"I Whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth (whip it real good)!!! That is my jam!!! Usually at the end of the song, I need a neck massage. That song goes hard...literally...I don' damn near broke my neck, but I digress. Anywho, as many know, one of the biggest businesses in this country is the hair industry. (Pause: Ignition just came on Pandora...gotta go in for a few seconds...this is STILL my jam!!Too bad R Kelly ain't interested in me...I'm 22 and too old for him smh). My bad...newayz black women sure know that our hair is our crown. From the bogus lace fronts (where we can see the stupid lacefront) to the couple thousand sew-ins, black women make th industry boom. Now, as many of you all know, I go to Howard University. Several people that I know have asked me how come I haven't gone natural. I enjoy my creamy crack and apparently to a lot of people I have some washed up mentality since I love how my roots get straightened.
Not many people know this, but I was natural more than half of my life. I do not miss when my mama used to wash my hair and then she would have to comb my nappy hair and I felt like I was really goin thru. I do not miss when my mother would blow dry my hair and I felt like I was experiencing death because I would have a headache out of this world. I do not miss my mama using that good ole stove, put that hot comb on it, and come back and burn the back of my head while I'm sittin there screamin and my mama pop me in the back of the head to tell me to shut up (sing Stevie!!!! Ribbon in the sky just came on!!!!).
I have my hair cut and relaxed hair is good for me. Apparently I'm not black enough since I haven't returned back to my nappy roots. Why? Because I don't have locks or my hair standing up in a fro, I'm subjected to the white man right? Please, I'm darker than most...I couldn't lie about being black if I wanted to! Why must my hair define me? When I originaly cut my hair, people were shocked because it was a little past my back. When I started (Sexual Healing needs not to play right now..."Baby I'm hot just like an oven I need some lovin'!!" Man I want some sexual healing...maybe after this blog post...) to slowly cut my hair, people were really upset with me. I just don't understand why my hair is such a big deal. For the most part, people that transition back to being natural experience some amazing mind freeing transformation. Well I like to argue that with my permed hair, when I get different haircuts, I experience transformations as well. When my hair is getting cut, in my mind, I cut off things that restrict me. I become more free and more bold. Life has new doors for me to go through. I do what I want and am carefree about what others think. (Freak'n Me just came on...I simply cannot deal with Ms. Pandora right now...). I just get tired of people telling me I need to let the chemicals go...NO!!! It has helped me deal with the tangles of my hair and made my life a little easier...although I do one day want to lock up, but of course that idea gets pushed back when that part is made in my scalp and my roots feel that creamy substance. Anyway, I'm just tired of people trying to define me by the texture and length of my hair. I do not need my hair to be kinky to define me being black and hair isn't just beautiful when it's long and flowy (whether it's through genes or the length was bought). Hair is beautiful period because it is yours. Long hair, short hair, kinky hair, relaxed hair...it's all good in the hood with me!! Why must so much emphasis be put on a black woman's head to define her? Do black men experience the same pressures in terms of how they where their hair? I don't know. Leave your comments and let me know. I say however you wear your hair, wear it proudly and WHIP IT HONEY!!!! Xoxo...until next time...ta ta for now...TOODLES!!
First of all, your Pandora was going in!!! But anyway, I completely agree with you. Sometimes people feel like they must force their idea of what's "right" or currently socially acceptable, on everyone. Especially when it has to deal with what supposedly defines a culture. Even though I'm a newly natural I can''t stand to see people scrutinizing someone because they choose to indulge in the creamy crack lol. For a lot of naturals (or maybe it's just me) the overall goal is healthy hair. If you have a perm and your hair is healthy and you think it's cute then by all means, WHIP YO HAIR! Most of us have been wearing perms most our lives and literally jumped on the "style bandwagon". It's ridiculous to think that how we wear our hair defines us. People tend to forget that our choices, actions, knowledge, perceptions, attitude, opinions, ideologies and point of views are much more important than if my hair is straight or not. Obviously people did not take India Arie to heart when she said, "I am not my hair."
ReplyDelete(sorry for that rant, but your post inspired me!)
lol I enjoyed reading your rant tho! It's good! I agree with everything that you said. People try to make me feel bad about perming my hair. My hair is still healthy and I was natural for more than half of my life and I actually plan on going back to natural sometime in the future but that's only to start locks. And since I cut my hair, I'm enjoying the hair cut and I have to have a perm to continue to wear it the way I do. But either way, natural or chemically challenged lol wear that hair proudly!
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