What is “good hair”? In the African American community, we women take much pride in what our hair looks like. It’s not uncommon to spend 4 hours at the beauty salon perfecting a style or dodging the rain to keep our hair from being ruined. Dyeing, relaxing, curling, and straightening have been a part of all our hair regimens. There is much debate centered on the idea of what the best hair type is. Naturally, most Black women are born with a kinky hair texture, sometimes considered as “nappy”. Many African American women choose to chemically alter their natural hair texture to achieve a straight and smooth look, which is said to be more desirable. We will go to the extremes to make sure our hair is laid, even causing permanent damage. Does this desire stem from a need of social acceptance and an issue of self-hate? Why is relaxed hair the norm in our society? Why should we as women conform to mainstream society’s idea of beauty? These are questions that I believe every Black woman should ask herself. I think that many women are brainwashed into believing that there is only one standard of beauty. We are bombarded with images of long, straight, Indian remy hair and are told that THIS IS WHAT GOOD HAIR IS. Why are we afraid to accept that our nappy, curly, kinky, coily hair is also beautiful? When did we become convinced that what we were born with is what we shouldn’t have? I heard someone say “natural hair ain’t for everybody”, which had to be one of the most ignorant comment I have ever heard. How can something that was genetically predetermined not be meant for you? I believe that it is one’s own prerogative to choose whether to chemically process their hair or not, but it shouldn’t be because they feel like they have to in order to be beautiful. What do you think?
--Courtney
--Courtney
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