Black women confront Chris Rock on Oprah Today

[JayAnn0513]

Just about every?

Must be a regional thing: you will find countless of long, healthy haired, Black women rocking their own hair Brooklyn, NY.

Shout out to my long haired sistahs up in Canarsie!

it's regional....

I work in a department with 10 college educated black women. here is the hair break down.

1. very nice hair - APL, pretty sure she's relaxed, or at least texlaxed.
2. neck length, pretty relaxed hair. I think she keeps it cut in that style, that or her stylist is trim happy. I just asked her who her stylist was yesterday.
3. unhealthy neck length relaxed to death hair, wears phony pony's and bad weaves
4. unhealthy neck length, relaxed. Thick, but ends chewed to death.
5. 3c, relaxed, usually roller sets, has color and needs a 3-4 inch trim trim and a DC, her hair could be really really nice though.
6. me! Transitioning always in a protective style. When I do wear it straight I get asked why I always wear a bun.
7. bad micros and wigs. i don't think she's relaxed. I've been in this department since May and I've never seen her real hair.
8. wigs, no idea whats under there.
9. short cut, usually looks dry and in need of a DC
10. relaxed, highlighted, broken , damaged neck length.

So there u have it. Weaves, wigs, phony pony's, one 2 people whose hair looks healthy.

 

[Junebug D]

I am absolutely befuddled.

Why is it that when 'we' get the spotlight on 'us' the natural instinct is to fall back to what everybody else is doing?

I can show up in any predominantly black neighborhood in this country and see some form of fake hair. Period. And it's not going to be any special 'hide your healthy hair under a weave day' either.

The reality is that weaves, wigs and relaxer are a part of the majority of AA's lives and I don't care how many waistlength naturals you know personally, the dollars spent by the black community on those products tell a different story.

If this movie was about white womens hair I wouldn't give a damn. I went to see it because it was about women like me, who look like me and who have the same cosmetic issues/challenges that I do. If 'we' are going to be the biggest opponents of movies that are about us and our issues then 'we' also can't complain when nobody makes movies about us and our issues.

PREACH! Like it's Sunday morning PREACH, lol!

 

[Twix]

Agree with the rest of the post, but this:

If this movie was about white womens hair I wouldn't give a damn. I went to see it because it was about women like me, who look like me and who have the same cosmetic issues/challenges that I do. If 'we' are going to be the biggest opponents of movies that are about us and our issues then 'we' also can't complain when nobody makes movies about us and our issues.

Preach on, preacher.

 

[glamazon386]

I am absolutely befuddled.

Why is it that when 'we' get the spotlight on 'us' the natural instinct is to fall back to what everybody else is doing?

I can show up in any predominantly black neighborhood in this country and see some form of fake hair. Period. And it's not going to be any special 'hide your healthy hair under a weave day' either.

The reality is that weaves, wigs and relaxer are a part of the majority of AA's lives and I don't care how many waistlength naturals you know personally, the dollars spent by the black community on those products tell a different story.

If this movie was about white womens hair I wouldn't give a damn. I went to see it because it was about women like me, who look like me and who have the same cosmetic issues/challenges that I do. If 'we' are going to be the biggest opponents of movies that are about us and our issues then 'we' also can't complain when nobody makes movies about us and our issues.

EXACTLY. To the bolded - You'll be damned if you do, and you'll be damned if you don't.

 

[BroadstreetBully]

Seriously?

98% of black's women's hair relaxed or not looks nothing like those shinning, extra, extra straight weaves/extensions. As for those top notch, quality extensions how many bw do you think can afford those kinds of weaves/extensions?

White hair=Blond, Red and light brunette no?

Shinning, extra straight extensions=bad install

That's NOT what I thought we were talking about. A black woman with long hair, be it a good install or her own will be weave checked. A white woman won't. It's not JUST about texture, it's about the assumption that all white women have naturally long hair (it does tend to be longer than ours).

And once again I'm not sure what installs you all are seeing, but 99% of white female extensions look absolutely FAKE. I can spot them much quicker than a black install of the quality.

 

[chiprecious]

Well I personally applaud Chris Rock. Yes other races have weaves. However, a black woman's hair rules her life unlike other races. We wrap our hair up at night, don't let our men touch it, base our sexual positions on our hair style, avoid exercise, avoid swimming, and the list goes on. No other race also has the majority of their women alter their texture.
No other race has a great portion of men that think their woman's natural texture is undesirable.
No other race says uses the term GOOD HAIR!
What other race has their daughters believing they are unattractive before they even hit kindergarten because of what god gave them!!!??

