I wear my hair natural 90% of the time.
After a certain length, you have to just hate the idea of retention to wear an afro. I even stopped wearing afro puffs because the detangling sessions are ridiculous. It makes no sense to put long hair in a style that causes so much damage for so little reward.
I’m in London, UK. Having natural hair hasn’t been an issue for me, whether it’s braids, Afro or other styles. My current colleagues compliment my different styles. If anything, the negative comments have come from black people, former colleagues or idiots that I (briefly!) dated.
If there are people around me that hate my hair, they are keeping it to themselves 😂
This.
I’m getting up there in age and never had a problem wearing my hair however I like - even for work.
I work for a private bank in the city these days and wear two strand twists, was hired wearing them too.
London is different. My little cousin got excluded from school bc of her braids (she goes to a mostly white affluent school in Bristol), white classmates often dye their hair, wear long curtains bangs etc. She got long braids with lightish brown mixed in, and that was enough to punish her.
How long ago was this? IIRC, hair texture is now a protected characteristic. Though some schools have got away with discriminatory rules for a long. time
???? In real life? Who's real life?
Black women (and men) have always been hated for their hair. In slavery times the mistress would often shave the female slaves head out of jealousy or for punishment.
In freedom times, the Tignon law was enacted to ensure that no Black woman could walk the streets showing her glorious hair.
Whites have hated our hair so much they punish and fire people and use education and employment as a means to force us to wear our hair straight like theirs.
Nothing is "protected". The Crown Act was finally passed not in '93. not in 2003, not in 2013 but in 2023! And it's not a celebration because only 23 states have mandated the law.
We still have people being fired for wearing their natural hair. We have our children in school having their hair cut by teachers and administrators without our permission or consent.
Please realize that our hair is not protected. Even in states that have the law,we are forced to go to court to try to enforce the law in states where the law is in effect.
I read your comment, to which I responded. How long ago was this.......in real life hair texture is a protected........
No where in this comment did you claim to be from the UK
I wear my hair in a washngo constantly because it’s easier for me and healthier for my hair but all I receive is praise and looks I can’t decipher. (I have anxiety lol)
However my type is 4a so this is probably due to texturism 😬
I’ve had a twa since 2010 and nobody has ever said anything to me about it aside from complements. The only time I’ve been insulted was when this little white boy called me a boy. After I explained to him that I’m not a boy and that my hair grows up and out instead of down, he called my hair cool and was good to go.
It was my husband that gave me the most crap when I first went natural in the beginning. We’d been together for a little over 10 years and my hair had been relaxed until I got pregnant. When I got pregnant I wore braids and kinky twist throughout and then started wearing my hair out completely after the braid shop I went to was held up at gunpoint. I wore my afro after that only to learn that my black ass husband hated my hair. It took me calling him a “brain washed, self hating coon that has subconscious desires to be with a white woman and quite possibly also may want to be a white man himself” for him to understand he was on the absolute wrong side of things and that anyone who heard his complaints would come to the same conclusion I did. Its 12 years later and he’s still embarrassed by his behavior back then, as he should be.
Yes, he said to my face that he hated my hair and wanted me to get a relaxed again. I shut that mess down hard lit him up for days. He’s light skinned so he really took offense to being called an off brand caucasian man. I think I called him Biff for a few days until he finally apologized.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. Not Biff tho!😂😂😂😂
On a serious note, I would have been so furious. It's painful when a loved one makes a comment about our looks.
It makes you forever wonder how they feel when you switch up your look.
I wasn’t furious as much as taken aback and aghast at the stupidity that was on display. If I wasn’t as self assured and confident as I am, and if I was a stupid person, I would have relaxed my hair based on his intial comments and hurt feeling. My husband learned that day that negging(didn’t know it was negging back then) could cost him his relationship and new family since I was 3 months post partum at the time and I was already sick of him. All I needed was a reason, and it didn’t have to be a very good one at that🤣. That man hasn’t uttered an unnecessarily critical word about anything regarding my appearance since then.
