Full Disclosure: I am a dark skinned Black woman whose (dread) locs turned 2 years old last month. So articles like these strike a chord with me. So glad Tami's response over at WhatTamiSaid set the record straight about some of the key things to keep in mind as the discussion on natural hair ensues on the heels of Chris Rock’s Good Hair flick: 1. Black hair issues are about white supremacy not an ahistorical hang-up of some black women. 2. It is not reasonable to compare Black hair issues to hair dyeing in the white community. Black hairstyles have been sanctioned in a number of ways along race and economic lines that white women’s hair have not been. 3. The natural hair movement is about freedom.
Perhaps the last point has the most resonance with me. Tami goes on to explain what she means here:
It is about black women coming to accept their natural selves as beautiful. It is about removing the imperative that black women must straighten to be acceptable. It is about erasing the fear that an employer or a lover or the general public might see us with our nappy roots showing. It is about exercising and making love with abandon — hair be damned. It is about knowing how to care for our natural textured hair, even if we choose to wear it straight. It is about not buying in to negative and erroneous stereotypes about black hair — that it is hard to care for, that it is inconvenient, that it is costly.
While I think relaxer ads have done a great deal of hawking their products on the basis of erroneous stereotypes on black hair, I think it’s important to give visibility to the difficulties that can be involved when making the transition from relaxed to natural. I think these difficulties can sometimes be greater than they seem. And it begs the question: Who has access to the freedom of going natural? I would wager that not a lot of black women have nurturing natural hair stylists and/or access to affordable natural hair care salons and “natural” products. I haven’t done an empirical study on this. But since I have been natural, I have had hair appointments in Pittsburgh, PA; Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; Fort Washington, MD; Oakland, CA; Atlanta, GA and Detroit, MI.
Cost-wise I have never paid so much money for my hair in my life. This has roughly amounted to 60-80 dollars every 2-3 weeks for a style ranging from two-strand twists to loc maintenance — for salon costs alone. Natural hair oils, moisturizers, shampoos and hair grease can range from maybe 30-50 dollars per month. It is true that many women in the natural-hair community do (in the case of locs, wash and re-twist) their own hair. But this can be an unrealistic undertaking for some. To wash and re-twist my own shoulder length locs myself requires 6-7 hours of my time in one sitting. This is time, as a graduate student, I simply can’t spare. Thus, my trip to the stylist is more of a necessity to foster the wellness and health of my hair than a luxury.
On the other hand, I have never been more happy with my hair. The trade off is enormous: I have no sense of alarm when it starts to rain and I am caught without my umbrella; my hairstyle allows me to feel more connected to my African ancestry. And, I have learned a great deal about patience as I have moved through the stages of my hair locking. But I can't help but shake the feeling that my access to relative privilege has granted me these freedoms. My access to a car, a large supportive natural hair network to begin my process and some financial resources for salon appointments to ensure my locs continue to thrive during a finals-heavy month, have definitely made all the difference.
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Does anyone (the OP or otherwise) have a link to any kind of 101 article on natural Black hair and what goes into caring for it, etc? I'm a white girl and while I think that natural Black hair is incredibly beautiful and awesome, I had no idea that it was such a cost/time intensive thing. I'd like to know more!
I have straightened my hair most of my life. I had a brief period of braids and short natural hair in my early 20s (about 10 years ago). I've tried to grow out my hair long and natural, but once my mini-fro started to get too long I would always wimp out and straighten it. I am also constrained by cost. I can straighten my own hair, but more complicated natural styles or braiding require a trip to the salon and a few bucks.
My mother is balding on top of her head, which I believe has been caused by a lifetime of relaxer chemicals. I would really like to stop relaxing my hair for good. When my hair was short and natural I would simply deep condition it and apply some gel activator every morning - the stuff they used to use for jerry curls - and it was never frizzy. But I wonder if that would still work if it was longer...
I thought about braiding my hair (with that human hair that gets wavy when you dip it in hot water) while it is in that in between growth stage between "chic short" and long enough to put in a bun or ponytail. But that also presents problems. Braiding can pull your hair very tight, be itchy and put a lot of pressure on your hair follicles. So I just don't know what I'm going to do. I am trying to make sure that I don't put toxic things IN my body (clean diet) - shouldn't I also make sure I don't put toxic things on my head?
