Do you have an emotional connection with your hair? Please explain.

[teenie]

yes, because about a month ago i got a bad trim and i nearly cried....i had no idea prior to that event that i cared that much...l had went to the local beauty school to just get a flat iron and the girl seemed to know what she was doing so i let her talk me into a trim and she gave me more than a trim plus my hair is uneven...one side is longer than the other

 

[Dragon_Of_Vaeros]

Nope. Not at all.

 

[sylver2]

5 years ago it would have been Nope not at all. ive cut it so much at the drop of a dime. its broken off many times..lol. didn't care what stylists did or i did.
yup i was also teased for having the kinky type 4a/b hair growing up.dreamed about having hair like Rae dawn chong, Chili and Jasmine guy.
i got a relaxer in my late teens and was still teased for having frizzy big hair..lol
I found the hair boards right when my hair was once again damaged and breaking off. I'm glad I did. I have learned so much. I have worked so hard. and had i known what i know now. I would've never relaxed. but I did relax. I am relaxed and I'm embracing that.
I want to show woman that you can indeed have beautiful, thriving long hair even with chemicals. Even the kinkiest of hair type. It can be done. I've worked to hard, my hair reached the longest length I've ever had in my life last year. Yes, yes I have an emotional connection to my hair.

 

[Ms Lala]

YES YES and YES!!!!

For me my moving from acceptance to embracing my natural hair was a spiritual journey in and of itself. My hair is more than just hair it's an expression of my ancestry and culture; people fought for me to have the right to live peacefully in the way the Creator intended. I remember when as recent as 12 years ago I knew women who could not get jobs in retail w/braids (nicely styled individuals) because they weren't "professional". My hair is an expression of culture and a message to others that I do not have to conform to image of beauty and professionalism that has been deemed the norm. I also like dispelling myths that people have about kinky hair. Particularly that it can't grow long or that is dry and hard.

On a lighter note I enjoy my hair and it is the ultimate accessory. I can have on a totally drab outfit and my big hair can set it off better than any piece of jewelery.

 

[LittleLuxe]

no, not emotional. Strictly vanity. lol

Yes! That's it exactly, lol. On the one hand I am working very hard to attain long hair, but more so to finally understand my hair. Understand it's needs and what must be done in order to achieve maximum health and beauty.

On the other hand I really don't want to become a slave to my hair or treat it like an idol. I never want to be afraid of cutting it if I feel like. I actually really like short hair and think it looks cute and one haircut had me rocking short hair unexpectedly for months long before I started this HHJ.

Now I'm just eager to figure out my formula, lol, so that when I do feel like cutting I'll be able to get my hair in tiptop shape the second I miss long swinging locks.

 

[bimtheduck]

YES! When my hair looks good I feel good.

I got a haircut once that was about 2 inches too short and I think I cried for a week.

When I go out for a night on the town and my hair is workin it you can't tell me nothin'!

 

[LadyRaider]

My mom had 2 something hair, long, long about to her mid back. And when I was little I was the girl with the long hair. I wasn't much into beauty and fashion, so I wore my hair in two braids up until my senior year in high school. (Protective styling!)

I wasn't teased for having frizzy or "nappy hair." Instead, my braids were often pulled by other girls who wanted to see if they were fake.

Even in college my hair was special, though I didn't pay much attention to it. I remember a girl warned me in college that, "You have beautiful hair, but you abuse it."

I didn't abuse it. I just didn't know how to treat it. Eventually after years of inattentiveness it got incredibly short, brittle, and straw-like. I didn't realize what I was taking for granted until it was gone. I was like a rich person that spent without thinking until all the money was gone.

So now I feel like I am able to recover what was mine by birthright. I'm quite proud of what I've already accomplished. So I guess that pride is an emotional attachment.

 

[FRESHstart101]

(sits on couch)



it all started when i was a little girl, i can smell
the fresh cut grass and see my childhood friends
running fiercely down the street like it was yesterday.
but as they played i sat and got my knots worked on
sitting in between my mothers legs holding a jar of Dax pomade

... , lol let me stop ... i always thought long hair made
you pretty. or gave you some type of advantage. and as
a kid it was the only thing i got compliments on. not how
well behaved i was, not how smart i was but how NICE and long
my hair was. i grabbed on to that and clung on to it for
dear life. to this day since cutting off all my hair i still have
to readjust and umm .. change my definition of what beauty
truly is. it's not you hair, not your skin but honestly
(not trying to preach AT all) the way you carry and feel
about yourself.

 

[BEAUTYU2U]

No, but since I started my HHJ I do want to see my hair reach its full potential. I wouldn't mind chopping it all off again .. as long as it was my decision, not a setback or scissor happy stylist.

 

[Curlykale]

When I was relaxed I couldn't put my hair in a bun without feeling my confidence sink. People liked my hair a lot, and I told them it was natural (uhm yeah I cheated)...

