Fall in Love with YOUR Natural Hair

[plastic]

wow y'll women getting all deep into this thing nuh?

SOOO back to the main point

I remember looking at Curly Nikki's hair and being inspired to transition because of it. And then watching my sister comb out her 3b/c curls in the mirror. Oh the glory ... my hair is going to be wonderful , just like theirs. Somehow , all other recollection of what my natural hair used to be like .. was blinded by these two ladies with big shiny bouncy curls .... that was til my hair started growing in, and I rubbed my fingers through my nape and felt like ... sand grit rolling through my fingers. Was I annoyed ? Just a wee bit . Did that stop me from transitioning ? Not at all . While my hair may not be smooth and silky with luscious beautiful curls (sigh!).. my goat rolls are what I was born with and Im going to embrace them as if it was 3a hair ..

 

[Ediese]

wow y'll women getting all deep into this thing nuh?

SOOO back to the main point

I remember looking at Curly Nikki's hair and being inspired to transition because of it. And then watching my sister comb out her 3b/c curls in the mirror. Oh the glory ... my hair is going to be wonderful , just like theirs. Somehow , all other recollection of what my natural hair used to be like .. was blinded by these two ladies with big shiny bouncy curls .... that was til my hair started growing in, and I rubbed my fingers through my nape and felt like ... sand grit rolling through my fingers. Was I annoyed ? Just a wee bit . Did that stop me from transitioning ? Not at all . While my hair may not be smooth and silky with luscious beautiful curls (sigh!).. my goat rolls are what I was born with and Im going to embrace them as if it was 3a hair ..

Plastic!! I've never seen anyone describe their hair like that. How's your transition going? I remember you saying you were going to cut short. Did you chop?

 

[laurend]

I'm Nigerian, I grew up in Nigeria and I never had hair this short. My hair was not short when I was a child. I had hair that I could stretch past my lips when I was younger, I remember this cos I used to play with my hair a lot.

I can't stand generalisations

I said traditional not modern Africa and I didn't say all sub sahara african women had buzz cuts. What I stand by is long hair in Sub saharan traditional(not modern) societies was not the norm. It's a Western concept.

 

[laurend]

Sorry OP for hijacking your thread, no more comments.

 

[MummysGirl]

wow y'll women getting all deep into this thing nuh?

SOOO back to the main point

I remember looking at Curly Nikki's hair and being inspired to transition because of it. And then watching my sister comb out her 3b/c curls in the mirror. Oh the glory ... my hair is going to be wonderful , just like theirs. Somehow , all other recollection of what my natural hair used to be like .. was blinded by these two ladies with big shiny bouncy curls .... that was til my hair started growing in, and I rubbed my fingers through my nape and felt like ... sand grit rolling through my fingers. Was I annoyed ? Just a wee bit . Did that stop me from transitioning ? Not at all . While my hair may not be smooth and silky with luscious beautiful curls (sigh!).. my goat rolls are what I was born with and Im going to embrace them as if it was 3a hair ..

 

[plastic]

Plastic!! I've never seen anyone describe their hair like that. How's your transition going? I remember you saying you were going to cut short. Did you chop?

Yep i cut it short , will send you a pic , check your pm. My transition is smooth sailing so far ... but I imagine when i reach 2 " of ng , it will start to annoy me. If I wasnt spending so much money now and was able to buy hair products I would most likely bc tomorrow lol

 

[BeetleBug]

Sometimes they wore wigs in ancient west and southern African. I don't think longer hair is a western concept at all.

 

[AllAboutMoi]

With all that said, I don't think everyone's hair thoughts and decisions are deeply psychological. To some of us, it's JUST HAIR...

...stepping off my soapbox now...

I agree. Relaxing is not that deep for me. Its not a life altering decision for me, it's hair. I've been natural and I've been relaxed. While I love my natural hair I also love my relaxed hair for different reasons.

 

[laurend]

Are those cermonial costumes?

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

LMAO I am MAD you said goat rolls!!! hahahaha

 

[purplepeace79]

I'm not saying they can't grow hair but the concept of long hair is a Western concept.

Then why do East Indian and Native women have histories of having long hair, pre-European contact?

 

[BeetleBug]

Are those cermonial costumes?

The second one is

 

[Foxglove]

I'm Nigerian, I grew up in Nigeria and I never had hair this short. My hair was not short when I was a child. I had hair that I could stretch past my lips when I was younger, I remember this cos I used to play with my hair a lot.

I can't stand generalisations

Another Nigerian here and I agree. Not even when I was in school did we have to keep our hair that short. Also, the women in my family don't keep our hair short
I don't think it's all that strange to see West African women with SL or longer hair
MBL is a different story, but SL and a little above or below there is around where I've seen

 

[blksndrlla]

I was a little confused by that too, but I think her point was to compare women on this board that don't love their hair texture to other women that are obsessed with wanting long hair. Her point is that it's all self hate. I don't understand the comparison, it's apples and oranges to me.

Yet, if someone struggles with loving their hair texture "damn their self-hating selves to hell b/c they don't love themselves." That's just funny considering how much half of us hated looking at our neck length hair and wanted it to grow.

I hated looking at my neck length hair not because it was short. I hated it because it was badly damaged, and very thin. How is that self hate? If someone did hate their short hair because it was too short, again, how is that self hate?

I know there was a period when I relied on hair weaves to feel more beautiful. I didn't feel like my look was together if I didn't have a weave. That goes back to the underlying issue of hating what was naturally mine. I definitely understand in this instance the whole 'self hate' issue, but I'm having some trouble understanding the point that you're making. How is wanting long hair self hate?

My point simply put is that the same images that we derive our desire for certain hair types are the same images that motivate the desire for longer hair. I don't think the desire for longer hair is self-hate...nor do I think not necessarily liking your personal hair texture is self-hate. Yes, we have beautiful ancestors that have outrageous lengths, but if that was where our standard of beauty was derived from would there be as much inner-struggle with hair type, skin color, and the list goes on? Just as some of us think longer hair is sexier or prettier or suits our faces better...some women think that about texture.

There is a difference that, with all things being equal, you could grow your hair to whatever length (to a certain degree) and your hair type is what it is (unless manipulated w/ product or style), but is it just a style preference when people are attempting to speed up there growth rates with every aid? Why not simply allow a healthy head of hair to progress to what it is going to progress to without extreme measures and loving your hair for the length it is and not getting upset with it b/c you can't get past the SL/APL/BSL hump...

I just wanted to highlight that there are many things that people want and expect out of their hair (that they may or may not achieve) and it doesn't always amount to self-hate...

 

[ceebee3]

I still don't get the hair type/hair length comparison, but whatever.

When you stop comparing your hair to someone else's I'm sure it's easier to love what you have.

 

[delray712000]

I never had a problem accepting my natural hair because not like many of you here, my mom was anti-relaxer. I didn't get my first chemical until the age of 20 or 21. I knew my hair wasn't 3a, 3b or 3c so when I grew out my relaxer a few years later, hair texture acceptance wasn't an issue.

Thank you for saying that because that is what i was trying to say in my respons. Who does not know their hair texture. Even if someone received their first perm when they were really small, they would still see their texture when it is time for a touch up. So who really goes into transitioning and not know what to expect. They know that their hair texture is going to be different from the next persons hair texture.