I have to admit that I am also very reluctant to wear my hair natural when I am heavier. I am more confident with short, natural hair when I am slimmer. Also, I am in the process of looking for a new job and I think being black AND overweight with natural hair may be a little too much. It sucks that we have to think about these things as black women, but that is simply the reality of the situation.
I would add that a lot of white people really don't know what goes into straightening, curling, etc. of black hair.
That said, it shouldn't matter. The broader issue is that the ideas associated with natural black hair are wrong and have historically been rooted in a white beauty ideal.
The thing that strikes me about this post is how much time and effort it to maintain one's hair "natural". Doesn't this somewhat undercut the OP's message that wearing one's hair this way is about freedom? I realize this comment may come across as being smart ass, but that really is not my intention
A great deal of time and effort goes into black women maintaining straight hair styles as well.
And the freedom referred to isn't the freedom from dealing with one's hair, it's the freedom to ACCEPT one's hair and one's own self, and to find beauty in your own natural hair.
It's about the freedom of not fearing judgment, of being found too black or too political. It's about the freedom of not fighting your genetics.
It's about the freedom of embracing your kinky hair and finding it beautiful just the way it is.
The OP takes the time to quote Tami as saying "It is about not buying in to negative and erroneous stereotypes about black hair — that it is hard to care for, that it is inconvenient, that it is costly." and then follows it up with her own cost/time consuming hair care. I share Pantheon's confusion in the disconnect between the ideal and practice.
err...crshark not pantheon
well i think i posted something similar too ;-)
I hear ya. I've spent enough money on my hair to last a lifetime. I've done the braids and the shorter hair cuts and the salon relaxers.
I'm not spending any more money on my hair than I need to. I have two-tone hair, with the crown being more kinky and the bottom half in the back being loose spring coils (with the proper manipulation) My problem is an uneven head.
So my compromise is to mosey on down to Walgreen's and buy a 6 dollar box of children's texturizer (not as strong as a relaxer but still a chemical). I manage to use only 2 boxes a year for 12 bucks total. I only apply the stuff to the top part of my head. Weird, I know.
My partner lends a hand helping me reach the parts I can't see. I return the favor giving him a crew cut every 10 days or so.
I've found that any light, basic skin lotion (the cheaper the better) works great for maintaining curls. I rinse my hair every day, but I rarely wash it with shampoo. Why would I? Head grease doesn't travel the length of my hair shaft anyway, and hair products and lotions rinse out with plain water.
I experimented putting my hair in twists (ala Malia Obama) but the partner said I looked young---and I thought, "Oh, that's cool". But then he was like, "Um, no like a little girl young".
Oh...so no twists for now, lol.
Kind of reminds me of reading about the process of conking in The Autobiography of Malcolm X and how the undertaking itself was not just painful and painstaking, it was also debasing. What I admit to being ignorant of altogether is whether the modern day African-American man goes through as much effort and money to keep his hair in good shape as the modern day African-American woman.
I want to say thank you to Sariyie for pointing out this blog post. I too read the NYT article and was disappointed by its failure to take into account how racism has affected black women's relationships with their hair.
I'm a dark skinned black woman with natural hair. I'm 28 and I've had natural hair since I made the decision when I was 16. When I started styling my hair naturally, I was so relieved and so happy because I felt that I had stopped fighting my hair, that I was no longer denying a part of who I was, and that I was refusing to be ashamed of my genes and my ancestry.
I was a bit surprised when I read the portion of Sariyie's writing about the cost of natural hair.
When my hair was chemically straightened, my mother probably spent $120/month on my hair. With my natural hair I might spend at the most $30/month on my hair; however, I've NEVER been to a natural hair salon. When I started doing my hair naturally, I was 16 living in the middle of Missouri and I didn't even have the faintest idea that such a thing existed. I twisted my own hair, and that did take between 4-6 hours, but I only did my twists once or twice a month, and getting braids with synthetic hair took even more time, and in addition I was paying someone else to do it.
