A conversation on hair.....

 I had the most interesting conversation with a fellow co-worker about  hair. He made the assumption that, "All black women wear wigs" along with some interesting things. After laughing  and bantering back and forth, I began to think about, "Why do we, as black women, have such an obsession with our hair?" "Why do we focus on things such as hair growth, what products we prefer to use on a daily basis, if we wear a weave, hair pieces, or a wigs, and so on and so forth?" And most importantly, "Do other cultures worry about their hair as much as we do? Do they spend so much as we do on hair?

The answer to my first question was simple, but I let my mother explain it to me in her awesome motherly way. Basically, its in our system and a part of our culture. She laid back on the couch, took a deep sigh and took me back to thick grease and hot combs used to make our hair straight, how her sister would help her wash her hair, scratch, and grease her scalp until it shined. We discussed and found hieroglyphs etched in stone of the Egyptian Queen Tiye having her braided by a slave as well being decked out in  a thick ceremonial wig. When discussing if the church played a part in how we wore our hair, she went into avid detail as to how the black church cautioned women about cutting their hair because it was their "crown" or "their glory"...which I still hear to this very day.

Go head Queen Tiye

When my co worker made that assumption , I in turn stated "But many white women are jumping on the band wagon wearing weaves and using traditionally culturally specific hair care products." For example, not to long ago I was looking up information on black castor oil and traditional castor oil. You tube surprised me. Instead of someone who looked and sounded like me, I was face to face with a white British female holding up a jar of castor oil. As a future therapist, I had to do a self check because the first thing I thought...before pressing the play button was..."what would she know about castor oil?". Well, I pushed that thought aside and listened to her and actually learned a lot. She explained in detail that she had to have the item shipped because British stores did not sale a lot American hair products (Uhm...government..hope you read this..ECONOMY). I listened to her discuss the pros and cons of the product and if it improved her hair growth. At the end of the vlog, I was left well informed, learned new ideas, and began to look at other vlogs without basing it on what the presenter looked like.

Brittany Spears wore wigs and extensions after shaving her hair.

As to the obsession with hair growth, product use, and why we wear wigs and weaves, I answered this for myself. Society is to blame. When we see celebrities like Beyonce, Brittany Spears, and Viola Davis, we only see them with luxurious straight, long flowing hair. But many people don't know that both these women are natural underneath. Why do they wear wigs to cover up their naturalness? I understand that they have busy schedules and probably are concerned about adding stress to their hair, but you would think with the money, the stylist, and everything else...they wouldn't have such a problem. But it has nothing to do with that, it is just the stigma that straight hair is the best. I read an article about Viola Davis showing her natural hair in a photo shoot compared with one done about her character in the movie "The Help". There were more negative responses about her natural hair and features in the first article but constant praise about her features and acting skills in the second. Hmmm, makes you think right?

Underneath that lace wig is a naturalista. Who knew?

  And when it comes to these products, who sales them? The celebrities! When I watch Beyonce promote a product, I do find myself thinking."Wow, I would love my hair to look that way" knowing full well that 1) is isn't all of her hair and 2) that that one product alone (but an army of professionals) made her hair to look that way. 

Well, I know that was a lot of thinking for a five minute conversation, but I feel that every opportunity is a learning opportunity. I learned that societal constructs have plenty to say about how we view ourselves and that there are probably more women out there feeling the pressures such as myself. With each day, the feeling of wanting to grab the jar of  relaxer has dissipated because I am tuning out everything else and tuning into myself.

Blessings

Hair Regime

Lusti's Organic Shampoo

Motion's Leave in Conditioner