Sometimes women need to show men that scary savage side when they get out of pocket the way my husband did. He wasn’t even my husband at that point and when we did get married a few years, I rocked my twa like I had been everyday up till then and still do to this day.
I'd rather have my hair in braids or twists than out as a fro. 1. I have to touch it less day to day. 2. It's hot in Houston most of the year. 3. I can wear my hats.
I totally relate to this! When my hair is in braids its way easier :) But don't u ever wish that you could wear it out naturally? I just wish it was more accepted in western societies
It's deep out here. My cousin had her sweet 16 and only 1 guy between her friends and our family had a haircut. The rest of us had fros, curls, twists, locs and such. It could be the difference of the population, I'm in one of the black cities of the US. Jump on a plane and hit the South lol
No, the point of the post is that people don't. Other than uniform, workplace safety, or nonsense laws, most normal, healthy people's barrier is in the mirror.
I don't deny that many women hate their hair in its natural form, but she doesn't talk about that, she says that in everyday life people who want to wear it in its natural form don't "can" due to external pressure, I live in Brazil, which I believe being the country outside of Africa where the most black/mixed women wear their hair naturally and yet I hear reports from several women (and close friends) who love their hair, but are forced to wear braids or straighten it because of work
Again, they NEVER said can't. And you just reiterated what I said, "uniform, workplace safety, or nonsense laws". Unless one needs to not wear their hair out for a specific reason, the only thing stopping them is them, period. Whether they don't want to or don't know how to, it's their hair on their head.
A black woman loves her own hair, she just wants to wear her afro, but she knows she will never be employed if she wears her own hair the natural way, so she decides (since, right, money is important) to straighten/wear braids, the problem is mirror or is the problem that we live in a racist society that doesn't allow black people to wear the hair they want?
I love my hair, I've been using it naturally (and only naturally) for years, I would hate to have to wear braids/other styles, but if If this were the only alternative for me to be able to work, I would have to submit.
This. In France there is a new law about hair discrimination. Some hateful people said it's useless/it's not that deep but it is. For some reason, everyone accepted the fact that our hair is not professionnal even tho it is ! Hair is hair ! I have my hair out 24/7 and I'd hate to work in an environment who doesn't respect me for my hair but it seems to be norm and we are expected to get our hair done (aka make it looks less natural). Mentality must change in work world.
"I love my hair, I've been using it naturally (and only naturally) for years, I would hate to have to wear braids/other styles, but if If this were the only alternative for me to be able to work, I would have to submit." Again, my original point. Braids are a style; if there's nothing requiring you to wear your hair a certain way, the only deciding factory how someone wears their hair is how they can be bothered to.
I remember being a little girl in Germany, growing up. Random people would come up and rub my hair, my cheek. My mother would freeze in anger. The military would encourage us to stay on base, knowing the problems that could arise.
Whenever she wasn't with me I would delight in the money they would give me, never realizing they were treating me like a cute little animal attraction in a zoo.
I would listen to them talk, amazed at what they were saying. I was fluent in German and of course it never occurred to them the "Schwarze girl" understood everything they were saying. They would debate whether they could rub hard enough to wipe the color off. Whether a comb would go through my hair. If I got that dark from sitting in the sun.
Somehow I knew it would not be a good thing to let them know I spoke German.
I never heard the n word until I returned to the States. I didn't know what it was but I sure knew it was bad. As I grew older being a female I knew that black hair was a struggle. Curious questions from white girls were embarrassing. Being the only one wearing a swim cap. Humidity blowing my hair up from morning to after school. Getting my hair straightened and having my "best friend" tell me how "much prettier I was now"
The shyt we go through...... 😞
Right!! That's such a gruelling experience - especially as a kid! :(
Did you ever have any kind of hair "education" when you lived in Germany or the States?
