'Unprofessional', 'nappy', 'untidy', 'difficult to manage', 'bad'...these are just a selection of words I have heard to describe a black person's natural hair state. By 'natural hair', I mean hair that hasn't been tampered with either by straightening/perming/relaxing, or hasn't been covered with a wig or weave. It's much less likely to find a black woman with natural hair nowadays.
Straight hair is preferred by a large portion of the black community because many believe that it genuinely looks nicer and is easier to manage. However, the sacrifices that people make to attain straighter hair can be extreme to say the least - scalp burn, hair loss, breakage, scabbing, and of course over-spending (black women make up only a few percent of the US population but are involved in 80% of the hair market*) are very common results when people opt for chemically straightened - or as we term it, 'relaxed' - hair.
Why would anyone ever want to do this to themselves for something as superficial as hair? Because 'natural hair' is looked down upon by many, can be a source of ridicule and racism, and a potential hindrance when job searching.
I watched an episode of the Tyra Banks show and it explains it completely - it's a real eye-opener for people of any race, especially those who are not black. The 80% statistic* comes from there.
Children and adults from the show explain how straight, glossy hair makes them feel better because they can swish it, they feel more confident, and they don't get bullied.
Going back into black history, two guests explain how slaves who had 'good' hair, i.e. hair that wasn't as coarse, had more of a chance of being freed when their master died or may have been more likely to be house slaves which was the better of two evils. So for them, it wasn't a 'my hair looks cute' thing, it was literally survival, and they believe that what we feel now is leftover from that.
Please please please check it out, it was interesting the whole way through:
I stopped relaxing my hair about two years ago because I didn't think that it was vegan, but there's no way I'd go back now. I won't be giving up my hot irons or blow dryer any time soon, but I don't need to damage my hair/scalp to that extent again.
(an hour or so post-relaxer)
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(not straightened in maybe a week or two)
It's usually a comfortable medium, which I am very pleased with!
I cried when I gave up my relaxer - the idea of not having hair that straight for the amount of years I had it was overwhelming, but I've learned to love my hair, even when it starts to frizz up a little bit (bottom picture is not desirable for me, however!)!
No matter what you do to your hair, it doesn't take away from you being black at all, but don't believe that long, straight hair is the best.
'Good' hair should only be used to describe healthy hair!
Watch Chris Rock's film/documentary called 'Good Hair' to find out even more about this, if you like!
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