Right now I have an afro, that I have to twist up every night to ensure my hair doesn't tangle. So I spend 20 minutes twisting it up at night and 10 minutes styling it in the morning.
The only products I use on my hair are shea butter, almond oil, aloe vera gel, and a deep conditioner that I bought from a curly hair salon. The most expensive item is the deep conditioner, but that I buy it the least often. Everything else I can find at organic and herbal stores for relatively affordable, if not cheap prices.
I'm ALWAYS broke. I'm a struggling artist with a part-time job, and one of the things I've been thankful for is how cheap it is for me to do and maintain my hair.
I just found the idea of attributing economic privilege to maintaining natural black hair to be so curious, because it runs directly counter to my experience and the experiences of my other black female friends who style their hair naturally.
Which is not to say that I doubt or question Sariyie's experiences, but I would argue that having a "Salon" experience with natural black hair is very expensive--and it is the "Salon" aspect of Sariyie's natural hair experience that is a reflection of economic or class privilege. I can't afford such an experience. Hair salon's are in general expensive places, and having one's natural hair styled there would indeed cost quite a bit, because doing a natural style can be quite time intensive--and that's what you're paying the stylist for, their time.
Also, black women's hair is a multi-million dollar industry, so there are always companies willing to sell and manufacture products that our hair doesn't need, and are simply over-priced when there are natural and organic alternatives that are pretty easy to find and much less expensive.
Thanks everyone and especially the reckless tongue for sharing your experience. Something I should add about my experience is that I wore my hair relaxed for roughly 8-10 years with tons of braids in between. And because I grew up in NY for a considerable part of my life, it was relatively cheaper to wear my hair relaxed. Many of my relaxed hair memories involve hopping on the 2-train to Harlem to get a 10-dollar wash and set at the salon. All that would be required was to bring your own shampoo and conditioner which I hawked from my mother as a teenager. This would take 2 1/2 hours including the train ride. My mother or my grandmother largely did my relaxers (roughly 10-dollars a box). So, if you pay 10-dollars every 2 weeks for years, it can be startling to go to 60+ dollars. I say all this to say, that many of the black girls I grew up with in New York became very accustomed to salon experiences because it was very affordable and accessible. That's why it was natural for me to rely on salons and a network for my transition to natural hair. And so, along with the economics of it, I would also say that one's access to natural hair is about where they live and the black hair mores that are specific to their neighborhood growing up. Much more to follow on this convo soon.
This post describes more what i would expect about natural vs processed hair. it makes sense that you would have to pay a lot to get your hair chemically straightened, since that's a big change. it makes sense that it would be easier and cheaper to let your hair stay natural.
i hope no one is offended by this, but i've recently moved to a new city where styles and demographics are a little different, and i've been paying attention to how people on the bus dress and style their hair. I see a lot of black women with straightened hair, and honestly, in most cases i don't think it looks that great. i think it usually looks better when its curly or in an afro or something. of course it depends on the person, but in general i'm not a big fan of overprocessed looks, whether its too much torturing each hair into position or too much makeup.
I'm white girl with straight blonde hair - and the back and forth surrounding Chris Rock's flick has revealed some embarassing ignorance.
Like, I never realised that Black women straighten their hair - I just assumed that some people had really curly hair and others had very straight hair and never thought more about it.
But I now see how this rooted in the white beauty ideal, and that makes me very sad. This realisation actually began last year, when my Latina roommate started bashing on her (beautiful!) naturally wavy/curly hair that she was always straightening and fussing over.
Any Latinas have a comments on how this issue crosses the race/ethnicity lines?
I guess I'm confused about what you mean when you say "natural". My definition would be that natural means you don't put products in or spend time styling it-- you just let it do what it would naturally do. But it sounds like you are spending a lot of time and money at a hair salon to look "natural".
I mean, I'm all for black women feeling comfortable having their hair look however they want, whether or not it fits the same styles as white women. I just don't understand the use of the word natural here.
It means not straightened--chemically or with a hot comb (if you're not sure what a hot comb is, look it up).
You always have to do SOMETHING to your hair, even if its as simple as running a comb through your hair and washing it.
