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I read this article by Jeneé Osterheldt, she is an excellent columnist and writes for The Kansas City Star. It is no secret that no matter the type of hair you're born with, we are never happy with it and find it either too curly, too kinky, too flat and more, we also complain that it doesn't grow fast enough, and we rarely think it looks good or happy with our hair's natural textures.
In her articleJeneé talks about how black women are learning to love their natural hair. This phenomenon is a worldwide one and I hope it will continue.
Get the guide to grow your hair longer and healthier here
On sizzling summer days most of us want to just get our hair out of the way. We put it in a ponytail or hide it under a hat or a scarf just to make it go away.
But not last Wednesday. More than 100 women showed up at the American Jazz Museum to make a statement: Natural hair is beautiful. And Essence magazine was there to capture it on camera for its online feature “Street Style,” set to debut next month.
Women of all colors struggle with their hair, but for black women, hair has often been a confidence maker or breaker. Think about it. Barbie doesn’t sport coarse and curly hair. Neither do most Disney princesses. Only recently, thanks to “Brave’s” Merida, has a princess had kinky curls. Not even the black princess had that.
Most of the world’s most celebrated beauties have straight, fine and flowing hair that blows in the wind. And there was a time when the corporate world didn’t accept afros, dreadlocks or ethnic styles. It was considered unprofessional.
For these reasons, some women resort to relaxers, weaves and keratin treatments to fit in. It starts to define them. There are women who won’t swim or work out in an effort to preserve their perfectly coifed ’do.
Our emotional kinks are so deep, they have been combed through in books, songs and debates and even documented in Chris Rock’s movie “Good Hair.”
But things have been changing for some time. I chopped my hair off and started all over 10 years ago this week. I was tired of being defined by my hair, so I took away its power.
Most days, it’s a mass of curls. But I flatiron it too. It has been a transition, learning to embrace my hair as it is. At first it was hard. Now there are dozens of products as well as YouTube tutorials, blogs and online clubs that cater to the conversion, from Natural Chica and Curly Nikki to CurlBox and Carol’s Daughter.
More and more, ethnic hair is showing up in the media. Earlier this year, Viola Davis dominated the red carpet when she sported her natural hair, a tight, curly afro, at the Oscars. Once known only as Beyoncé’s little sister, singer Solange Knowles has become a brand of her own, a fashion icon. Many credit the leap to her bold, natural look.
And when a Photoshopped image of first lady Michelle Obama wearing a naturally curly ’do hit the Web, it went viral. Twitter, Facebook and blogs posted and reposted the image, with many hoping it was real. “America ain’t ready,” one blogger wrote about the ethnic style.
Sure there was a time, during the black power movement, when natural was trendy. But it was a passing trend, thought of as revolutionary. Why was it, then or now, considered daring and different to simply let your hair be as it was meant to be?
LaToya Rivers, a healthy hair specialist, says it’s because only recently has natural been truly embraced as beautiful in the mainstream. Women don’t know how to let go. Some of them have never seen the natural texture of their hair.
That’s why she’s hosting the Natural Hair Care Expo at the Holiday Inn at Coco Key Resort in Kansas City on Aug. 4. The event caught the eye of Essence, and that’s how our city got on its “Street Style” radar.
“It’s important that women start to see their hair as an accessory and not as their identity,” says LaToya, 35, who wears her hair in sister locks with golden honey highlights and pinned up very old Hollywood. She ditched relaxers seven years ago.
She styles hair at B Naturally U in Grandview. Her hair was once bone straight and past her shoulders. She relied on a relaxer. But after doing hair for 17 years and teaching classes on healthy hair, she wanted to be an example. And she wanted to love her hair, au natural.
“There is a need to bring women together and release the stigma attached to our hair,” she says. “Women must be empowered to enjoy their hair exactly the way it is.”
She also wants to get rid of the division among women with different types of hair. No more of the straight hair against the curly hair or the weaves and relaxers against the real hair. She says there is nothing wrong with weaves and straightening our hair. The problem is when we think we need it to look pretty.
“It’s about accepting yourself and respecting one another,” she says. “I teach people how to keep their hair healthy and how to get past the stereotypes and end that obligation to look like the norm.”
The photo shoot was unexpected, but she says it is very important to the movement.
“The more women see natural hair in the media, the more common it will become and the more at ease women and little girls will be with how they look naturally,” LaToya says. “We have to celebrate our hair, in all its textures and styles. Being yourself is beautiful.”
http://blackbeautyandlonghair.blogspot.com/2012/07/are-black-women-learning-to-love-their.html
Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/01/3686150/black-women-are-learning-to-love.html
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