Since going natural I have experienced a very different feeling. I feel great when my hair is perfectly moisturised because I feel like I'm on the right track and "it's working", it makes me feel like I'm slowly achieving my goal. But I don't feel "ugly" anymore when I bun or when the look is not perfect... I could say my confidence has increased or maybe I'm just used to it now.

 

[Ms Lala]

When I was relaxed I couldn't put my hair in a bun without feeling my confidence sink. People liked my hair a lot, and I told them it was natural (uhm yeah I cheated)...

Since going natural I have experienced a very different feeling. I feel great when my hair is perfectly moisturised because I feel like I'm on the right track and "it's working", it makes me feel like I'm slowly achieving my goal. But I don't feel "ugly" anymore when I bun or when the look is not perfect... I could say my confidence has increased or maybe I'm just used to it now.

Yeah I don't have to have that perfectly styled look any more either

 

[diadall]

Yes, I do have an emotional connection to my hair. Unlike India.Irie, I am my hair.
I like my hair. She is free, big, fluffy, sexy bouncey and she likes being whipped in the wind. She may only be SL but she is the envy of longer lengths.

My SO loves my hair and he tells me all the time that he is blessed to be able to touch it whenever he wants.

 

[IMFOCSD]

Hmm, i think I'm gonna say no.....for now lol

I am still in the denial stage(sometimes)....where I'm like hmm can i really do this? My hair is only a little past sl, which is the longest its ever been but at the same time its the average length for black women (outside of lhcf).

When i reach my first goal of apl then i think i will begin to develop an emotional connection with my hair.

 

[IMFOCSD]

Yes, I do have an emotional connection to my hair. Unlike India.Irie, I am my hair.
I like my hair. She is free, big, fluffy, sexy bouncey and she likes being whipped in the wind. She may only be SL but she is the envy of longer lengths.

My SO loves my hair and he tells me all the time that he is blessed to be able to touch it whenever he wants.

Nice post.

 

[Miss617]

I definitely have an emotional connection with my hair. Back in August, after not taking very good care of it during the summer, I went to get it done for the new school year and my hairdresser had to cut, not trim, a couple of inches of it. It was so damaged, there was really no other option. However, I didn't realize how much she cut until the next day when I unwrapped it and saw how short it was. I was so upset; you can ask @MzLady78, there might as well have been smoke coming out of my ears. I hated it, I didn't think I could make a decent ponytail out of it and I didn't like wearing it out because I wasn't used to how short it was. I got used to it after a little while, but I still missed the length it was before I had to get it cut.

I think the reason I have such an emotional attachment to my hair is because out of all my features, it's the one thing I always got the most compliments on. In high school, a lot of the other black girls I was friends with had hair that was SL or shorter, while mine at its longest was around APL or BSL. So when I got it cut, I felt like Samson! My hair was seriously my pride. I'm trying to grow it back to the length it was when I first started college; I just started taking the Nioxin Intensive Recharging Complex, so hopefully it helps!

 

[Janet']

I have an emotional connection to my hair...I enjoy caring for it (most times, ). It is my favorite hobby...I realized just how much of a connection I had when I did my last length check and had to acknowledge that my lack of consistent deep conditioning and using protein treatments played a major role in my lack of retention and I sat there and cried like a baby...Sad, I know...And I'm sure that PMS and hormones might have played a role in the mini meltdown, but I knew then that I had a strong emotional connection...maybe too strong...I'm a pretty balanced person and I bounced back pretty fast but um, yeah...after about 30 seconds, I was like, "Seriously, girl...snap out of it...It ain't that serious..."

 

[Oasis]

naw. i love my hair when it's ackin' right

but if i could find some awesome realistic wigs i would shave it off and call it a day.

 

[IMFOCSD]

I have an emotional connection to my hair...I enjoy caring for it (most times, ). It is my favorite hobby...I realized just how much of a connection I had when I did my last length check and had to acknowledge that my lack of consistent deep conditioning and using protein treatments played a major role in my lack of retention and I sat there and cried like a baby...Sad, I know...And I'm sure that PMS and hormones might have played a role in the mini meltdown, but I knew then that I had a strong emotional connection...maybe too strong...I'm a pretty balanced person and I bounced back pretty fast but um, yeah...after about 30 seconds, I was like, "Seriously, girl...snap out of it...It ain't that serious..."

Ur post is funny

 

[GraciousMystique]

Yes. For me hair had a role in my personal self esteem and acceptance. I remember when I was five years old and used to listen to compliments people would tell this Dominican girl about her hair. She wore it in braids it was pretty, thick, long and loosely coiled. I also wore my hair in braids, the same style in fact, but yet I never yielded one compliment about my hair.
That's when I started to feel my hair texture was ugly, and peers only reinforced this notion throughout my grade school years. I was natural until age 16 and I would hear the negative comments ie: "you need a perm", "your head is nappy" " Why don't you fix your hair" etc. Until my mom allowed me to relax my hair and after wards I felt terrible, ashamed of giving into my tormentors. I transitioned under wigs, and I became wig dependent until I found this the hair boards.
In my childhood my hair signified shame and sadness. Now, in my adulthood my hair initiates emotions of happiness (for it's uniqueness) self acceptance, and love for how I was made naturally.