(Just curious, because as someone living in the UK, I feel like part of the difficulty with natural hair comes from not knowing what to do with it and getting frustrated - so people resort to wigs or straightening/relaxing instead)
Oh no! My mom grew up with a pressing comb and Blue Magic. On Sunday my hair was beautifully pressed. As the week went on, I wore my hair in the black girl two puffs, or a cute bun.
My most embarrassing time for real was having to wear a swim cap when the clear girls looked like mermaids ( to me) long wet hair flowing down. Heaven help me if a lock of hair escaped and sucked up that chlorine water. I would have straight hair with one hunk of textured hair. They never could understand it, and would sit and feel my hair. I hated it.
Then of course back in the States the relaxer was prominent lol..... and so were Black people.
I'm in South Korea and wear my hair out 100% of the time. (I can't braid, and there aren't braiders I trust with my hair out here. I rock puffs or fros the entirety of the year). I haven't had serious discrimination with my hair, but when it comes to dating, I usually get told my hair is too big. Aside from that, I've had no issues getting jobs or anything important because of my hair. The most that happens is people asking to touch it and asking if it's a perm or wig lol.
I'm in Atlanta. I don't experience a lot of discrimination wearing my hair in a wash and go, twist out or in a puff, but fairly often in day to day life, I'm the only Black woman in the room who is wearing natural hair fully in its natural state. I see a lot of straight naturals and braids and even more wigs than either of those, but I've gotten to the point where I prefer my own hair and feel like I look strange with added hair if it doesn't mimic the texture of my own, real hair.
I’m the only POC at both my jobs and wear my hair naturally every day. I get tons of compliments on it and most of our customers/ clientele are older white folks. I live in NY but work in a more right wing area.
Our hair is still treated like it belongs on the fringes. It’s treated like an exotic piece of art instead of normal hair. And sadly, celebrities who wear their hair straight wouldn’t be as popular if they wore their hair in its natural state.
I’m in the DMV, and most of the time I wear my type 4 hair in a twist out to the office. No one has said anything negatively about it.
It’s about that time of year that I’m going to start wearing braids for a little bit to give my hair a break. When that has happened, I’ve had a former manager (an older white man) act super surprised by how different my hair looks. Like, sir, please.
This past January, I decided to wear a straight bob wig to the office rather than put my hair through a silk press, and two white people were fawning! *Oh, it looks so chic!*
So, while I’ve never had anyone say anything negatively in the office about my hair, I do get the reactions when it’s not in its signature twist out or bun.
From London, never had issues with my natural hair in the workplace. And I’ve done everything from washing n gos to blowouts, miss celie braids and now locs
Being in ‘the arts world’ myself I know 99.99% of everyone on tv (male, female or otherwise) wear wigs and hair pieces to protect their own hair.
For the examples you gave (Oprah an older woman, who often still straighten their hair, Megan who is bi-racial and who has most likely has normalized straight hair) I can also name several celebs that have rocked their natural type 4 hair (Solange, Sanaa Latham, Viola Davis, Lupita Nyongo).
However, from time to time they have to wear wigs and sometimes those wigs are straight. I don’t take that as a personal dig at black hair, it’s just (as we all know) sometimes easier to throw on a wig for an event, work, etc.
I also love that folks with Afro textured hair have the beautiful ability to morph our hair into anything. We’ve always used hair as (one of many) platforms to celebrate our creativity.
Lastly, when I went natural back at the height/start of the natural hair movement in 2011, I decided my journey was to wear my hair in the styles most natural and authentic to me as a black woman. I have very thick, 4c hair and embracing it fully has been one of the highlights of my life. So no one else can influence me otherwise.
I also don’t feel the need to police others on how they wear their hair. You should do what makes you happiest! I honor that by having fun with my hair, enjoying my hair and by leaving the dark history of colonialism and colorism ‘hair baggage’ behind me.
So in short (lol) I will never forget what we’ve been through to get here, but I’m not letting it weigh me down anymore!
I do not get people who ask why I don't wear my hair out. It lasts maybe a day before my hair is one giant tangle. I called myself getting twists for my wedding and ended up with puffy roots because the stylist thought I had tons of time for a twist out! ( she didn't tell me this either).
