Bbc Article About African Hair

[CluelessJL]

Hi ladies

I just came across these articles on the BBC and am interested to hear your thoughts? The second link below is one of the links within the first story, but I managed to miss it on the first read so I thought I'd post it separately.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33525254

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33410763

 

[CodeRed]

I'm not sure what kind of responses this thread is going to yield when the first few lines of the article is:

"Sundays were salon days when I was young. From the age of 10, my mother would plait or relax my hair for school.

She spent three hours on each of her three daughters' heads.

My middle sister has a sensitive scalp and was the first to rush for the wash basin.

She'd be crying funeral tears by the time she was done.

The chemical sodium hydroxide is put on the hair to break down its protein causing it to become straight. This can be a painful process that sometimes leaves you with a burnt scalp."

This is a narrative that's been used countless times in countless articles posted on this forum and used by white people to show the world how much blacks will go through to be like them, as well as by natural hair enthusiasts to pound their point into people's heads that natural is the only way to go. I wish someone would make as big a deal about bleaching hair and what it does to the scalp/health as they do about relaxers.

 

[nothidden]

Black women all over the globe are at least making an attempt to embrace their natural hair. I think it's great!

 

[CluelessJL]

@CodeRed I'm sorry; I didn't realise I was reposting old stories and I definitely didn't mean to cause any contention. I'm still very new to this site, to hair care, and to the wider debates about hair.

I've seen a few of the very negative/ one-sided articles posted on the forum but had never come across anything myself on a non-hair site. I thought it seemed like the article started quite badly, like you said, but then it seemed to have different positive views on both natural and relaxed hair, and go on to discuss the injustice of it only being black womens' hair over which these debates and accusations spring. I was interested to hear what others thought, because in my very limited experience, I've not come across an article like it before.

I apologise profusely to everyone if I posted something inappropriate though, it wasn't my intention.

 

[CodeRed]

@CodeRed I'm sorry; I didn't realise I was reposting old stories and I definitely didn't mean to cause any contention. I'm still very new to this site, to hair care, and to the wider debates about hair.

I've seen a few of the very negative/ one-sided articles posted on the forum but had never come across anything myself on a non-hair site. I thought it seemed like the article started quite badly, like you said, but then it seemed to have different positive views on both natural and relaxed hair, and go on to discuss the injustice of it only being black womens' hair over which these debates and accusations spring. I was interested to hear what others thought, because in my very limited experience, I've not come across an article like it before.

I apologise profusely to everyone if I posted something inappropriate though, it wasn't my intention.

There's nothing to be sorry about. You didn't repost an article that's been posted before. It's the fault of the people who write these articles. I think the article does make some good points later on but they start it out implementing in people's heads "oh look at the black girls and how much pain and suffering they go through just to have straight (Caucasian) hair". Articles that start off like that kind of set a tone that carries through the whole article no matter what points are made after.

No need to be sorry