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How do you feel about white women being a part of the natural hair community?

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The Article:
Community is important. Black spaces are important, and in the era of self-proclaimed “New Blacks” and the gentrification of both Black popular culture and neighborhoods, they are increasingly rare. So when the sacred sanctity of Black Girl Space was violated via the inclusion of a White woman on a natural hair blog, it should come as no surprise that a number of people were disappointed. And I'll admit, I was one of them.

First, let me acknowledge the beauty, power and significance of seeing Black women embracing the concept of natural hair by the droves. The idea that our hair requires alteration by damaging relaxers and heat styling is but one of tragic White supremacist myths we’ve internalized and the further we get from there, the better. Furthermore, the community that has been fostered by sisters (both on and offline) over this rebirth of Black hair is beautiful, to say the least.

However, I’ve had some conflicted feelings about the natural hair movement for quite some time and this recent feature on the popular Nikki Walton's wildly-popular Curly Nikki site highlighting the hair journey of a White woman brings my biggest complaint about so much of what has come to define this cultural phenomenon to light.

I’ve been surprised and disappointed to see how much of the natural hair movement has centered on “curly” hair, when that isn’t hardly the most common hair type among our people. Until recently, due largely to the efforts of bloggers/vloggers like Jouelzy and the team at 4C Hair Chick, who have taken up the charge of highlighting kinkier hair textures, there has been too much visual representation of sisters who have what has been described as “multicultural hair.” No shade to biracial women or those of us who get asked “What are you mixed with?” because of their hair texture, but the natural hair movement is at its most powerful when it encourages sisters to celebrate all our biologically-determined hair textures, not just the ones seen in rap videos.
To be fair to Walton, her site is not about Black hair or Black power. The "About" page states "CurlyNikki.com was created to serve as an online 'hair therapy session' for those struggling to embrace their naturally curly hair." Her mission is clear: affirming those who wish to embrace a certain hair texture. But I think it's worth considering what sort of precedent could be set here if more bloggers embrace an inclusive approach to natural hair.

This is the era of ‘total market’ America and when culture starts making dollars, it starts losing sense. So it should not come as a surprise that curly hair can be positioned as a rallying point that unifies women of different races underneath the banner of giving hair care companies our money, and giving financial opportunities to content creators who are willing to expand their audience beyond the Black women who made them relevant in the first place. Personally, I don’t expect hair bloggers to be Black Nationalist feminists simply because they rock Afros, but I do hope they all know the consequences that often befall folks who cease to dance with the folks who brought them to the party. Hair is emotional territory for many Black women and while we may be able to share products with White women, we needn’t share a movement that should be centered on overcoming the unique challenges that are thrown our way because of White people.

Throughout our time in this country, we have created culture and space where we are able to affirm and uplift ourselves in face of efforts to quell our creativity, destroy our spirits and control our bodies. Today, though our access to the world around us has expanded tremendously, we are consistently being told that we are unable to have anything to ourselves---and that everything we create is not simply ripe for integration, but rather, appropriation and domination by Whiteness. Our music, our fashions, our foods, everything that is uniquely ours is seized upon until it is no longer uniquely ours. Imagine if America loved Black people as much as it loves the products of Black labor. We wouldn’t have to plead a case for reparations, they’d be directly deposited on the 1st and 15th from the National Bank of W.E.B. DuBois.

But let’s go back to hair, something that is seen as trivial by those who’ve never struggled with it (and even by Black men who’d never let their hair grow more than ½ an inch, but don’t think they have any hair issues.) It’s real cute to have a White girl on a natural hair blog, because diversity! But what happens when all that advertiser revenue and all those cool perks and opportunities that are currently afforded to a handful of Black bloggers start going elsewhere? When someone who doesn’t look like us becomes the biggest Bantu Knot and braid-out expert on YouTube?

Being a White woman with curly hair, or freckles, or who wears a “plus” size may come with the challenge of not seeing oneself reflected consistently and adequately in the mainstream media’s uber-limiting beauty standards. That does not negate the need for Black women (or Asian women, or Latino women…) to have spaces from which we are protected from the White gaze and able to do and be US. The idea that Sarah’s hair journey would provide her entry to what seemed like a safe place for Black women, under the tag “natural hair icon” is almost comical (her journey to accepting her hair texture basically involved her going from wearing a bun to wearing her hair down), and certainly sad. Her response to critics on Twitter makes it even clearer that she really needn’t sit with us:

Because how dare Black women be exclusive? How dare anything be for us?
Alas, Curly Nikki is obviously not a Black woman’s space and it’s not my job to tell its creator that it has to be one (nor does that mean that it can’t be a source of affirmation for Black women.) However, I think we all need to consider the need for us to have places that we go to that are exclusive, be they physical, via technology or otherwise. We often confuse integration with equality and acceptance, when we are so often the ones who find ourselves left out in the cold. I assure you that a White woman with silky, curly hair will be just fine if we’d rather keep our hair chatter to ourselves.

