Hair is a very big deal to females in the African-American community. For hundreds and hundreds of years, many African-American females have felt the need to deter away from wearing their hair in it's "natural" state. It all starts with this concept of "good hair." According to most African-American women, "Good hair is long. Wavy if not straight. Hair that looks more like hair you'd see on [European] women, and certainly not the very kinky hair that many black women are born with" (Thomas). Definitions may differ from woman to woman, but every definition fall between those lines. Why do African American women feel the need to avoid their natural hair state and make their hair look as close to "good hair" as possible? Some avoid being natural because they follow historical norms of wanting to be [European] in appearance (which ties back to slavery), while others feel that changing their hair's chemical makeup by chemically straightening their hair promotes ease of styling and the creation of healthy hair.
What is my hair history you may ask? My hair was in it's natural state until I was 8 years old. That is, no chemicals were used on my hair to straighten it. If my mom wanted by hair to be straight, free from tightly created coils, she would use a straightening comb to create a smoother hair texture. It would take hours and hours for this procedure, and as a child I hated sitting there for such a long period of time and was scared of the amount of heat the straightening comb generated. (Straightening combs are placed on the stove to reach a desired heat, and then placed on the hair to straighten it). So I begged by mom to chemically straighten my hair. She then began to chemically straighten my hair, every six weeks, until my sophomore year in high school, when I decided that I wanted my hair to go back to it's natural state again. It took a lot of time and effort, but after a whole year, all of the chemicals were successfully out of my hair.
What is my hair history you may ask? My hair was in it's natural state until I was 8 years old. That is, no chemicals were used on my hair to straighten it. If my mom wanted by hair to be straight, free from tightly created coils, she would use a straightening comb to create a smoother hair texture. It would take hours and hours for this procedure, and as a child I hated sitting there for such a long period of time and was scared of the amount of heat the straightening comb generated. (Straightening combs are placed on the stove to reach a desired heat, and then placed on the hair to straighten it). So I begged by mom to chemically straighten my hair. She then began to chemically straighten my hair, every six weeks, until my sophomore year in high school, when I decided that I wanted my hair to go back to it's natural state again. It took a lot of time and effort, but after a whole year, all of the chemicals were successfully out of my hair.
Now, my hair has been in its natural state for just about three years. I wasn't initially sure why I decided to make the switch, but I'm glad I did. Don't get me wrong, it is much more harder to maintain hair in its natural state and it takes longer to style, but it was certainly worth it. And, needless to say, my hair has become my trademark. It is very common that a person says the first thing they notice about me is my hair. And just over Spring Break, my mom and I were in the store, but in two different places, and she said she immediately identified me just by my hair; she didn't even have to see my face. (It's pretty funny, I know.)
I really take pride in my hair. I feel like my hair is a part of who I am. Once it's chemically altered, that takes away from its originality and a part of me. I love my kinks, curls, and coils, and definitely believe that my hair is apart of my cultural identity.
I've seen this topic discussed in the media in recent years. It certainly has strong cultural associations, although it seems like very much a personal preference to me.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I've recently recognized is that it's quite expensive to maintain hairstyles with chemical straighteners, dyes, and other means. I know many women who spend a great deal of money on their hair. Some consider it money well spent towards self confidence and social acceptance; however, others might view it as an unnecessary luxury. It's interesting how a topic such as hair reveals so much about us culturally.
I really enjoyed your post! Hair is a really important thing to almost any woman. For me, the longer my hair, the better. And it seems to me that whoever has naturally curly hair wishes they had straight, and whoever has straight hair wishes it was curly, which I find so funny!
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