I have been on a journey with my hair, as I am sure we all have. I cannot count the amount of times a comb has broken in my hair. The amount of times my twist outs and bantu knot outs have failed or how many times my head has been burnt by a hot comb. However it’s all part of the fun. Over the years I have started to think of my my natural hair as an option and become more accepting of it. However it still remains evident that society has not caught up yet. There are so many stereotypes and mis-information surrounding Afro hair.
Here are a series of Afro Hair Myths blog post to put these myths to bed.
Afro Hair Myths #1
Black Hair doesn’t grow
As a Black woman, if your hair is naturally long it is almost assumed that you are somehow mixed in some way. Or it must somehow be fake. Believe it or not black woman’s hair can grow
Firstly hair is hair no matter who’s head it is on. It has the same chemical composition. Protein, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur. Therefore with proper management surely we all have the same potential for growth as other races (In theory yes, obviously we have to take in consideration genetics as well)
However it is important to note that because of the characteristics of our hair type we have a tighter curl pattern and as a result of this tighter curl pattern our hair is prone to being dry. The scalp does produce its own oils however due to the curly nature of our hair these oils will not make it to all parts of the hair strand, if the hair is not looked after properly it is prone to break. Which means keeping your hair moisturised daily is so important.
On average your Afro hair grows about 6 inches a year. This is half an inch a month.
So why are we not seeing this growth?
Some of the reasons we may not be seeing this hair growth is due to.
- Hair products that dry out and damage but not preserve afro hair.
- Mis-use of brushes.
- In-correct use of perm, or using perm in general.
- Protective styles that are not so protective.
- Overuse of heat styling products.
The key to having longer hair is to minimize breakage. So with the proper care and attention to your hair regime, to the hair products you are using, over time you can achieve longer hair.
Another factor that contributes to this notion that black woman’s hair doesn’t grow is the magic of shrinkage. Depending on the tightness of the curl I read somewhere that the hair can shrink up to 75% of its true length. Shrinkage makes the hair appear a lot shorter then it actually is.
There are so many different techniques to combat shrinkage. However showing visual images of shrinkage will give you a better understanding of the sheer deception.
Bish Please
Afro Hair Myths #2
Black Hair is unmanageable
“My hair is so unmanageable it’s thick, coarse, frizzy and dry and I don’t know what to do with it. I’M TIRED OF IT.”
As Black woman we are always being sold the next horrendous chemical relaxing system in order to apparently make our hair more “manageable.” I use the term loosely because my hair does not need managing, Thank You.
Even if it did I don’t need to be told how to ‘manage’ my hair by a society that has no idea about a Black woman’s hair. This is a negative selling technique that perpetuates the notion that tells you your hair is not good enough in its natural state and it needs to be changed. Therefore they create a problem for you and create a solution.
5 years ago the quote at the top would have been me, but now unmanageable is defiantly not a word I would associate with Afro Texture hair. People often think that its unmanageable because they have spent so much time and money on weaves and perm they actually have had no real experience of dealing with their own hair. The lack of experience and the lack of time and patience often leads people to the feeling of frustrated and upset.
If you haven’t tried anything how do you know that you can’t do it. Instead of thinking about our hair being unmanageable think more along the lines of. How can I take better care of my hair to get the desired results.
Afro textured hair is actually really versatile just gotta believe in it and believe in your journey.
Afro Hair Myths #3
Black Hair is unattractive
In a society that values Eurocentric standards of beauty where does thick, kinky, curly, afro wool type hair fit into the notion of being beautiful.
At one point in history beauty was defined by the idea of the brown paper bag test. Then it was the idea of snow and blow. If your skin is as white as snow and your hair blows in the wind you were by default considered beautiful. Anything that went against this was considered ugly and unattractive.
There are probably people who would say this happened so long ago, Why is it still an issue. Why can’t you just love yourself? I mean look at Lupita she is so beautiful.
It is important to note that this belief is deeply embedded in the history of colonialisation which has set the precedence of what is beautiful and acceptable within the wider society.
You can’t change decades of hatred with a few token black people regardless of how beautiful they are. These false perceptions of beauty based on Eurocentric standards have been forced upon all nations to this day. Let’s face it we rarely see dark skin woman or woman with afro texture hair in mainstream advertisements.
Even within the black community we are more likely to celebrate woman with a looser texture hair instead of a woman with 4c hair unless her hair is really long.
Similar to something I said in my previous post. People often think their hair is unattractive because they have not yet had any real experience in appreciating its beauty. Basically the more we see natural hair textured woman (and I mean all textures) across many different platforms the more of a norm it will become.
Be dope, Be genuine, Be you
Afro Hair Myths #4
Black hair is unprofessional
Many black women have come under scrutiny in the workplace for wearing their hair in its natural state or what is consider ethnic hairstyles. Many women have been encouraged to wear weave and opt for a straighter hairstyle and disguise their afro to obtain employment. A well-known blogger Simone (@hairissimba, Instagram) was a victim of discrimination after a recruitment agency asked her to remove her braids or risk missing out on a job opportunity. How fair is this? Surely a job offer should be based on merit, knowledge, experience or even personality.
This negativity of natural hair and ethic hairstyles in the workplace, stems from anti-blackness, inherited racism and the misogyny this western society still breeds.
It is so ingrained in us; I remember watching a documentary in which black woman themselves said that they were unlikely to turn up to an interview with natural hair. This documentary I watched was a while back and I do wonder if this same idea resonates amongst the black female community today. With the rise in bloggers sharing their natural hair journeys, I would think that this would encourage many others not to conform.
It does not make sense that something natural, something God given would be look at as unprofessional.
If I’m being honest it doesn’t surprise me. When we think about what is professional we often look towards the corporate world as the gold standard and I’m sure it is obvious to see that in the UK the corporate world is not saturated with black females therefore as a minority we will be seen as different. We know people don’t like difference to much. They would much prefer a uniform work force.
We just need to encourage and support each along our hair journey regardless of what we chose to do. It’s your hair you have the freedom to do what you please.
Don’t change your hair to suit them
They should change their attitude to suit you
If You See May 