Jamilah Lemieux is EBONY.com's Senior Editor. Views expressed here are her own.


Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/style/white-women-on-teamnatural-no-thanks-405#ixzz36AEn7r2V
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I'm not about it. Maybe that makes me racist :ohwell:

There are so many more hair resources for white people. Most products are designed for white people. Most cosmetologists are taught how to work with white hair. Most of the what we know about hair is based on studies done on white people. Black ladies didn't start making black hair blogs just to feel exclusive - they did it because there was a serious lack.

That being said I don't care who's on Curly Nikki because that's not a blog that interests me. I would be sad if it became the norm though.
 
I don't quite understand the purpose and reasoning. :look:

Next, we should have a WET tv station I guess. :lachen: or HWCUs (oh but we already have those...they're called regla tv and regla schools).
 
Dilettante said:
I'm not about it. Maybe that makes me racist :ohwell:

There are so many more hair resources for white people. Most products are designed for white people. Most cosmetologists are taught how to work with white hair. Most of the what we know about hair is based on studies done on white people. Black ladies didn't start making black hair blogs just to feel exclusive - they did it because there was a serious lack.

That being said I don't care who's on Curly Nikki because that's not a blog that interests me. I would be sad if it became the norm though.
Click to expand...

LuciaAbigail said:
Haha yes, but unintentionally! So many of her blog posts seem to be all about self promotion.
Click to expand...


At the bold, this is exactly how I feel.
 
I kind of agree. Why can't we just have something of our own? The second we develop something great in our community, it doesn't take very long before it's no longer ours. Our own culture isn't even respected. Other people always get credit for the things we create. And we willing let it happen.

Non-blacks have no problem excluding us, so why shouldn't we be exclusive as well? The whole natural movement in the grand scheme of things isn't such a big deal. But it just goes to show how inclusive we are as a race. We go out our way to accept everyone when no one bats an eye to accept us.
 
My answer depends on whether or not Lorraine Massey was the original person to bring conditioner washing into the natural mainstream.
 
I can't believe how negative some of you sound. What is wrong with them learning about our hair. I think it is good to learn about other cultures. We sure know a lot about Indian haircare......
 
The thing is, Curly Nikki is owned by Naturally Curly so, she can't really be "all black everything". Naturally Curly is owned by white women.

I should say owned by the brand that owns Naturally Curly but, I can't remember the name.

Also, isn't it a white woman that invented the "curly girl method" that so many women love?

You can't use their platform, use their knowledge and then say they aren't allowed...

I get wanting something "our" own but, it's too late for that.
 
tinycoils said:
I can't believe how negative some of you sound. What is wrong with them learning about our hair. I think it is good to learn about other cultures. We sure know a lot about Indian haircare......
Click to expand...

That's such a false dichotomy. Wanting spaces to celebrate and discuss black natural hair exclusively does not mean that I don't want white women to learn about our hair (I don't really care if they do learn about it, but I'm not against it).

All it means is that I don't want to go back to the way things were years ago when my hair was fried and breaking off I had nowhere to turn because what little information there was for black haircare was drowned out in a sea of white-centric advice.
 
tinycoils said:
I can't believe how negative some of you sound. What is wrong with them learning about our hair. I think it is good to learn about other cultures. We sure know a lot about Indian haircare......
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Maybe this woman has had a hard time accepting her "natural" hair that grows out of her scalp. Maybe she's gleaning info from the natural hair movement in the black community to help her come to terms with her hair. I work with a young Jewish woman with beautiful, thick, red hair. She would always keep it in a bun or ponytail b/c she didn't like her unruly, curly hair. She would get keratin treatments just so she could have that smooth sleek look . Sounds familiar?!! After about a year of bugging her to start wearing her hair down and coaxing her how to take care of her curly hair (she now uses DevaCurl products and follows the CG method), she is in LOVE with her hair. She gets compliments all the time now!