I mean this with all due respect, but what's fascinating about your comment is how it reflects how little white society (pardon me if you are actually not white) actually knows about black people or black hair. It's kind of mind boggling--we live in this country together, walk the same streets, eat the same foods and yet most white people probably don't have the faintest clue about black hair, and most black people know more than they would ever need to know about white hair.
Now, that's privilege.
I kind of agree with you, but I would also say that most people don't know what goes into styling other hair types, regardless of race. My Latina mother-in-law and I were both surprised at each others' routines, both thinking that the other's look was "natural," meaning with you styling. And we all had good laughs one night when my (black) cousin tried to style my (white) hair.
There are about a bazillion issues surrounding how our society understands black women's hair. At the same time, considering how few black women were their hair natural, it's pretty simple for a person to a) not know anyone who wears their hair that style and b) not have ever asked that person how they maintain their hair. In fact, I'd say asking someone would come across as, "How do you manage your hair?" which would also be offensive.
Yes, everybody knows way too much about white hair products (from commercials). And no one can deny white privilege. That said, I'd bargain that doesn't mean anyone who's watched Pantene commercials knows how to fix the hair of the woman on the commercial.
yes, I don't have personal experience with anyone's hair other than my own-- i also wouldn't expect you to know the details of what i do to take care of my hair. Maybe that's privilege, sure.
my point, though, is that first you say its a negative stereotype that black hair is costly and time consuming and inconvenient, and then you tell us how much time and money and effort you spend at hair salons to get your hair to look "natural". if you are defining natural as "not straightened" then i guess natural hair includes any non-straight hairstyle you could have, no matter how much time and effort and changes to your hair are involved? i just don't think that's how i would define the word natural, in any context. now, natural isn't necessarily better, of course (i love when people complain that condoms are unnatural and then they go fly in a plane and eat pre-packaged food), but i just don't see the point of using the word natural when you are clearly doing a lot of work on your hair. why not say something like not straightened or not euro-imitative or something like that?
"natural", as i've always seen it defined, would mean leaving your hair the color and texture that it grows in, and either leaving it out loose or restraining it in some way that can be taken in and out (headband, hair ties, etc). if your hair style requires going to the salon every two weeks and paying $60, then its probably a bit different than that, or else you're overpaying for an unnecessary service. i assume you're not, so -- i'm sure your hair looks great and is freeing and everything, but it doesn't sound like its "natural" anymore than its "natural" when a white woman goes to a hair salon every two weeks to get her hair dyed red and have curls put in, even if people who see her assume it is natural because it fits her race and culture.
With all due respect, it doesn't matter how you would define natural hair. In the black community the term "natural hair" has a particular meaning and that's what's important about this discussion.
Another point I was trying to initially make is that even if black hair is straightened or worn naturally it still must be attended to.
Bringing up the how lack of knowledge in larger society about black hair was to demonstrate that having discussion with non-black people about the politics of our hair can be frustrating and seem unproductive because there's such a chasm of ignorance to overcome.
I won't get into the specifics of it because it's not time for Black Hair 101, but your statement once again reflects the lack of knowledge about the particulars of black hair. Your very definition of "natural" is informed by a white perspective. By that definition most black woman would NEVER have natural hair.
To get the conversation off the ground, non-black individuals have to respect and accept black definitions for what they are, and not demand or expect black people to conform their definitions to their own experiences.
well, ok, if that is what everyone agrees "natural hair" means in the black hair context, then that's fine. but it looks like there is already one comment here from another black woman who has a different definition of natural hair. maybe i read her comment wrong, maybe she wasn't saying she wouldn't call your hair "natural" but just that it was more expensive than she'd expect.
anyway, i wasn't specifically making up a definition of "natural hair"-- i'm saying that "natural" in general means as nature would leave it, unchanged. that usually applies whether we're talking about food, or gardening, or any aspect of life. if there is a specific other definition for black hair then i admit i was not aware of it, but that's what happens when words have specific contexts in which they don't mean their usual meaning-- not everyone knows about the specific context. that's why i was asking about it. so just to be clear, "natural" includes something like hundreds of little braids that take hours to do and hours to maintain?
i'm sorry that more people don't already know all the details of how your hair works, but i honestly doubt most people know the details of anyone else's cosmetic routines if they have a different natural state. for example, i never learned to put on makeup, and i don't know how most women do it. i don't know how to dye hair. i don't know how people with fake nails do it, or how women who shave or wax their private areas can stand it. i bet it doesn't occur to people who don't have pale skin and dark hair (and good close up vision) that some of us pluck our armpits hair by hair to avoid the fact that stubble shows even if it hasn't breached the surface of the skin yet. i don't necessarily think its a bad thing not to know about all cosmetic rituals that anyone might use or need to use, and i don't think that anyone will ever learn about them if they feel they can't ask about them when they come up.
