I've read comments via Twitter and other websites about natural hair trending as a fad. It came up again recently and a good friend came to the defense of natural hair wearers by simply stating "...if anything it's a MOVEMENT...". Well said. I can understand the impression that this suddenly explosive natural hair scene may give. It looks like every other black woman is jumping on the bandwagon. The annoying question is: How many of us will go back to relaxers after the fad is over?
Yes, I believe some women will go back to the creamy crack. That's just part of the journey for most of us including myself for a brief period. Some may forever return to relaxers. To each her own. What "going natural" is about is getting educated on how to care for and style hair not chemically treated. For the first time, there is a wealth of information on this topic for which Black women have obviously been starving. What naysayers should consider is that many Black women have long since desired to be natural but just did not know what to do with their hair. Think about it, many of us went from plaits to relaxed hair. We often only learned to style bone-straight hair or had someone else maintaining it for us (e.g. stylists). If the products and know how had been available all along, this could very well not be a discussion. So many of us were taught that only chemical straightening could make our hair manageable and beautiful. This movement is liberating Black women from Euro-centric ideas of beauty, extensive and long term hair damage, lost time spent waiting on overbooked stylists, and mental and financial burdens of "getting their hair done".
Next summer, I'll quietly celebrate fifteen years of natural hair. I say quietly because for so many years, I had no community but was a lone soldier converting one Black woman's head of hair at a time. So, the community aspect is refreshing but I'm still finding my place in it and more on a local level. I'm delighted so many of us are embracing our natural hair and believe that for more than a few of us, it's a lifestyle change.
As for me and my hair, it's no fad.
Yes, I believe some women will go back to the creamy crack. That's just part of the journey for most of us including myself for a brief period. Some may forever return to relaxers. To each her own. What "going natural" is about is getting educated on how to care for and style hair not chemically treated. For the first time, there is a wealth of information on this topic for which Black women have obviously been starving. What naysayers should consider is that many Black women have long since desired to be natural but just did not know what to do with their hair. Think about it, many of us went from plaits to relaxed hair. We often only learned to style bone-straight hair or had someone else maintaining it for us (e.g. stylists). If the products and know how had been available all along, this could very well not be a discussion. So many of us were taught that only chemical straightening could make our hair manageable and beautiful. This movement is liberating Black women from Euro-centric ideas of beauty, extensive and long term hair damage, lost time spent waiting on overbooked stylists, and mental and financial burdens of "getting their hair done".
Next summer, I'll quietly celebrate fifteen years of natural hair. I say quietly because for so many years, I had no community but was a lone soldier converting one Black woman's head of hair at a time. So, the community aspect is refreshing but I'm still finding my place in it and more on a local level. I'm delighted so many of us are embracing our natural hair and believe that for more than a few of us, it's a lifestyle change.
As for me and my hair, it's no fad.