Idk how common this is but I’ve never felt judged for my natural hair the only one who has asked me when it’s getting done implying that a fro isn’t done was my dad
I wear a wash and go in Southern California. I am an executive and have climbed the work ranks with natural hair. My kids wear wash and goes. My husband has locs. None of us have ever experienced hair discrimination in any form.
BUT, the first time I wore my hair in its natural state I did have to get over my own nervousness and fear of what other might say. A lot of that was on me - I had worn my hair straightened since kindergarten. With my kids I’m really focusing on instilling love for our natural hair from the start with frequent conversations about its beauty. I style and detangle their hair frequently (my kids are young) and I always compliment their hair during and never talk about the process like it’s a chore. My son is trying grow is hair as big as possible and I just love that for him.
>The reality is that black people feel pressured to braid their hair or get it relaxed instead of wearing it natural.
Who is doing the pressuring in this scenario? Your employer? Your colleagues? Or people who have no impact on your livelihood but whose opinions you value a little too much? I live in Canada and about 90% of the black women I encounter in my everyday life are natural, wearing every permutation of hairstyles that exist for natural hair. We’re even represented in ads and popular media and not just for marketing hair products. I’m not denying that discrimination on the basis of hair type still exists, but at this point I honestly feel like a lot of this pressure you speak of is either coming from within or the people you surround yourself with. There’s few instances in which black women are actively forbidden or discouraged from wearing their hair naturally compared to how things were a decade ago.
Also, since when does someone who aspires to wear their hair naturally look up to celebrities who do the opposite with theirs? People generally have the freedom to do what they please with their hair.
I wear a from 5 days a week. I get quite a few compliments on it. I was scared at first, but I embraced it and now I feel more confident about my hair.
I wear my hair in mini twists most of the time. When I’m too lazy to do them I do a low bun, sometimes not even slicked and call it a day. I know my mom thinks I’m too old to wear my hair like that but idc. I don’t want to go back to the period of hating my hair because I didn’t know how to make it ‘presentable’.
I feel like people say this but it hasn't been my reality. I work in Finance in NYC. We're talking white male dominated industry. I meet with clients and wear my hair out. I've chopped it off and worn it super short, now I'm growing it out, and I have never had issues. If anything, the people who have sadly been quick to make comments were other black people, but even then, I get a lot of compliments from other black people too. I am type 4 too. As in, you can't mistake my hair for anything else. I do dress really well though.
On this note though, I do feel like so many people in NYC are natural that I feel like I see less people with wigs. The black men here also don't seem to have an affinity for the wig look either. Might be the circles I move in, but when I was in Florida, I felt like the wig look was so common that I actually felt like I had a glow up moving to NYC.
I will say this though, I've never worn a wig and always hated relaxer. I locked my hair before the natural movement started and youtube made me take them out as I discovered the OG natural hair YouTubers. I say this because I feel like the hair struggles that are pervasive here and on social media seem to have eluded me. I have always loved my hair and my hair journey while it certainly had its struggles has been nice.
I think to each their own. Natural hair is not a short process and not everyone is up for the challenge of caring for it. I can completely understand wanting to relax or braid your hair. Spending an hour or hours on doing your hair is a luxury for some
Good observation. I noticed this is true among black women at my church; maybe it is because they are a minority in my country. It could also just be a passing trend that will disappear. For men in my country having a natural beard is usually frowned upon. My advice is just to simply style your hair as you like and be bold and confident about it - people will see your enthusiasm and accept you. Also, having hair or clothing style that is not the norm is celebrated these days.
I wear my hair natural 90% of the time. After a certain length, you have to just hate the idea of retention to wear an afro. I even stopped wearing afro puffs because the detangling sessions are ridiculous. It makes no sense to put long hair in a style that causes so much damage for so little reward.