 

[topnotch1010]

Absolutely! I am so dedicated to me and my dd's hair that I can't help but to be emotionally invested in our hair. It takes a lot of time, trial and error, tlc, $$, and patience to come this long and far and you don't do that without love.


Sent from TopNotch1010's iPhone using LHCF

 

[ellebelle88]

I can definitely say with assurance that I have a strong emotional attachment to my hair. I recently suffered a major setback and went from BSL to SL. That was a month ago and I still cry about it every time I look into the mirror. I can't get my hair to look as good as it did when it was longer. I'm sad right now thinking about how I've lost 3 years worth of progress. I miss my hair...it sucks that every other race on the planet doesn't have to worry about their hair growing like we do. That's why I think we have such an emotional attachment. We have to work 10x as hard and wait 3x as long.

 

[Mystic]

Funny, I am more emotionally attached to my hair the longer it gets and I see great progress over time. This is my second twa, with my twa, I do not care as much. It is way easier for me to cut my twa than my APL/BSL hair, as I am more attached.

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

i have to say no... i've had several unwanted or accidental chops and my hair grows back. so on that note i'm not attached to it...

on another note, if i had some illness or condition that stopped me from growing hair all together, than yes, i can see me going through some emotional issues with that

 

[I Am So Blessed]

ill say yes, because im a black girl. and most of us are emotionaly connected to our hair. its a black thing.

 

[IMFOCSD]

I can definitely say with assurance that I have a strong emotional attachment to my hair. I recently suffered a major setback and went from BSL to SL. That was a month ago and I still cry about it every time I look into the mirror. I can't get my hair to look as good as it did when it was longer. I'm sad right now thinking about how I've lost 3 years worth of progress. I miss my hair...it sucks that every other race on the planet doesn't have to worry about their hair growing like we do. That's why I think we have such an emotional attachment. We have to work 10x as hard and wait 3x as long.

The bolded is so true...reading ur post really just made me think. I'm sorry to read that u experienced ur set back and how sad u are...it'll be back bsl sooner than u think ;-)

 

[Ronnieaj]

Hmm, by and large I'd have to say no. I had relaxed APL hair growing up, and I started cutting it around age 14. I kept my hair ear-length or shorter for 10 years and loved it. I only grew it out once for senior pictures at my grandma's request .

I started transitioning in 2007 and was fully natural in 2008. I'm attached to my hair now because I'm trying to grow it out for a wedding, but I don't have issues getting my hair trimmed, or cut really. I take pride in my hair, but my hair isn't my glory. I got over that when I got kicked out of the church choir and off the usher board for cutting my hair, no joke.

That said, my mom recently told me that her hair is thinning, and I got more emotional thinking about that than I do thinking about my own hair. My mom does have an emotional attachment to her hair, and I think that's resulted in ME having an emotional attachment to her hair .

 

[Aviah]

I love my hair and it really irritated me to have about 6 inches cut off last September, but I just learned to work with it. I never cried, or threw a fit about it. I just thought, this will be killer-annoying until it grows back. Now I'm back at SL and I can work with it though I want it longer. So long as I can grow hair in this life I'm alright- to be permanently bald or something would be much more upsetting, but there would have to be a lot of getting used to if I had to deal with it. I'm alive and well, its hair.

 

[niqu92]

mmm...hmm...i dont think i do
my natural hair is 3c/4a and although i was the only one in my family without "good hair"[everyone else is 1a-3b] my mom would always tell me how beautiful my hair was and how she wished hers was like mine and she always took real good care of it.No one in my fam would ever tell me i had "bad hair" my grandmother would always say my hair would be so beautiful with a relaxer but thats really about it.It wasnt until i got to highschool ppl would tell me how nappy my hair was and how i needed a relaxer but i never paid them any mine because the same ppl telling me my hair was "bad" had chewed up tip-of-ear-length hair.
Ive also had long hair all my life ive honestly never really had to work hard for it so if i ended up having to cut it i wouldnt freak out because i already knw it'll grow back

 

[*CherryPie*]

I say NO!

I've always had long hair, so I know it is possible for me to get to MBL again. I've had a dye job gone wrong in my 20's where ALL of my hair turned to jelly and slid down the drain.Talk about stress! I didn't know how to feel, or what to do. It took some time for me to get over that. It QUICKLY grew back though.

After what I went through with that dye job, I've learned not to get too emotional about hair.

 

[EbonyCPrincess]

Yes.

I've never had long hair...but I was always the girl with thick, healthy hair. I've had severe acne since I was 10 - never EVER felt ugly because of the reassurance of my family, but definitely am self conscious about it. My weight has been up and down since being an adult - so I'm not always that satisfied with my body. Again, I've never felt "fat" but less than happy. BUT MY HAIR?!?! That's my thing. When it looks good, I feel good. And as it has grown, my pride in it has as well. I love my pretty, healthy, getting to long hair and yes I am emotionally attached to it. Everybody has their favorite feature, and I believe my hair is mine.