Define Jheri Curl Meaning

A popular hairstyle in the African-American community especially in the 1980's. This haircut was, as the previous entry says, a perm that loosens up the naturally tightened curls and makes the hair nice and bouncy as a result. The major downside to this hairdo was the extreme amount of maintenance it required to keep it looking pretty. Tons of hair care products made for a lot of greasy situations (no pun intended). Many jokes were actually aimed at this downside, see Coming To America (1988 film starring Eddie Murphy).

Named after hair products of Jheri Redding. A perm that loosens the curls of a black person's hair. Typically seen in Michael Jackson impersonators and pimp stereotypes.

A hairstyle fad popular in the 1980's.

Curly black hair is worn long and wavy.

Commonly misspelled as "Jerry" or "Jerri" curl.

A redistricting strategy made famous during the period in the late 1980's, when the Democratic Party moved geographic boundaries of an electoral district in California to include predominantly black-populated areas(South Central Los Angeles, Inglewood, Compton) in an effort to concentrate African American voters sporting the popular greasy hairstyle of the day, thus using 'packing' tactics to insure a constituency that would elect congressional representatives who also sported the couch-ruining do. The term for this strategy remained unnamed for nearly 30 years until comedian Adam Carolla coined it on his podcast, “The Adam Carolla Show”(Episode aired November 3, 2015.).