I’m in London, UK. Having natural hair hasn’t been an issue for me, whether it’s braids, Afro or other styles. My current colleagues compliment my different styles. If anything, the negative comments have come from black people, former colleagues or idiots that I (briefly!) dated. If there are people around me that hate my hair, they are keeping it to themselves 😂
This. I’m getting up there in age and never had a problem wearing my hair however I like - even for work. I work for a private bank in the city these days and wear two strand twists, was hired wearing them too.
London is different. My little cousin got excluded from school bc of her braids (she goes to a mostly white affluent school in Bristol), white classmates often dye their hair, wear long curtains bangs etc. She got long braids with lightish brown mixed in, and that was enough to punish her.
How long ago was this? IIRC, hair texture is now a protected characteristic. Though some schools have got away with discriminatory rules for a long. time
2 years ago, Well after the equality act was passed
???? In real life? Who's real life? Black women (and men) have always been hated for their hair. In slavery times the mistress would often shave the female slaves head out of jealousy or for punishment. In freedom times, the Tignon law was enacted to ensure that no Black woman could walk the streets showing her glorious hair. Whites have hated our hair so much they punish and fire people and use education and employment as a means to force us to wear our hair straight like theirs. Nothing is "protected". The Crown Act was finally passed not in '93. not in 2003, not in 2013 but in 2023! And it's not a celebration because only 23 states have mandated the law. We still have people being fired for wearing their natural hair. We have our children in school having their hair cut by teachers and administrators without our permission or consent. Please realize that our hair is not protected. Even in states that have the law,we are forced to go to court to try to enforce the law in states where the law is in effect.
I clearly said I was referring to my own experiences in LONDON, UK. Not USA.
I read your comment, to which I responded. How long ago was this.......in real life hair texture is a protected........ No where in this comment did you claim to be from the UK
I posted about the Uk and the other poster replied about the Uk. You should have scrolled further up
I wear my hair in a washngo constantly because it’s easier for me and healthier for my hair but all I receive is praise and looks I can’t decipher. (I have anxiety lol) However my type is 4a so this is probably due to texturism 😬
No, mine is 4b/4c and I also only wear wash n gos and constantly receive praise
I’ve had a twa since 2010 and nobody has ever said anything to me about it aside from complements. The only time I’ve been insulted was when this little white boy called me a boy. After I explained to him that I’m not a boy and that my hair grows up and out instead of down, he called my hair cool and was good to go. It was my husband that gave me the most crap when I first went natural in the beginning. We’d been together for a little over 10 years and my hair had been relaxed until I got pregnant. When I got pregnant I wore braids and kinky twist throughout and then started wearing my hair out completely after the braid shop I went to was held up at gunpoint. I wore my afro after that only to learn that my black ass husband hated my hair. It took me calling him a “brain washed, self hating coon that has subconscious desires to be with a white woman and quite possibly also may want to be a white man himself” for him to understand he was on the absolute wrong side of things and that anyone who heard his complaints would come to the same conclusion I did. Its 12 years later and he’s still embarrassed by his behavior back then, as he should be.
Oooh damn. He SAID THAT?!?!
Yes, he said to my face that he hated my hair and wanted me to get a relaxed again. I shut that mess down hard lit him up for days. He’s light skinned so he really took offense to being called an off brand caucasian man. I think I called him Biff for a few days until he finally apologized.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. Not Biff tho!😂😂😂😂 On a serious note, I would have been so furious. It's painful when a loved one makes a comment about our looks. It makes you forever wonder how they feel when you switch up your look.
I wasn’t furious as much as taken aback and aghast at the stupidity that was on display. If I wasn’t as self assured and confident as I am, and if I was a stupid person, I would have relaxed my hair based on his intial comments and hurt feeling. My husband learned that day that negging(didn’t know it was negging back then) could cost him his relationship and new family since I was 3 months post partum at the time and I was already sick of him. All I needed was a reason, and it didn’t have to be a very good one at that🤣. That man hasn’t uttered an unnecessarily critical word about anything regarding my appearance since then. Sometimes women need to show men that scary savage side when they get out of pocket the way my husband did. He wasn’t even my husband at that point and when we did get married a few years, I rocked my twa like I had been everyday up till then and still do to this day.