(sorry about the lack of caps, my shift key is messed up)
It's ok that you don't know every little detail about black women's hair.
But when you're commenting on an article about black women's hair, and you have a question about the very definitions people are using, or if something seems not-quite-right to you, look it up before questioning / criticizing. There's plenty of info on the internet about the various definitions of "natural" black hair, what it means politically / socially, how to take care of it, etc.
That way, you get educated, without having to derail the thread, and without having black women feel like they are always having to explain things to non-black folks when they are trying to have a conversation about their own bodies.
Hope this post comes across as earnest / helpful rather than snarky / confrontational... it's always hard to convey tone on the internet.
It took me awhile to get used to the idea of organic vegetables, too. All plants are organic, by definition.
If natural hair is how people describe non-straightened black hair, then that's fine. But is this post, and the Chris Rock movie, and all the commentary I've been seeing over the years really about how natural is better? Or is it about how black women shouldn't feel pressured to try to make their hair look like white women's hair, when black hair usually lends itself better to more elaborate hairstyles?
But is this post, and the Chris Rock movie, and all the commentary I've been seeing over the years really about how natural is better? Or is it about how black women shouldn't feel pressured to try to make their hair look like white women's hair, when black hair usually lends itself better to more elaborate hairstyles?
What exactly is that supposed to mean?
I got two words for you: coconut oil. Pure, organic, non-processed coconut oil is the best thing for hair in terms of conditioning, moisturizing, greasing, etc.
I have seen the articles and controversy about Black hair for several years now (since I became interested in the natural wave of my own White hair). In San Francisco seeing a Black woman with a Natural was a very rare event. I think Natural texture is great, one can get a lot of height and volume with kinky hair, it appears. It's a real shame some people are saying mean things about the Obama family's hair, small girls should never have to hear that crap. Michelle Obama is a grown woman and can do whatever she wants and if she likes it smooth, good for her. She was a profssionap before she was a president's wife and who know what went in to her making the choice or perhaps encouraging one thing or the other for her daughters. People used to enjoy Chelsea Clinton ugly ("like her mother" sheesh) so compared to the the comments on the Obama hairdos are clearly racist.
I like big fluffy (or shorn) Natural hair and find it aethetically pleasing. Like other fashions I think braids and weaves are too expensive and that overwhelms my aethetic judgement of them.
I know a White woman who recently had a Black baby girl. The mother is not interested in fashions and thankfully lives far from big cities (with lots of political finger pointing) but I do wonder what will happen when the girl starts to ask about her hair. Or Black people start to ask her White mother about her Black hair.
I recently shook the habit of conditioner and am on a shampoo twice a week, and jojoba oil routine. There were several days of bad hair that I doubted my goals, the expense (which is much less but..), the idea od long hair. I wish for all women to have a look they are happy with. I hope Black women who choose to change their hair or just reevaluate it are I the end happy wit the expens and their looks.
There are no famous Black women (that I'm aware of) with great Natural hair so I do believe that makes it very difficult for anyone remotely like me in attitude to take on that hairdo. It's a shame ahollywood is so generic. Rihanna has great, avant garde, expensive, short, straight hair. Who has great fluffy, or kinky, or nappy, or shorn hair? Until there are famous women who have visible springy kinks, society is going to have a big problem with the hair Black women are born with.
And that's an optimistic point of view.
Well my thick "puerto rican" hair is naturally curly like Mariah Carey back in the day no doubt a testament of the black heritage I like many of us carry and this topic always makes me antsy. There is no "right" or "wrong" way about how we women of color wear our hair. And it's really difficult to discuss in these type confines.