We do have issues about hair as a race and he just put some of it out in the open.

GO CHRIS ROCK!

 

[Giselle685]

They only pick on black women witn weaves because they feel like we don't grow our hair and it is our only option for long hair.

 

[BroadstreetBully]

I am absolutely befuddled.

Why is it that when 'we' get the spotlight on 'us' the natural instinct is to fall back to what everybody else is doing?

I can show up in any predominantly black neighborhood in this country and see some form of fake hair. Period. And it's not going to be any special 'hide your healthy hair under a weave day' either.

The reality is that weaves, wigs and relaxer are a part of the majority of AA's lives and I don't care how many waistlength naturals you know personally, the dollars spent by the black community on those products tell a different story.

If this movie was about white womens hair I wouldn't give a damn. I went to see it because it was about women like me, who look like me and who have the same cosmetic issues/challenges that I do. If 'we' are going to be the biggest opponents of movies that are about us and our issues then 'we' also can't complain when nobody makes movies about us and our issues.

I agree with you. I'm glad to see a movie about 'us'. I don't care about what was in the movie. I'm not happy with Chris Rock going on shows with mostly white audiences and keeping with the generalizations about our hair.

 

[nathansgirl1908]

Yeah I've already had to school a few co-workers LOL

I'm sure you have. smh
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that moment. lol

 

[glamazon386]

Shinning, extra straight extensions=bad install

That's NOT what I thought we were talking about. A black woman with long hair, be it a good install or her own will be weave checked. A white woman won't. It's not JUST about texture, it's about the assumption that all white women have naturally long hair (it does tend to be longer than ours).

And once again I'm not sure what installs you all are seeing, but 99% of white female extensions look absolutely FAKE. I can spot them much quicker than a black install of the quality.

You're right. Even when they look obvious people believe or assume it's the white woman's hair. I've seen some bad weaves on white women on tv. Britney Spears weave opening the vmas in 07 was horrible. But I think a lot of times it's the choice of hair not so much the install. If anybody picks hair that doesn't match their texture it will be obvious and look bad. And blonde always looks 100 times worse than a dark color. I've seen some good ones done on white girls in my stylist's shop though. But he stresses the importance of buying quality hair, maintenance, etc.

 

[AsianAfricanPrincess]

If this movie was about white womens hair I wouldn't give a damn. I went to see it because it was about women like me, who look like me and who have the same cosmetic issues/challenges that I do. If 'we' are going to be the biggest opponents of movies that are about us and our issues then 'we' also can't complain when nobody makes movies about us and our issues.

My problem with this movie is the way in which it has been promoted, as well as idiotic/buffoonish statements that he has made during its promotion.

He said it best himself: the movie was meant to be a "humorous" lens into Black (women's) hair.

This was not meant to inspire some sort of serious, insightful dialogue amongst people of African descent. It was meant to fingerpoint and passively mock Black women for their beauty choices and challenges.

Personally, the minute this nitwit had the audacity to say on Oprah's show that Black men don't care about our hair (wha??), I knew it was time to ignore him. We need to demand better for ourselves as Black women and I refuse to accept this movie as a sincere effort to inspire dialogue amongst Black women.

Just a quote from What About Our Daughters (about a different C.Rock/Black women related topic:

"Yes yes. It was a joke. When is it ever NOT a joke when it comes to Black women. We’re always good for a laugh and a paycheck."

I refuse to drink his buffoon Kool-Aid. Black people and Black women deserve better...

And as my SO says, this is 'further proof that Black women need to be in control of telling their OWN stories'.

EDIT: Also, I do have a problem with him incorrectly addressing folks about it as if Black women own some sort of wig monopoly...I also have a problem with him automatically assuming that a Black woman with hair must have a weave (e.g. Oprah; he "accused" her not once, but twice)...and I would appreciate if he didn't make this movie. Regina Kimbel's treatment of My Nappy Roots would have been just fine for me. It's too bad that her movie was not promoted heavily...I darn sure would have watched that, instead.

I prefer to have my story as a woman, told by a woman. Not by a man who stereotypes and mocks.

 

[chiprecious]

AND!!! I live and work in Chicago, the 3rd largest city in the US.
I'd say 75% of the black women have weave
Where I'm from, a large percentage of black women do wear fake hair on a daily basis.