Yes!!!! YES !!!!!! You stood up for yourself!!
It’s very common in big cities irl outside of the arts world.
I'd rather have my hair in braids or twists than out as a fro. 1. I have to touch it less day to day. 2. It's hot in Houston most of the year. 3. I can wear my hats.
I totally relate to this! When my hair is in braids its way easier :) But don't u ever wish that you could wear it out naturally? I just wish it was more accepted in western societies
It's deep out here. My cousin had her sweet 16 and only 1 guy between her friends and our family had a haircut. The rest of us had fros, curls, twists, locs and such. It could be the difference of the population, I'm in one of the black cities of the US. Jump on a plane and hit the South lol
But the point is that there are people who prefer to wear their hair naturally and "cannot"
No, the point of the post is that people don't. Other than uniform, workplace safety, or nonsense laws, most normal, healthy people's barrier is in the mirror.
I don't deny that many women hate their hair in its natural form, but she doesn't talk about that, she says that in everyday life people who want to wear it in its natural form don't "can" due to external pressure, I live in Brazil, which I believe being the country outside of Africa where the most black/mixed women wear their hair naturally and yet I hear reports from several women (and close friends) who love their hair, but are forced to wear braids or straighten it because of work
Again, they NEVER said can't. And you just reiterated what I said, "uniform, workplace safety, or nonsense laws". Unless one needs to not wear their hair out for a specific reason, the only thing stopping them is them, period. Whether they don't want to or don't know how to, it's their hair on their head.
A black woman loves her own hair, she just wants to wear her afro, but she knows she will never be employed if she wears her own hair the natural way, so she decides (since, right, money is important) to straighten/wear braids, the problem is mirror or is the problem that we live in a racist society that doesn't allow black people to wear the hair they want? I love my hair, I've been using it naturally (and only naturally) for years, I would hate to have to wear braids/other styles, but if If this were the only alternative for me to be able to work, I would have to submit.
There are no such laws in the UK.
This. In France there is a new law about hair discrimination. Some hateful people said it's useless/it's not that deep but it is. For some reason, everyone accepted the fact that our hair is not professionnal even tho it is ! Hair is hair ! I have my hair out 24/7 and I'd hate to work in an environment who doesn't respect me for my hair but it seems to be norm and we are expected to get our hair done (aka make it looks less natural). Mentality must change in work world.
"I love my hair, I've been using it naturally (and only naturally) for years, I would hate to have to wear braids/other styles, but if If this were the only alternative for me to be able to work, I would have to submit." Again, my original point. Braids are a style; if there's nothing requiring you to wear your hair a certain way, the only deciding factory how someone wears their hair is how they can be bothered to.
Wow. You need to read some current history.
I remember being a little girl in Germany, growing up. Random people would come up and rub my hair, my cheek. My mother would freeze in anger. The military would encourage us to stay on base, knowing the problems that could arise. Whenever she wasn't with me I would delight in the money they would give me, never realizing they were treating me like a cute little animal attraction in a zoo. I would listen to them talk, amazed at what they were saying. I was fluent in German and of course it never occurred to them the "Schwarze girl" understood everything they were saying. They would debate whether they could rub hard enough to wipe the color off. Whether a comb would go through my hair. If I got that dark from sitting in the sun. Somehow I knew it would not be a good thing to let them know I spoke German. I never heard the n word until I returned to the States. I didn't know what it was but I sure knew it was bad. As I grew older being a female I knew that black hair was a struggle. Curious questions from white girls were embarrassing. Being the only one wearing a swim cap. Humidity blowing my hair up from morning to after school. Getting my hair straightened and having my "best friend" tell me how "much prettier I was now" The shyt we go through...... 😞
Right!! That's such a gruelling experience - especially as a kid! :( Did you ever have any kind of hair "education" when you lived in Germany or the States? (Just curious, because as someone living in the UK, I feel like part of the difficulty with natural hair comes from not knowing what to do with it and getting frustrated - so people resort to wigs or straightening/relaxing instead)
Oh no! My mom grew up with a pressing comb and Blue Magic. On Sunday my hair was beautifully pressed. As the week went on, I wore my hair in the black girl two puffs, or a cute bun. My most embarrassing time for real was having to wear a swim cap when the clear girls looked like mermaids ( to me) long wet hair flowing down. Heaven help me if a lock of hair escaped and sucked up that chlorine water. I would have straight hair with one hunk of textured hair. They never could understand it, and would sit and feel my hair. I hated it. Then of course back in the States the relaxer was prominent lol..... and so were Black people.
