Big Chops is it just a fad???

TonicaG

TonicaG

TonicaG
I've noticed that a whole lot of ladies are doing the big chop to get rid of all of the chemical to go natural, but I'm curious to know if this is just a fad and at some point will they say "I'm ready to go back to relaxing, I've had enough"?

To each her own, I'm not knocking natural hair by any means but I don't like how I look when my roots get puffy and I have a decent grade it's just that going natural isn't for ME.

Just a thought...
 
...Can't speak for anyone else and I didn't "Big Chop", I transitioned, but it's not a fad...I've been natural for going on 6 years, and I do not plan on relaxing ever again...
 
Dunno. I've seen heaps of natural women this year off board. I dunno if the economy of keeping up relaxers and salons are just too expensive, if being natural is the new "in thing" or what...but I won't say it's a fad.

Some will go back and relax for whatever reason, some will remain natural.
 
TonicaG said:
I've noticed that a whole lot of ladies are doing the big chop to get rid of all of the chemical to go natural, but I'm curious to know if this is just a fad and at some point will they say "I'm ready to go back to relaxing, I've had enough"?

To each her own, I'm not knocking natural hair by any means but I don't like how I look when my roots get puffy and I have a decent grade it's just that going natural isn't for ME.

Just a thought...
Click to expand...

IMO It doesn't matter what "grade" your hair is. And I dislike refering to it like that, Like Grade A eggs or beef....I'm not just a piece of meat. But like you said it isn't for you. But it may be for a lot of women. I went natural not as a fad, but because if I had no idea how to do anything but relaxed hair, and if I had a DD I didn't want to give her a bad self-image by saying the natural you isn't good enough so it needs to be changed. I want it to be her choice of individualisim. I my self might go back to relaxing but if I do it won't be cause I'm not the right "grade". It will just be cause that's what I want at that time. But I doubt it now because I have a serious cause of HIF disease.....
 
I don't think it's a fad but I think it is more visible because of the internet. With the blogs and youtube and boards like LHCF, information about transitioning and styling natural hair is more available and people feel more supported in their hair choices.
 
Wearing my hair the way it grows out of my head is not a fad. Pink hair is a fad-my natural hair texture isnt.
 
dr.j said:
I don't think it's a fad but I think it is more visible because of the internet. With the blogs and youtube and boards like LHCF, information about transitioning and styling natural hair is more available and people feel more supported in their hair choices.
Click to expand...
Can I take my answer back and say this instead?
 
I have noticed more ladies are doing the big chop but I figured its because now that I am natural I am just more aware. Seems this question resurface almost monthly.
 
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I don't know about anyone else, but I decided to transition before I came back to the board and before I noticed that others were transitioning. I only started noticing more natural heads after I made the decision to transition. Plus, I feel like God gave me the hair that I have for a reason and I owe it to myself to learn everything I can about it. But that's just me!:grin:
 
im now transitioning and it's not a fad to me. im transitioning because i now have LHCF and youtube to show me that i dont have to relaxed and i can have long natural hair. i always wanted to go natiral but people told me my hair would fall out if i did....now i know better and can do anything i want with my hair.
 
I don't think it's a fad, I just think women now know how to take better care of their natural hair. There are many great products that are out now that were not available 10 yrs ago. Also, there are many blogs, site, and videos that take you step by step. But I;m sure the ecomony didn't help things either.
 
Yikes!! There's a whole lotta ugly in that post OP! I hope you didn't mean it to sound the way it did. Sometimes the written word sounds different than we mean it to.

(here's to hopin')

IMO going back to your natural hair may be a "fad" or an experiment for some, but for most it's a permanent change.

I'm not gunna touch your "decent grade" comment cuz I'm sure everyone else will go in on that.
 
I'd become a heat trained natural before I'd go back to relaxing. I would never apply a chemical to my hair myself and others are too incompetent to be trusted (I've had one too many botched touch-ups by so-called professionals) so it is au naturale for moi!

So in my case, no, BC'ing was not a fad. I had a before/by 30 goal to go natural and that is exactly what I did. Every last single person I know off the boards thinks I'm loco for cutting off my BSL relaxed hair. They probably think I have the wrong "grade" of hair to be natural.

No further comment from me on "hair grade". I'm a spectator not a participator, tee hee....
 
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CurlTalk said:
Wearing my hair the way it grows out of my head is not a fad. Pink hair is a fad-my natural hair texture isnt.
Click to expand...

Wish I could thank you 9 more times.