When I go down south to MS, it seems there is slightly less fake hair but I'd still say the scales are tipped heavily to the weavilicious.

 

[Renovating]

My problem with this movie is the way in which it has been promoted, as well as idiotic/buffoonish statements that he has made during its promotion.

He said it best himself: the movie was meant to be a "humorous" lens into Black (women's) hair.

This was not meant to inspire some sort of serious, insightful dialogue amongst people of African descent. It was meant to fingerpoint and passively mock Black women for their beauty choices and challenges.

Personally, the minute this nitwit had the audacity to say on Oprah's show that Black men don't care about our hair (wha??), I knew it was time to ignore him. We need to demand better for ourselves as Black women and I refuse to accept this movie as a sincere effort to inspire dialogue amongst Black women.

Just a quote from What About Our Daughters (about a different C.Rock/Black women related topic:

"Yes yes. It was a joke. When is it ever NOT a joke when it comes to Black women. We’re always good for a laugh and a paycheck."

I refuse to drink his buffoon Kool-Aid. Black people and Black women deserve better...

And as my SO says, this is 'further proof that Black women need to be in control of telling their OWN stories'.

Why can't comedy inspire dialgoue? It certainly has on this board. I didn't expect something serious, since he's a comedian.

 

[AvaSpeaks]

I believe his movie is 10 years to late...more and more AA women are wearing their natural/relaxed hair these days... I from cali...I do not know anyone who wear weaves (personally)... I did... for a short period when I was training for a marathon...(once)

Yeah but to be honest, I still see alot of natural haired women with short hair! I mean it's not like it's long, and look shrinkage aside, I'm talking women that if there hair is straighten, it should be at least APL, and I don't see it.

 

[leleepop]

DVR ing it now. Thanks

 

[AvaSpeaks]

AND!!! I live and work in Chicago, the 3rd largest city in the US.
I'd say 75% of the black women have weave
Where I'm from, a large percentage of black women do wear fake hair on a daily basis.

When I go down south to MS, it seems there is slightly less fake hair but I'd still say the scales are tipped heavily to the weavilicious.

Whoa hold up there partner, I live in Chicago too and I wouldn't say the number is that high.

We got a mixture of everything here, weaves, braids, naturals, relaxed heads, lots of stuff, dreads, whatever.

I would say here in Chicago, most women are relaxed and the ones that are relaxed have between neck lenght and very thin collarbone lenght. Or maybe SL where it just grazes their shoulders.

 

[bedazzled]

Excuse me if I upset anyone but for some reason alot of the times on LHCF I think we ladies be actin 'brand new'. I think that the smarter you get, the more knowledge you have acquired, the wiser you are, the less in touch with the 'real world' you become. Hence why very smart people aren't the biggest social bugs. So I think that a lot of our responses regarding 'why is it automatically assumed that black women are wearing weave?' is due mostly to the fact that we're on LHCF so we all know & have seen the 'real' deal with black hair (it grows, its beautiful & etc..). I don't think this supports the whole 'its regional thing' concept because prior to LHCF I'm sure a good percentage of us assumed that some black hair grew, some black hair didn't based on what we have been told. So regardless if you've seen WL black girls or not, you probably just assumed that God blessed them with a special white girl gene & left you out (atleast thats what I assumed).

I think the assumption comes from the fact that black women in general seem to struggle with getting hair to SL. I don't think it has to do with the weaves at all. I think it has to do with after the weaves are taken out. I mean think about whats 'long hair' in our community vs. 'long hair' in other communities. Most black women drool over SL hair. Sure most people in general across nations don't have WL, but I mean taking it back to the days where I knew nothing about hair care..the deal was white women (& other races) CHOSE the length they wanted, and black women were cursed with the length they had. Isn't that the mindset? White women get to choose if they want to be chewed up EL, NL, SL, MBL, WL & etc.. I mean sure now that I know better I know that black women CHOOSE where they want to be & we're not cursed..& some white women have trouble passing SL but regardless of what I know, the numbers show that there are more black women with chewed up short hair than chewed up long hair or healthy long hair... I mean it just seems to weird to me how people seem so confused on 'where people get this idea that black women always wear weaves'..I don't think its the fact that black women wear weaves but in comparison to other races even without the weave black women seem to be the one on the shorter end. I mean stereotypes don't come from nowhere, they usually come from some minuscule of truth.

#myopinion

 

[SleekandBouncy]

I think this is an excellent point.