As for as Curly Nikki is concerned, it's her blog and she can feature whomever she wants. I'm not a fan and really don't care.

And all this talk about "something for ourselves" is nonsense. I really don't think black people can have anything "exclusively ". All we do is cause division amongst ourselves. All these posts about good hair/bad hair; loose curl/kinky curl; light skin/ dark skin; not being happy genuinely for a sister "doing her thang".
 
Lia3257 said:
Also, isn't it a white woman that invented the "curly girl method" that so many women love?

You can't use their platform, use their knowledge and then say they aren't allowed...
Click to expand...

That's what I was getting at. I am positive that Nappturality didn't invent co-washing, but giving up shampoo was the first thing new naturals were advised to do.
 
Dilettante said:
That's such a false dichotomy. Wanting spaces to celebrate and discuss black natural hair exclusively does not mean that I don't want white women to learn about our hair (I don't really care if they do learn about it, but I'm not against it).

All it means is that I don't want to go back to the way things were years ago when my hair was fried and breaking off I had nowhere to turn because what little information there was for black haircare was drowned out in a sea of white-centric advice.
Click to expand...

Why on earth would we ever go back to that time. We have come leaps and bounds even from when I stop relaxing which was over 13 years ago. The only way your hair could go back to that is if you make the choice to do so. Sharing of hair experiences is a good thing :yep:
 
Divine. said:
I kind of agree. Why can't we just have something of our own? The second we develop something great in our community, it doesn't take very long before it's no longer ours. Our own culture isn't even respected. Other people always get credit for the things we create. And we willing let it happen.

Non-blacks have no problem excluding us, so why shouldn't we be exclusive as well? The whole natural movement in the grand scheme of things isn't such a big deal. But it just goes to show how inclusive we are as a race. We go out our way to accept everyone when no one bats an eye to accept us.
Click to expand...
My completely non PC gut response?


The bolded is at the core of my feelings.
 
I can't relate to Curly Nikki or her blog so who she showcases doesn't bother me. My response was in reference to the article's final paragraph:

Alas, Curly Nikki is obviously not a Black woman’s space and it’s not my job to tell its creator that it has to be one (nor does that mean that it can’t be a source of affirmation for Black women.) However, I think we all need to consider the need for us to have places that we go to that are exclusive, be they physical, via technology or otherwise. We often confuse integration with equality and acceptance, when we are so often the ones who find ourselves left out in the cold. I assure you that a White woman with silky, curly hair will be just fine if we’d rather keep our hair chatter to ourselves.
Click to expand...

I 100% agree with the bolded. I'm actually surprised more people don't feel this way.
 
No, No and No. I can't get down with that. I come here to talk to "My Sistas' all over the Country & the World.

If I wanted to talk to 'them' about Hair Care, I could talk to any ol' "Becky" at work.

This is a place where 'we' can come and talk about what we want, how we want.
 
Lia3257 said:
The thing is, Curly Nikki is owned by Naturally Curly so, she can't really be "all black everything". Naturally Curly is owned by white women.

I should say owned by the brand that owns Naturally Curly but, I can't remember the name.

Also, isn't it a white woman that invented the "curly girl method" that so many women love?

You can't use their platform, use their knowledge and then say they aren't allowed...

I get wanting something "our" own but, it's too late for that.
Click to expand...

CurlyNikki doesn't have to say that they aren't included. She can just choose not to include them. I'm sure Naturally Curly wasn't running to her and saying, "please include white women on your website." They knew her site's mission and agenda. CurlyNikki decided to do that.

Also, yes we can want and have something of our own. So what a white woman invented one method that some of us use? We've had to use and adapt the limited knowledge we have on our hair via the only knowledge we have of white people's hair.
 
IDareT'sHair said:
No, No and No. I can't get down with that. I come here to talk to "My Sistas' all over the Country & the World.

If I wanted to talk to 'them' about Hair Care, I could talk to any ol' "Becky" at work.

This is a place where 'we' can come and talk about what we want, how we want.
Click to expand...

Oh if this place turned into Curly Nikki, I'd have another board open and ready to go with a discount price of $5/year and a sex forum. I'd be checking black cards at the door.
 
Hmmm,,,this is exactly why I was so adamant in the MahoganyCurls thread about more representation. To be completely honest, something about CurlyNikki comes off as disingenuous to me. She seems very fake. And with this little stunt, she proves she's an easy sellout. I really hope you all stop supporting her website. Didn't she start out here anyway?
 
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