Hair styles serve as a way to express one’s identity and beauty in Black Culture. Both women and men use hair styles to show one’s personal expression of who they are. More recently, Black women have began to embrace the natural beauty of their own hair, creating a new market for the hair care industry. I personally have been on my own “hair journey” cutting all my relaxed hair, to the root, and starting on my natural hair journey. I have learned to love and care for my kinky hair. You can ask almost any Black woman, and she will almost certainly have her own personal story or journey with her hair. From tight kinky coils to loose bouncy curls or waves, Black hair comes in so many different curl patterns. It has been used to oppress people, in fact certain hairstyles such as dreadlocks, are still not allowed for certain workplaces. I have even seen recently where a child was suspended from school for wearing braided extensions. I think we all remember what happened when Zendaya wore those faux lox extensions on the red carpet. For better or worse, Black hair can be a hot topic. I love my natural hair, it is a part of who I am
I think this post, because I identify with it. I have recently started to truly embrace my natural hair. This journey has made me relearn what patience is and what it means to really take care of something. Natural hair is a lot of work, but it is teaching me a lot in the process. I like that now we are able to really talk about our hair in an unapologetic way and in such an open forum.
This is awesome! I love how you truly embrace yourself and who you are and what you look like. That is very admirable. I love how women can express themselves through their hair and I love how culture can be identified by that, too. This is not something that people should ever be ashamed of and I love how you are embracing yourself and what God gave you. Love this post!
I love this post!!! As black women we are constantly ridiculed for wearing our natural hair. Seeing the evolution of the natural hair movement has been inspiring because now women of color feel safe expressing their own beauty. I went natural about ten years ago and it was the most liberating experience of my life. I finally felt like myself and felt relieved from the pressure of trying to conform to European standard of beauty. I love seeing other black women doing the same.
This post is relatable because for the first ten to twelve years of my life, I had really long curly hair that was tough to manage. So as a result I cut it off to start fresh, it’s almost like crafting a new identity. Expression has never been as easy to change as with one’s hair.
I love this and can relate to this!! I feel like I have pretty much had every hairstyle in the book. When I was younger, my mom permed my hair at the tender age of 4. But around 14, I desired more than just straight hair, but my mom said natural hair isn’t for everybody. SO all I could wear was braids, this ended up making my hair very dry and brittle. I tried to wear my natural hair when I got on my own my freshman year in college, but it was too damaged, so I did my big chop, my sophomore year, and I have loved growing to understand and embrace my natural hair. I just did my second big chop, so I hope you love your new cut and enjoy the process!!!
I like this post a lot. My hair is an important part of my identity as well. As a black woman, hair has always been capitalizes as an important part of beauty and my black experience. I’ve had locks for about 2 years now. My journey transitioning from a natural afro to locks has taught me to have patience with my hair and to love it in every stage no matter how frustrating it is.
I like this post a lot. My hair is an important part of my identity as well. As a black woman, hair has always been capitalizes as an important part of beauty and my black experience. I’ve been natural my whole life and blessed with a lot of hair but I’ve always hated taking care of my hair. In my family, hair is synonymous to beauty so when I started my locks everyone was shocked. My hair went from being luscious, curly, and cute to rough, dirty and not feminine enough. I’m also viewed differently by the people around me too. Now people look at my hair and ask me if its clean all the time. I’ve had locks for about 2 years now. My journey transitioning from a natural Afro to locks has taught me to have patience with my hair and not let it define me.
I definitely identify with having my own individual hair journey. As a black woman, I feel like it is an important part of my personal story and has attributed to a lot of personal growth. I also had a perm when I was younger, and when I was in 11th grade I cut all my hair and decided to go natural. . In my family, my mom began the cycle of the big chop and going natural, and I followed soon after. Now, both of my sisters have also big chopped and gone natural. I still, after all these years, do not think that I have mastered my hair just yet it is certainly a journey. It is one, though, that I am glad to be experiencing. I definitely would never go back to a perm and as the years go on it is nice to see so many women converting back to their natural hair
I can definitely relate to this post. I have definitely gone through a rollercoaster hair journey. As a child, I was never able to relax my hair and always wore it in natural styles or braided. My mother always encouraged us to embrace our natural textures. Although growing up in grade school it was not as accepted to wear your natural hair so there were times that I was teased. After high school was when I got my first relaxer, it was a mess and I ended up doing the big chop shortly after.I currently wear my natural hair, although, I do straighten it every now and then. As a mother I encourage my daughter to love her kinky hair but I also allow her to get it straightened every now and then. At the end of the day I think that hair is a way to express yourself and whether that be kinky, wavy, straight, short or long I think it is great that society is more accepting of the various hairstyles and textures.
I’m totally with you, I love my natural hair too! Yet it is hard to go through the beginning stage when some of us choose to do the “big chop”. I also believe that its unfair the way that certain natural hairstyles including dreads are profiled negatively to fit a “job description”, or even facing consequences in a school setting. The uniqueness of the the black hair will be popular from the bounce, locs and curls!
My hair is also a very important part of my identity and I have been thorough a lot with my hair. When I was younger, I would always have it in a ponytail and kept it simple. Throughout middle school I straightened my hair every day, which did significant damage to my hair. In high school I dyed it from my natural blonde color to a very dark brown and immediately regretted it and spent the next couple of months trying to get it back to its original color, damaging it even more. For years my hair was very frail with split ends and it would not grow. I finally cut my hair and started using hair masks to get back to how I wanted it. I think it is great to see now that society is more accepting to hair colors and styles and I like seeing so many women flaunt their natural hair.
natural hair is a big deal! I’ve been doing more research on how to grow my hair and keep it healthy. The longer it grows the more liberated I feel. PS Benny Harlem’s hair kits are allegedly fake so please don’t order them.
I loved this post. I to believe that my natural hair is very important to me because it is apart of who I am. I wear my hair the way I do because it makes me happy, not because of what society thinks is okay. Although my hair is important to me, I also believe that hair is hair. For example, I believe that you can cut it, straighten, it, color, etc.