If black women were wearing weaves that mimicked their actual texture (and I don't just mean natural. Relaxed black hair still has some texture), I don't think we'd be having the same discussion.

[Big generalization] Most White women wear weaves as an extension of their natural hair. Most Black women wear weaves to cover up and disguise their natural hair.

Silky straight Yaki doesn't mimic black women's hair. It just doesn't.

I agree. It's not just a situation of folks gluing similar textured hair to their heads and if it were I really don't think a big deal would be made of it.

I'm really looking forward to watching Oprah when I get home. I don't have any opinion on the situation one way or the other because I haven't yet seen the interview or the documentary.

 

[beans4reezy]

The reality is that weaves, wigs and relaxer are a part of the majority of AA's lives and I don't care how many waistlength naturals you know personally, the dollars spent by the black community on those products tell a different story.

If 'we' are going to be the biggest opponents of movies that are about us and our issues then 'we' also can't complain when nobody makes movies about us and our issues.

You make a great point, but why doesn't this movie examine the complete picture? You saw the movie, I didn't...would a person walk away from this documentary with the knowledge that Black women can acheive long, healthy hair?

Yes, many AA women wear weaves...and? Does Chris Rock think he is revealing some big secret? Why doesn't he go deeper? Why doesn't he present possible solutions or alternatives to our hair care issues?

For every woman in this documentary wearing a weave, I would like to see the other side of the coin: a Sylver2 talking about how with hard work and healthy hair care practices, she was able to acheive WL hair; contrary to popular belief.

At least a person would walk away with a meaningful learning experience. I mean, one other than, most Black women wear weaves.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

He said it best himself: the movie was meant to be a "humorous" lens into Black (women's) hair.

The sheer number of 'serious' debates about hair around here that result in locked threads is enough to tell me that humor is a better approach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really do suspect that short of making a movie about the LHCF Feature of The Months as being the norm for black hair care that most people on hair boards wouldn't be satisfied with any movie about black hair care. The problem is that no matter how hard we wish, that is not reality and the farthest thing from the truth.

 

[jry2lnghair]

I don't think it most visible on BW. I just think they look much closely to BW that have hair longer @ should lenght and beyond.

 

[chiprecious]

Whoa hold up there partner, I live in Chicago too and I wouldn't say the number is that high.

We got a mixture of everything here, weaves, braids, naturals, relaxed heads, lots of stuff, dreads, whatever.

I would say here in Chicago, most women are relaxed and the ones that are relaxed have between neck lenght and very thin collarbone lenght. Or maybe SL where it just grazes their shoulders.

Ok..I'll take it down from 75% to 65%...It's still say more than half.

 

[CurlyMoo]

When I was wearing weave, I saw more White women than Black women at Adorables in Manhattan picking up their extensions.

Extensions are more popular with White women and always have been from what I've seen. Jessica Simpson even has a line of weave....although it's not called weave but rather "extensions": http://www.hairuwear.com/jessica.aspx?pgID=997

Brittany Spears has extensions all the time, Paris Hilton, Paula Dean (who pulled out her clip in hair on the air) etc. It's not just Black women who wear weave. I heard Mike Vick's fiance on an interview being asked about her weave & she corrected the DJ saying her "extensions" as if extensions & weave are not one in the same.

Extensions is just a more elegant way of saying it.

 

[JollyGal]

I wish I could see this.

Please report back with the juicy details.

TIA

 

[Naturel]

When I was wearing weave, I saw more White women than Black women at Adorables in Manhattan picking up their extensions.

Extensions are more popular with White women and always have been from what I've seen. Jessica Simpson even has a line of weave....although it's not called weave but rather "extensions": http://www.hairuwear.com/jessica.aspx?pgID=997

Brittany Spears has extensions all the time, Paris Hilton, Paula Dean (who pulled out her clip in hair on the air) etc. It's not just Black women who wear weave. I heard Mike Vick's fiance on an interview being asked about her weave & she corrected the DJ saying her "extensions" as if extensions & weave are not one in the same.

This is true. Many white ladies wear extension and nobody notice But every black woman with extension is spoted.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

You make a great point, but why doesn't this movie examine the complete picture? You saw the movie, I didn't...would a person walk away from this documentary with the knowledge that Black women can acheive long, healthy hair?

No. But to be fair, outside of hairboards, where is that information readily available? The average licensed hair stylist would be hard pressed to confirm that black women can achieve long(by hairboard standards), healthy hair .