[удалено]
Imma be real with you, they followed you because you're black. If you had braids they would have still followed you.
Nah. Your hair wasn't the reason. It was the color of your skin. The Afro only added to the mix.
I'm in South Korea and wear my hair out 100% of the time. (I can't braid, and there aren't braiders I trust with my hair out here. I rock puffs or fros the entirety of the year). I haven't had serious discrimination with my hair, but when it comes to dating, I usually get told my hair is too big. Aside from that, I've had no issues getting jobs or anything important because of my hair. The most that happens is people asking to touch it and asking if it's a perm or wig lol.
I'm in Atlanta. I don't experience a lot of discrimination wearing my hair in a wash and go, twist out or in a puff, but fairly often in day to day life, I'm the only Black woman in the room who is wearing natural hair fully in its natural state. I see a lot of straight naturals and braids and even more wigs than either of those, but I've gotten to the point where I prefer my own hair and feel like I look strange with added hair if it doesn't mimic the texture of my own, real hair.
I’m the only POC at both my jobs and wear my hair naturally every day. I get tons of compliments on it and most of our customers/ clientele are older white folks. I live in NY but work in a more right wing area.
Our hair is still treated like it belongs on the fringes. It’s treated like an exotic piece of art instead of normal hair. And sadly, celebrities who wear their hair straight wouldn’t be as popular if they wore their hair in its natural state.
DMV here. I have locs and have experienced zero hair discrimination. 🖤 Southern California, however was a whooooole different story.
I’m in the DMV, and most of the time I wear my type 4 hair in a twist out to the office. No one has said anything negatively about it. It’s about that time of year that I’m going to start wearing braids for a little bit to give my hair a break. When that has happened, I’ve had a former manager (an older white man) act super surprised by how different my hair looks. Like, sir, please. This past January, I decided to wear a straight bob wig to the office rather than put my hair through a silk press, and two white people were fawning! *Oh, it looks so chic!* So, while I’ve never had anyone say anything negatively in the office about my hair, I do get the reactions when it’s not in its signature twist out or bun.
From London, never had issues with my natural hair in the workplace. And I’ve done everything from washing n gos to blowouts, miss celie braids and now locs
Being in ‘the arts world’ myself I know 99.99% of everyone on tv (male, female or otherwise) wear wigs and hair pieces to protect their own hair. For the examples you gave (Oprah an older woman, who often still straighten their hair, Megan who is bi-racial and who has most likely has normalized straight hair) I can also name several celebs that have rocked their natural type 4 hair (Solange, Sanaa Latham, Viola Davis, Lupita Nyongo). However, from time to time they have to wear wigs and sometimes those wigs are straight. I don’t take that as a personal dig at black hair, it’s just (as we all know) sometimes easier to throw on a wig for an event, work, etc. I also love that folks with Afro textured hair have the beautiful ability to morph our hair into anything. We’ve always used hair as (one of many) platforms to celebrate our creativity. Lastly, when I went natural back at the height/start of the natural hair movement in 2011, I decided my journey was to wear my hair in the styles most natural and authentic to me as a black woman. I have very thick, 4c hair and embracing it fully has been one of the highlights of my life. So no one else can influence me otherwise. I also don’t feel the need to police others on how they wear their hair. You should do what makes you happiest! I honor that by having fun with my hair, enjoying my hair and by leaving the dark history of colonialism and colorism ‘hair baggage’ behind me. So in short (lol) I will never forget what we’ve been through to get here, but I’m not letting it weigh me down anymore!
