Hair is something that most of us overlook. However, to the black community, it is something that has divided us for many years. Black women have been humiliated for not having “good hair”. Many of us have put chemicals in hair for the sake of fitting and having “Manageable” hair. For as long as I’ve known natural hair has been something that has been used as a weapon to tear down black women. The most interesting thing about this is that the criticism black women face about their hair also comes from within the community. It is insane to think about the amount of brainwashing and internalized self-hatred it takes for people within the community to be the ones negatively speaking about natural hair. However, it does happen, we see it all the time on social media, films, shows, etc. This research essay will talk about the psychological effects caused by discrimination against natural hair, the weaponization of natural hair, and the connections between natural hair and self-love. Although people claim that “it’s just hair”, the experiences that come with it make it so much more than just hair.
We all know the history of natural hair runs deep. The first wave of the natural hair movement started around the 1960s. It started as a way to remind black women and men that their skin, facial features, and especially hair were all admirable. African American activist, Marcus Garvey, encouraged black women to embrace their natural hair, insisting that copying white Eurocentric standards of beauty took away from the beauty of black women. His famous quote, “Don’t remove the kinks from your hair! Remove them from your brain!” Was popularized during the beginning of the natural hair movement. Afros have always been worn as a sign if black power and rebellion against white American beauty standards. It also became a weapon in the fight for racial equality and a public declaration of self-love (which we still see today). However, the rise of pressed and permed hair during the 1980s and 1990s can be blamed for the alternation of the natural hair movement. “With the growing popularity of these straightened styles, definitions for what was deemed “good Black hair” and “bad Black hair” emerged. “Within the African American community, good hair is perceived as straighter and softer, while kinky and coarse is regarded as bad hair,” Riley explains. With “good hair” came more access to jobs and advancements that would influence social and economic status” (Bess 2022 ). It was clear the kind of hair that allowed Black women to have more opportunities back then. However, the introduction of braided hairstyles, like the one Janet Jackson had in Poetic Justice, caused the second wave of the natural hair movement which is what it is today. All in all, the natural hair community was created as a way for black women to reclaim their self-images in a society that was far from accepting.
What is the natural hair experience? It is often viewed negatively. It’s time-consuming, hard to manage, physically demanding, and more. While these things can all be true, I think that the black community has always put a negative emphasis on having natural hair. Little girls are taught from a young age that their hair is something that needs to be heavily manipulated for it to be beautiful. From relaxers to tight hairstyles black women are forced to present themselves in a way that fits Eurocentric beauty standards to have peace of mind. Not only is it a tiring act but also an expensive one because natural hair products are usually way more expensive than products targeted for straighter hair. In her Ted talk, Johanna Lukate talks about the impressions and stereotypes that come with wearing natural hair out. She gives an example of how dreadlocks are portrayed in media, and the images that come to mind when we see black women with them (Johanna Lukate 6:32-7:00 ). When it comes down to it the stereotypes placed on natural hair it often manifests into a internalized sense of self. What I mean by that is that black women can sometimes be seen hating other black women for wearing their natural hair out instead of “getting it done”. It takes time to recognize this toxic behavior since it’s something that is instilled into us from a young age.
The black community is quote-on-quote “obsessed” with the idea of natural hair. However, I think to a certain extent that “obsession” is completely valid. This is because, in the United States, we are still the only race that has to fight to be able to wear our hair out loud and proud. If we were to take a look at the media, it is only recently that we’ve started to see positive representation. The media we consume about natural hair has a lot of impact on how we view it in real life. As asserted by Electra S. Gilchrist (2015), “Findings revealed that the images African American women consume from Black hair magazine advertisements do impact what they to be beautiful and, subsequently, influence their day-to-day styling and hair care mechanisms, leading further support to the idea that the media serve as powerful sources of knowledge. This study culminates by theorizing about the constitutive meanings and importance of Black hair as conveyed through magazine advertisements and considers how Black women use social comparisons to make everyday hair decisions to achieve what they identify as good hair”. Electra goes into detail about the implications of natural hair in the media. Not only does it affect our day-to-day lives but also our self-image and self-confidence.
You may ask the question, “Why is this all important?”. Well, the short answer is that it just is. The longer answer is that natural hair has always been used as a weapon against Black Women. A weapon that harms us more mentally and not physically. In Cheryl Thompson’s paper, “Black Women and Identity: What’s hair got to do with it?”, she states, “Further, when you consider that for the past 100 years manufacturers have almost exclusively only promoted the idea that natural black hair needs to be altered, it all begins to make sense. When was the last time short, curly, kinky black hair was celebrated or promoted as equally as beautiful? As sociologist Ann DuCille notes, “We have yet to see Miss America or Black Miss Universe with an Afro or cornrows or dreadlocks” (cited in Byrd & Tharps, 2001, p. 125). To no surprise, there have been several instances over the past few years where natural black hair has been under attack” (Cheryl Thompson 2008). All the things she says hear are true. I never saw kinks and curls being celebrated instead it was mocked. It’s very easy for us to sweep all of this under the rug and say that. society, especially the black community, has grown. However, the side effects are still present in the day-to-day life of a Black woman.
In conclusion, I would like all of us to begin to think more about things that seem irrelevant on the surface but are relevant on a deeper level. I don’t think you have to be a black woman to understand the implications caused by the promotion of Eurocentric features. You just have to be willing to look through different lenses. If you have to remember one thing from this essay, remember that the natural hair movement was something created out of necessity by people who felt misrepresented by society. It started as something beautiful and I think that it will continue to inspire the community to feel much more comfortable with the hair that we were born with.
Works Cited
Eletra S. Gilchrist Media Effects and Black Hair Politics
Johanna Lukata (2018) The Psychology of Black Hair
Kamryn Z. Bess (2020) It’s More Than “Just” Hair: Revitalization of Black Identity.
Black women and Identity: What’s hair got to do with. it? (n.d.). https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/textidx?cc=mfsfront;c=mfs;c=mfsfront;idno=ark5583.0022.105;g=mfsg;rgn=main;view=text;xc=1
Cover Letter
The reason I choose to write about this topic is because it’s something that I relate to very heavily. Throughout my whole life, I’ve always wondered why having my hair felt so different from other people’s hair. It was something I had to learn how to take care of on my hair because my mother wasn’t taught to even take care of her own let alone mine. For the longest time, I thought that my struggles were something I faced alone, however after entering the natural hair community and being friends with other black girls who faced similar challenges. I realized that the issue had nothing to do with me, instead, the popularization of Eurocentric beauty standards was to blame. My purpose for writing this essay is pretty clear. I just wanted to bring more awareness to what it’s like growing up with natural hair in a world that believes it needs to be constantly manipulated. Although this paper caters to the black community, I think that everyone should learn about the history of natural hair. This paper will help me further understand language politics because like language it is something that has its stereotypes and assumptions. While writing this paper I thought about my niece a lot and how it pained me to see her mother perm her hair. This was mainly because I didn’t want her to face any of the struggles written in this essay. At the end of the day, I wish that I had someone to tell me that there was nothing wrong with my hair back when I was little. I hope I can be that someone for all the people that feel the same way I did.
