Living with Natural Hair: My Choice to Straighten
Rebuttal to Natural Hair, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
I have been natural for over three years. I cut the perm out of my hair the summer before my sophomore year in college and even now, after being out of college for two years, I still do not have a perm and have never had a texturizer. I am a member of nappurality.com and have been so for about three years and was very active, looking at the site everyday for about two years. I have only been wearing my hair straight for approximately one year and two months. As a natural in college I wore twists, twists outs, fros, banded fros. I did hairdos myself. I went to salons. I had other naturals do my hair.
While in college, many of my friends had natural hair and went natural because they saw my natural hair and how well it framed my face. I had two friends who were very close to me with natural hair. One went back to perms and one wears braids now.
As a complete natural with no straightening, I had a lot of fun. I did feel that my hair was beautiful and gorgeous. There is no reason why other people should not feel that their hair is beautiful. I still feel that my unstraightened hair is lovely. I cannot stand perms as much as the next natural person.
However, I do believe that the love of natural hair is a political thing. Black woman these days are breaking away from the bondage of perms. They are asserting their independence just like people who burned bras years ago, and that is fine. However, in their assertion of independence, I think that sometimes black women do not look at the reality of things. For instance, the workplace will always be the work place and people just judge you on how you look. That is just what they do. It's the same as a goth asserting that he should be able to wear his piercings to work. Its who he or she is, what could be wrong. Well, reality is that people judge you on your appearance, and that is just how it is.
Personally, I believe that when I walk into a interview with twists, I get a different response than when I walk in with my sleek straightened up do. I would rather not wear wigs for an interview and then become a different person when I come to work. For black women, there is already a silence in the work place. We never know if there is a glass ceiling or not. On average, for some unknown reason, women in general make less than men. Why give our bosses another reason to not give us this or that opportunity?
Also, in my permed life previous to my natural life, I had always felt that I was very pretty. When I was natural, with little twists and fros, I just did not feel the same way. Maybe I had an attraction to my hair blowing in the wind. Oh well. No need for judgements here. However, my straightened hair is flowing and has more volume than the average permed head. I get my natural hair straightened at a salon about every two to three weeks and yes it does last that long. I love my hair now, and I love it then. However, straightening is just better for me. I feel better about it. For you things might be different, and perhaps I wrote the good, bad and ugly article a bit too quickly without making sure I had a bit of a softer tone. However, I believe that the reason why I got so many comments and page views is because being natural more about politics than it is about beauty.
Published by clarissa
Clarissa's been writing for over 10 years in several different sectors including her college newspapers, local magazines, and online media. View profile
Seven Myths About Highly-Textured, Natural HairMany myths surrounding natural hair are keeping people dependent on relaxers and other chemical treatments. Forget about these hair lies and have you best hair ever!
Best Black Hair Care Products GuideBlack hair can be hard to manage and if it is not taken care of properly hair loss or extreme dryness can occur. Black women and men love to keep their hair looking beautiful an...
Top Hair Care Products for Under $20A short look at some of the best and most necessary everyday hair care products that don't cost more that $20.- Homemade Hair Care SolutionsProduct guide and do it yourself remedies for common hair problems.
Make Your Own Hair Care Treatments and ShampooHave you ever considered going strictly natural? Are you tired of paying for hair care products that have so many different and foreign ingredients that it's beginning to make f...
- The Fine Art of Protein and Moisture Balancing for Black Hair Care
- An African-American Guide to Natural Hair Care: Tulani Kinard's No Lye
- Top Hair Salons in Ithaca, New York
- Garnier Fructis Hair Care Products Review
- 5 Quick Tips to Quickly Detangle Natural Hair
- Aged Garlic Extract Used in Hair Care Products
- The Skin and Hair Care Secrets of the Modelling World
46 Comments
Post a CommentI do believe that this new "natural hair" trend is political. Also, some women do not look feminine with short nappy hair, they look like a man, especially darker skin women. Some women look good with it, but, it is not for everybody. Beyonce's sister Solonge looks good with it, but I think Serena Williams would look like a man with short natural hair. She looks better with a weave.
I have to admit I wasnt sure is the Shielo Toyko Silky Straight method would for me, cause I have tried everything to keep my hair straight! The first time I used it though, I was amazingly surprised at how soft and manageable my hair was. I have very thick, wavy hair and once it dried it became smooth and sleek. It also smells fantastic and I received confirmation from my boyfriend on that. - http://www.shielo.com/styling/straight-hair.html
Please Visit my page Health Over Hair http://www.facebook.com/healthoverhair
stop working for the man and start your business! that's what my mom did and i am a a multimedia artist so i really do not have to worry about this sort of thing. working in the office is boring and stuffy anyway.
These comments are sad. I've tried to go natural at least 6 times and each time the dread of combing my nappy hair (extremely thick and extremely kinky) sent me running back to Dark & Lovely. I wore it very short and felt that I looked less than feminine, I wore braids and although I felt pretty some co-workers told me that it wasn't as professional as say my short cut or my straight wig. I even wore natural curly wigs which are a nicer texture than mine. In the end it has never been about politics or fitting in but about managing difficult hair. About memories of my mother hitting me in the head with the comb asking me where'd all the nappy hair come from...uh, my father. Hair is a painful subject in our community and to act like this isn't a fact is lying. The young lady wrote "her" experience and then responded to those who became angry. Most of us have a story to tell. Some of us have had lovely experiences and some of us just want to be able to c
This is in response to the Hairhairhair comment. Black women being nosey? I won't even get indignant with my response. However no yes I will please shut the hell up. "Go raise your kids?" Your point would have been well taken without the last comment.
@ OP
You seem like you have self esteem issues and you are judgmental. Unless you ask every single person who has natural hair how would you know if it's about beauty of politics? Did it ever occur to you that it's about neither?
What about children/teens before they get their first relaxer. What statement are they making? What about people who have NEVER had a relaxer. What statement are they making? Your opinion while definitely ok to express didn't get 1,000 hits because natural hair is political. It got 1,000 hits because of many women are tired of being told what to do and they think and why they do what they do and what they should do.
To the others who say there is some huge beef btw naturals and non-naturals please use survey and facts. Just because you read some online blogs where some naturals have issues with it doesn't represent everyone. PLEASE try to think about it logically. How is it any different than a white person thinking all black women are g
I am SICK of all of these natural hair people with their damn attitudes. If you want to wear your hair natural, I don't give a damn. If someone wants to wear straight hair then that is their choice. It is their hair, not yours. You Black women are always up in other people's business. Mind your own damn business and wear your nappy hair. Stop trying to tell others what to do with their hair and go raise your kids.
I love my natural hair and texture, and I've had it without any perms, nor ANY heat at all, for two and a half years. I love my natural hair, but I'm tired of all the ridiculous effort that is required just to manage it. For example, detangling every day and twisting every night and so forth, this is too much work and far too time-consuming, in my opinion. I'm tired of it.
i have to disagree. i'm a SVP of a very corporate organization and i have been natural for about 2 years now. in fact i went to my interveiw with braids and still got the job over other candidates. i think it is time that women are honest with who they are. i hear the you are more comfortable with straight hair. i don't want to seem judgemental but the reason many of us feel sexy or attractive with straight hair is because that's what we are taught as young girls. take a look at the barbies (even the non-white barbies) all of straight long hair. it's time for all women to accept, love and live