Firstly, let me put it out there that I have found the debate to be quite tedious and exhausting, not because of the message, but simply because many people who try to enforce the message of "hair identity" generally use a type of aggressive tactic that attempts to question and attack the self-esteem of many black women. One will hear things like, if a black woman straightens her hair or wears weave, they are reflecting a deep rooted self hatred for their black ethnicity. Or, black women are trying so hard to be white that they will change the texture of their hair or wear fake hair or extensions to hide the natural form of their hair. To be honest, I find these statements to be quite inflammatory.
I am in complete support of the black woman parading her hair in its naturally curly or kinky form but does this give some black people the right to belittle black women who have made the personal choice not to do the same? The air of superiority and self-righteousness that sometimes follow the decision to "go natural" is so palpable sometime you can almost cut it with a pair of scissors...I mean knife.
It is yet another way, for the black community to further separate ourselves from our brothers and sisters based on superficial traits, when we already divide ourselves based on skin shades, educational status, class status and I dare say it, social groups such as fraternities and sororities. What are we doing to ourselves as a people?
I understand the idea or theory of self hatred seeming to be reflected through hair relaxers and weaves, but truly, is it really an indication that we hate our ethnicity?
Let us take a peek into history to understand how wigs and hair alterations were viewed in Egypt. According to the website
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/index.html Ancient Egypt, both men and women would adorn themselves with wigs made from human hair and later date palm fibers, which were curled and the shape preserved by waxing. They were worn either for fashion purposes or to hide deficiencies such as bald spots. Rich women used elaborately carved combs, hairpins, razors and hand held metal mirrors and curled their hair. According to another website Facts and Details, wigs were quite popular in ancient Egypt. It also explained that a female body from a working class grave dated around 3500 B.C had evidence of hair coloring (henna) and hair weaving (locks of human hair tied to natural objects to obtain extravagant behive hairdos). They added that Egyptians added false hair to their own as a way of adding length to their hair.
Many African tribes are known for also adorning their hair with fixtures and extensions that range from animal hair, cloth-like material and even plastic hair as in the case of the Himba people living in Northern Namibia.
What am I trying to say? Are we harder on our modern day black women who might be guilty of simply trying to adorn herself with extensions, braids, wigs? Are we harshly judging our black women who are choosing alternative ways of beautifying themselves? Or are we in a perpetual state of denial as it relates to our "hair identity"?
This brings me to my next point, the concept of beauty. As a Black woman myself, I can definitely relate to the idea that Black women were systematically brainwashed in terms of concepts of beauty. We are bombarded everyday with the Eurocentric ideals of beauty which is normally associated with straight or wavy hair, blue or green eyes, lighter skin color and other Eurocentric features. However, are we overlooking a very vital point? There are black or dark people that also share some of these features! Let's take for example, the indigenous people of Australia who are dark skinned with straight hair. There are also the indigenous people of the Solomon Island that have naturally blonde hair. Let us also assess the fact that not all Caucasian or European individuals fit the blonde straight hair blue eyes standard of ethnicity. Many of them are also naturally endowed with full lips, kinky hair and dark brown eyes which speaks a lot about genes and genetic mutation. With these genetic occurrences, we need to acknowledge that our "black and white" (no pun intended) way of thinking is not adequate.
Therefore, if particular genes pertaining to hair texture or eye color can be identified in more than one race, it is evident that certain physical human characteristics is not restricted to a particular ethnicity. As such, the question then becomes, do people try to look like a particular race or are they simply subscribing to their personal concept of beauty?
Caucasian women that tan, black women that straighten their hair and Asian women that change their facial bone structure are all ascribing to achieve a look that they deem as beautiful. This phenomenon of women altering physical features is widespread among many ethnicity. Even in the renaissance era, women would paint their face, neck and cleavage white with white lead because they believed that it was beautiful. Should this be seen as hatred for one's race or even self?