For every woman in this documentary wearing a weave, I would like to see the other side of the coin: a Sylver2 talking about how with hard work and healthy hair care practices, she was able to acheive WL hair.

Here's the problem as I see it. In any given black neighborhood, you will find 20 weave wearers (maybe more) to every Sylver2 you find so there can't be a balanced reality based conversation. I wish it were otherwise but it's just not.

If you think about it, if Sylver2 was the norm, weave would not be as big a business as it is.

 

[Kranbery]

Uh-oh. This will be good.

 

[Kurlee]

one thing i'm not feeling is that NO one is talking about the fact that black women DOOOOO have long hair.

 

[Junebug D]

You make a great point, but why doesn't this movie examine the complete picture? You saw the movie, I didn't...would a person walk away from this documentary with the knowledge that Black women can acheive long, healthy hair?

Yes, many AA women wear weaves...and? Does Chris Rock think he is revealing some big secret? Why doesn't he go deeper? Why doesn't he present possible solutions or alternatives to our hair care issues?

For every woman in this documentary wearing a weave, I would like to see the other side of the coin: a Sylver2 talking about how with hard work and healthy hair care practices, she was able to acheive WL hair; contrary to popular belief.

At least a person would walk away with a meaningful learning experience. I mean, one other than, most Black women wear weaves.

He filmed what he knows. He picked up his camera, did the work and made the film he wanted to make. I'm not mad at his effort. If you have in mind the film you want to see, it may be time to do the Tyler Perry hustle and go out there and make a better film. You can't expect him to present a fair (to you) and balanced (to you) 2 hour film that addresses every side of the coin.


And truth be told, Shaquisha in the hood probably still would object to a film with somebody like Sylver2 in it saying that anybody can have hair like that. Because that's not their reality and they will be offended by someone light & long-haired saying they & their family & friends are all simply lazy or not smart enough. They'll be tracing her bloodline back until they find the distant Indian relative to prove their case. And then Tyra will do a show saying how the movie may have presented a false image because this girl has an ancient Indian ancestor, and so forth. Unfortunate, but likely to be true.

 

[Harina]

I dont get home till 6:30, can someone post a link if you find it on YouTube in the future?
TIA

Yes, PLEASE someone post this. I hate having to miss all of these shows.

Just about every?

Must be a regional thing: you will find countless of long, healthy haired, Black women rocking their own hair Brooklyn, NY.

Shout out to my long haired sistahs up in Canarsie!

NY is on another level in the hair game. I saw so many heads of healthy natural hair. I really think in about 10 years this weave/fake hair game will have died out. It really only picked up in the 90s. It's an era just like anything else and I think its predominance will pass. I know it will have for me. Occasionally, I'll put some braids in but not all year long.

You make a great point, but why doesn't this movie examine the complete picture? You saw the movie, I didn't...would a person walk away from this documentary with the knowledge that Black women can acheive long, healthy hair?

Yes, many AA women wear weaves...and? Does Chris Rock think he is revealing some big secret? Why doesn't he go deeper? Why doesn't he present possible solutions or alternatives to our hair care issues?

Ummm, because that wouldn't be as entertaining. He's a comedian. There was an interview of him on youtube, and he kept on making jokes about how
they should direct the serious stuff to Soledad O'brien. He's a comedian not a scholar of african american hair.

You can go to any Walgreen's (just about) and find hairpieces, phony ponies, and I've seen plenty of White girls at the BSS (especially) buying hair.

I think this also has a lot to do with cross-cultural communication, or the lack thereof, as a blogger indicated. At least in the US, there is very little personal contact with our vanilla counterparts, outside of the superficial. I do believe that the majority of us simply don't have very significant relationships/dialogues with Whites to even uncover such hair habits.

My girl in Oklahoma wears clip on tracks. So do her biker girlfriends. They're White and rocking their tracks. Do I believe they're a minority?

Not at all.

And that's solely based on my personal contact with them in the US and in Europe. I understand that this can vary according to region (as it apparently does with our hair).

When I was in ireland. There was the store called Penny's which is basically a ridiculously cheap department store that everyone goes to. And downstairs near the purses and the belts was a fake hair section, they had extensions and clip ons and I think there wese some fake ponies. I was like omg.! Then sometimes my roommates who were all Irish would leave their fake hair on the table. GHETTO! I walked in one day and it smelled like hair salon, you know that smell. I had no idea they were into the fake hair game.