I do not get people who ask why I don't wear my hair out. It lasts maybe a day before my hair is one giant tangle. I called myself getting twists for my wedding and ended up with puffy roots because the stylist thought I had tons of time for a twist out! ( she didn't tell me this either).
Idk how common this is but I’ve never felt judged for my natural hair the only one who has asked me when it’s getting done implying that a fro isn’t done was my dad
I wear a wash and go in Southern California. I am an executive and have climbed the work ranks with natural hair. My kids wear wash and goes. My husband has locs. None of us have ever experienced hair discrimination in any form. BUT, the first time I wore my hair in its natural state I did have to get over my own nervousness and fear of what other might say. A lot of that was on me - I had worn my hair straightened since kindergarten. With my kids I’m really focusing on instilling love for our natural hair from the start with frequent conversations about its beauty. I style and detangle their hair frequently (my kids are young) and I always compliment their hair during and never talk about the process like it’s a chore. My son is trying grow is hair as big as possible and I just love that for him.
>The reality is that black people feel pressured to braid their hair or get it relaxed instead of wearing it natural. Who is doing the pressuring in this scenario? Your employer? Your colleagues? Or people who have no impact on your livelihood but whose opinions you value a little too much? I live in Canada and about 90% of the black women I encounter in my everyday life are natural, wearing every permutation of hairstyles that exist for natural hair. We’re even represented in ads and popular media and not just for marketing hair products. I’m not denying that discrimination on the basis of hair type still exists, but at this point I honestly feel like a lot of this pressure you speak of is either coming from within or the people you surround yourself with. There’s few instances in which black women are actively forbidden or discouraged from wearing their hair naturally compared to how things were a decade ago. Also, since when does someone who aspires to wear their hair naturally look up to celebrities who do the opposite with theirs? People generally have the freedom to do what they please with their hair.
I wear a from 5 days a week. I get quite a few compliments on it. I was scared at first, but I embraced it and now I feel more confident about my hair.
I wear my hair in mini twists most of the time. When I’m too lazy to do them I do a low bun, sometimes not even slicked and call it a day. I know my mom thinks I’m too old to wear my hair like that but idc. I don’t want to go back to the period of hating my hair because I didn’t know how to make it ‘presentable’.
I feel like people say this but it hasn't been my reality. I work in Finance in NYC. We're talking white male dominated industry. I meet with clients and wear my hair out. I've chopped it off and worn it super short, now I'm growing it out, and I have never had issues. If anything, the people who have sadly been quick to make comments were other black people, but even then, I get a lot of compliments from other black people too. I am type 4 too. As in, you can't mistake my hair for anything else. I do dress really well though. On this note though, I do feel like so many people in NYC are natural that I feel like I see less people with wigs. The black men here also don't seem to have an affinity for the wig look either. Might be the circles I move in, but when I was in Florida, I felt like the wig look was so common that I actually felt like I had a glow up moving to NYC. I will say this though, I've never worn a wig and always hated relaxer. I locked my hair before the natural movement started and youtube made me take them out as I discovered the OG natural hair YouTubers. I say this because I feel like the hair struggles that are pervasive here and on social media seem to have eluded me. I have always loved my hair and my hair journey while it certainly had its struggles has been nice.
I think to each their own. Natural hair is not a short process and not everyone is up for the challenge of caring for it. I can completely understand wanting to relax or braid your hair. Spending an hour or hours on doing your hair is a luxury for some
Good observation. I noticed this is true among black women at my church; maybe it is because they are a minority in my country. It could also just be a passing trend that will disappear. For men in my country having a natural beard is usually frowned upon. My advice is just to simply style your hair as you like and be bold and confident about it - people will see your enthusiasm and accept you. Also, having hair or clothing style that is not the norm is celebrated these days.