However, not to stray from the topic at hand. Is it fair to actually purport that Black women that straighten their hair or wear wigs and extensions are actually suffering from the illness of self-hatred and are desperately trying to identify with the Caucasians? I believe that attempting to identify racial self-hatred through some behavioral patterns can be dangerous because some behavioral patterns can be a "false sign" of such a phenomenon. There are obvious signs and subtle signs of racial self-hatred but I believe that "hair" tends to be the "scape goat" . I believe that certain signs need to be examined carefully before they are identified conclusively as signs of self hatred on a racial level.
I find it ironic that some sisters who go natural, will sometimes color their hair, texturize their hair or occasionally straighten their hair but look down on another sister who decides to permanently straighten their hair or wear wigs and extensions because their hair is fake or altered. There is a level of absurdity that comes with that form of thinking because whether one slightly or completely alter the texture or color of their hair, the point is it has been altered.
The reasons any woman of any race would alter the texture of their hair are plenty. The reasons a black woman would alter the texture of her hair or wear wigs and extensions are also abundant. However, the main reason that is cited for a black woman doing this is because she hates herself and her race and is trying to be Caucasian due to her "identity crises." Again, I can't stress enough just how offensive such a statement is and it almost works as a self fulfilling prophecy because if you say it enough people will start believing it. The fact is, it is only one reason and may not be the main reason either. Other reasons black women alter their hair and wears wigs and extensions are:
Texturizing and or relaxing their naturally curly or kinky hair makes it more easily manageable. Many black women have very thick curly or kinky hair that gets tangled easily and is quite hard to manage on a daily basis, so they do this to make it less of a hassle as in my case. There are many suggestions to help manage curly or kinky hair in it's natural form and some women have the time and patience while others do not and chose to texturize or relax.
Some women believe that texturizing or relaxing their hair will allow their hair to grow longer and faster.
Some black women believe that their hair looks beautiful in a straight form but are not necessarily trying to have a Eurocentric appeal. It is simply another hairstyle or way of wearing their hair.
Some black women wear wigs and extensions to give their own hair a break from the every day stress and hassle of combing, heating and other external elements that damages the hair.
Some black women wear extensions and wigs because they suffer from hair loss due to illnesses or treatment of illnesses such as chemotherapy, or even due to freak accidents such as fire and acid burns.
Some women, are probably too tired or overwhelmed (others might be too lazy) to fuss with their own hair on a daily basis and chose the alternative of wigs and extensions to make hair management easier.
Other women like to wear wigs and extensions because they believe that it is fashionable, beautiful and enhances their own beauty and, again are not necessarily trying to have a Eurocentric appeal.
I believe that how ever a person decides to wear their hair is a personal choice. A hair style can be used to make a personal statement, political statement, a religious statement and a fashion statement. Whatever statement a person wants to make with their hair is a personal choice and should not be a premise for judgement or attacks. I personally do not believe that hair is a mark of identity but only one of the many physical feature that is a part of the human body. It is one of the things on our body that practically regenerates itself at varying rates under normal conditions and can be altered to express a person's creativity, inclinations, fashion sense and or political views. Genetically, it comes in many shades ranging from black to white (albinos). It comes in varying lengths and also varying textures and I believe in God's eyes, all hair types are beautiful. None is superior to another. The notion of hair types being superior or inferior is only a fallacy in the human construct of social acceptance.
I believe that as black people, we need to stop using superficial reasons to belittle our brothers and sisters. We need to uplift and love each other by promoting mental consciousness and spiritual consciousness. We need to step away from the frivolities that we use to divide ourselves, especially trivial concepts like our "hair identity". I believe it takes away from the real issues that plague the black race such as the senseless killing of young black boys by our own people, poverty stricken black communities and countries and the lack of wealth within our black communities to change the condition, let alone sustain ourselves as a people. Or even how we disrespect ourselves as a people through the media by promoting destructive music and slanderous behavior that adds to the negative stereotypes of black people.
We need to remind ourselves that we are beautiful not because of what is on our heads but regardless of what is on our heads and that "hair" plays a very small part in the grand scheme of things when it pertains to the discrepancies existing within the black communities. Let's enrich ourselves historically, mentally and financial and not be so focused on physical features and temporary fashion statements.
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