I bc'd because I don't have the patience to do longterm transitions. 6 months is as far as I could go.

This is my second bc yo go natural. This time I plan on keeping it that way. I've chosen to accept what comes out of my scalp naturally. That my friend, is not a fad.
 
I don't think it's a fad. I know it's not a fad for me. I'm in LOVE with my natural hair. I want my daughter to love hers as well.I'm her example. I don't plan on relaxing again. I think people BC rather than a long transition because they get impaitent. I know I did.
 
Going natural isn't it a fad... It is women and men of color embracing their hair the way it grows out of their scalp. which i believe is so powerful. I believe every texture is beautiful. Also women are realizing that relaxers are causing more harm then good. I have run into so many naturals outside of hair forums and youtube who have no idea these support system exist and when i asked what made them go natural it was because relaxers ate their hair up... some experience chemical burns....thinning.....alopecia etc. Natural hair was the norm back in the day. I personally was sick of constant breakage. My hair being extremely thin even when it was long. It's about loving who you really are.... not about following the masses.
 
For me personally it wasn't a fad nor was it an experiment or a choice. It was the only option I had left for the health of my scalp. Now with the spike in bc's I think maybe it's a process of women evolving or for some maybe it's a fad. I think like anytime people see a lot of something they wanna try it themselves. I feel you with the roots being puffy but that's why some bc cause they don't like their roots getting puffy LOL so they chop it so it's all puffy and then they grow to love it. As for the grade thing I don't think you meant any harm most likely you meant it's a pattern or texture your comfortable with, although that could just be scab hair. I get ur curiousity too I was wondering the same thing not cause of this forum but my mom is transitioning and my little sis went without a perm for about 4 months and called herself natural, later she said it was too "nappy" and no one wanted to touch it. She's 16 old enough to have hair skills mainly with boards like this and youtube but before I could say youtube or get out the h in hot comb she slapped in a relaxer.
 
I BC'd because I wanted something better for me and for my hair. Slathering my new growth in a chemical that usually resulted in scalp burns and thinning hair got old. I've decided to go back to my roots, literally, and I love it. I also have a 12yo DD who BC'ed with me, and my 14yo DD is doing a long term transition to natural. My baby girl is and has always been natural. I myself was a heat-trained natural until the age of 18. I'm not ashamed of my natural hair. I think my kinks and curls and coils (yes, I have all three) are beautiful.

Food for thought: I never really noticed natural threads, or natural heads until I began wanting to go natural...Maybe you're noticing for a reason (whether you like it or not, LOL).
 
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Def not a fad for me. I'm doing this 1. because getting a relaxer for me was a phase that I went through senior year until now (I'm 20) and 2. I'm doing this for my future daughter. I don't want her saying she wants "pretty" hair like mommy because my hair is relaxed straight and hers is kinky/curly. I know how it felt to grow up with kinky hair and a mother with straight hair and I will not put my daughter through that.
 
What made me do it this second time was so simple. I was self relaxing on January 11th, this year. While applying the relaxer a little bit fell on my neck. Within 3 seconds I wiped it off, washed the area with cold water, then I applied petroleum jelly to it.

Anyways later that day, the area got swollen and was bright red. I thought that was insane... This chemical was on my skim for 3 seconds and it did this to me. What have I been doing to my scalp all these years?!

That was my wake up call. I will always remember January 11, 2010. I decided no more that day.
 
Everyone has their own reasons for BC'ing their hair and honestly, I believe that for some it just may be a fad. I'd like to think otherwise but for now, I simply am not convinced. Only time will tell...

As for me, I am DONE with relaxers! The primary reason I decided to go natural is because relaxers and my hair just did not seem to be getting along. In short, my hair was a mess; perpetually short, brittle and dry as the Sahara! I decided that there HAD to be a better way. Now that I am working with my hair rather than against it, I've gained a love, respect and appreciation for my hair that I have never had before! There's no way I'd be willing to give that up now! ;)

I didn't know what I was doing when I was dealing with relaxed hair anyway! :lachen:
 
I'm observing and I do think for a lot of the people I am seeing, bc-ing is a fad for them.
I am also taking note of the reasons people are saying they are bc-ing and it makes me think it is a fad.
I am also noticing the number of people that bc and then relax after less than 2 years and it make me think it is a fad.
So, yeah I do somewhat think it is a fad. I will change my opinion if most of them are still natural 5 years from now.
Although I do not like the term, I hear people talk about grade of hair all the time.
She has a good grade of hair.
She got her daddy's grade of hair (this one annoys me the most).
 
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