a black woman’s life.
Though hair is a large part of the African American culture, 
many blacks are discouraged from and even ridiculed for their hair care rituals. Black people are often plagued with questions about their hair care, usually from non-black or white people who are not familiar with the process. Many of these questions are, perhaps, innocent, but the intention of such questions can be taken as racist; they are most definitely annoying for most African Americans. Non-black people often find the process of black hair maintenance strange and even repulsive (the concept of using grease in one’s hair, washing it every few weeks, or the fact that it is naturally kinky eludes those with white-quality hair who do not have to endure the black hair care process). The ignorance of the standard white American society to the 
workings of black hair have even segregated salons and hair care products, as many non-black beauticians are not experienced with black hair and many stores do not supply black hair products.
Ultimately, the white-leaning American society has, more or less, forced African American women to modify their black hair to emulate more white-looking styles as a means to fit in. However, heavily black-populated areas, such as Washington Heights and Harlem, give African Americans the freedom to style their hair in any fashion. Whether they modify their hair or keep it natural, those of the black culture are more comfortable to express their ethnicity through their hair in areas such as these where there are like people who understand and experience African American hair.
Dominicans:
Dominican cultural identity is heavily reliant on hair care, similar to that of the African American culture. Dominican hair comes in a variety of textures and colors, ranging from dark 
and kinky to light and fine. This variation in hair quality makes Dominicans considerably adept at managing many types of hair; this skill has Dominicans considered by many the best at hair care. Hair salons and beauty parlors are among the most prominent businesses in Dominican neighborhoods like Washington Heights; there are as many as one hair salon every block in Washington Heights.
Dominican hair culture is adversely affected by white standards of beauty as well. Many Dominicans opt to alter the state of their hair, preferring a white quality of hair over black quality. Reasons for this range from the manageability of the hair (since finer hair is generally easier to take care of that kinky hair), to the ethnic associations of the hair (the archaic mindset that black qualities are inferior while white qualities are superior), to perceptions of what hair is the most aesthetically pleasing. Still, many Dominicans overlook the racial stigmas 
associated with the different hair qualities and settle in styling their hair in whatever way best defines their Dominican culture. Many Dominican women try to mimic a sort of “natural” look, which is apparently more indicative of the Dominican culture. By loosening the curls and kinks in their hair, the “natural” style offers a mix of both the white and black ethnic cultures of Dominicans.
Flushing
Koreans and Chinese:
Korean and Chinese standards of beauty are relatively similar, as both cultures take particular care into the condition of their skin and body. Skin lightening as well as body modifications are 
highly popular in Korea and China, and the heavy Korean and Chinese immigration to Flushing transferred those same beauty ideals to the United States.
Both skin whitening and body modification are on the rise among Asian women as a result of a glorification of white qualities in Asian countries. Korean and Chinese beauty and fashion ads are modeled primarily by Caucasian women, subjecting Asian women to the white aesthetic standards. Achieving light skin, as well as more defined noses, wider eyes, and larger breasts, are some of the Caucasian qualities many Asian women wish to emulate. In
addition to preferring white qualities over inherently Asian characteristics, wider eyes and larger breasts are what the Asian culture considers essentially “feminine”. To become more feminine, and ultimately more attractive and beautiful, Korean and Chinese women modify their bodies to acquire these aesthetically pleasing qualities.
Plastic surgery and skin whitening creams, soaps, chemicals, and operations are all means by which Korean and Chinese women achieve the apparently “beautiful” body. With the rates 
of plastic surgery and skin whitening procedures on the rise in Korea in China, and with the steady flow of Korean and Chinese immigration to Flushing and the U.S., these beauty ideals have made their way into the Asian-American perceptions of beauty.
