Hair Nah?what's Your Worst Hair Touching Story..

Kiowa

Well-Known Member
I was in Trader Joe's...I literally had just got my braids done that morning, they were all the way down to my butt. But on top of that, my head was still a bit tender.I heard a little girl behind me saying "Mommy, Look...", next thing I know I felt tugging on my braids. Looked down, and little old yt child had grabbed handfuls of braids, rubbing her face all, in them....and all the stuff she had been eating, was now smeared in my newly done braids..:mad:




Creator Momo Pixel designed the game after she was tired of people making unwanted touches of her hair. And other black women are squally tired of undesired touching, which is why the game, released on Wednesday, has gone viral. Pixel is an art director and pixel designer for Wieden+Kennedy in Portland. Her boss tried to imagine what she and other black women experience when people touch their hair without warning.

Pixel says she wants people to know "how much of an invasion of privacy and personal space this is." She admits that she made the game difficult because she wanted to create a sense of anxiety, since that's what a "hair nah" moment induces.
One of the worst memories she has of a "hair nah" moment was when she was checking out at a grocery store. The cashier reached over the conveyor belt and grabbed her braids. This ironically happened during the time she was designing the game.
"It felt like getting molested, because she was caressing them," Pixel said. "Even thinking about it now, I just want to throw up. I was uncomfortable."

Gamers are taken on a journey in this game. Literally. There's a choice of going to Osaka, Japan; Havana, Cuba or the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California. You can even craft your own black woman avatar, choosing the skin color and hair style, so you're truly in character for this experience.

It's a conversation that keeps happening, although black women have repeatedly said, "Don't touch my hair." The message has been relayed in the news, in entertainment media and now in video games. Pixel says the message needed to be shared once again "so we don't have to keep having this conversation."

When players enter the video game's website, there's already a black hand swating away a hair toucher's hand.
She remembers trying to explain this phenomenon to her boss, who's white.
 
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At my old job many moons ago I was working at my desk and next thing I know my boss had his fingers deep into my fro and then proceeded to pet me like a damn dog...If I hadn’t needed that job so bad back then...
 
At an improv show with my friend in college. I had just done the flyest wash n go you ever saw, curls were all shiny and vanilla-smelling. Anyhoo I'm minding my business watching the show and out of nowhere I feel a hand in my hair then massage my scalp. Like a legit scalp rub :confused:. Now my friend was clear but not THAT clear so I look at her like o_O but at the same time I turn to her she turned to look at me like o_O. Turns out she saw some clear man's hairy arm from behind us reach over to touch my hair and she was lost too. I still have no idea who it was smh.
 
During a transaction, a cashier leaned over and ran her hand through my scalp, after I'd already told her I was wearing a wig. Now she wasn't a complete stranger but it was a massive shock and invasion of space. I've never been friendly with her since.
 
I have a couple memorable ones:
1) I was in a matinee movie alone one morning. About 10 minutes into the movie (don’t remember the movie), two 17-25 y.o. clear dudes came in. They were stumbling and laughing so I supposed they were high. They sat RIGHT behind me in this otherwise empty theater. Within 2 minutes of sitting behind me, I felt at least 2 hands digging into my luscious fro and caressing/massaging/tugging at my hair and they started laughing when I whipped around to face them. They seemed unfazed and smiled at me. I was so confused, I got up and moved several rows and seats away. After a few minutes, they got up and followed me, sitting right behind me. Flustered and livid, I got up and left. I was so angry and uncomfortable I didn’t even think to get a refund or get the ushers involved.

2) I was at the DMV getting my license updated. This elderly yt lady was the clerk and couldn’t stop staring at my hair. I smiled at her politely and she said “Hon, I really want to ask you something but I don’t want to offend you. Everyone’s so sensitive these days...” So I smiled wider and asked, “Well, what do you want to know?” And we got to talking pretty good-naturedly about hair, haircare, and products. Suddenly things went left when she asked, “Do you wash it?” Not missing a beat, I asked back, “Do you wash *your* hair?” Do you know that heifer had the nerve to look offended?! She rolled it back though with “Well it just looks so thick and luscious. I wouldn’t even know where to begin with all of that!” And just when I was about to smile because I get nobby-kneed at even the vaguest hair/skin compliments, she reached across the counter and started FINGERING my hair. I was so horrified I couldn’t hide it. And when she saw my face, she actually apologized! “I’m sorry honey. I couldn’t help myself. I never been so close to your kind of hair before. It felt so different from how I thought! It’s actually really soft!” :mad: But she still had my license and wasn’t done updating it so I had to stand there in silence fuming until she was finished.

3) I was working at the airport bookstore. An elderly woman was getting her change from me when instead of taking her change, she reached across the counter and started tugging and stroking my fro. She smiled as I stared in frozen horror, pet me kindly atop my head as if I were a poodle, then said turning away, “Keep the change.”

4) I fell asleep on the train. I awoke to a clear homeless man caressing, stroking, and rubbing my hair against his cheeks. I was so horrified, I leapt up and got off the train at the stop it was pulling up to. I had to wait 25 minutes for the next train. I probably should’ve just changed cars.

I suppose cataloguing them like this makes me think things like this might be the low key reason I almost never wear my hair super big and poofy. But those were also the days of high contact with the general public...
People are so wild!

ETA: one time a Black woman weave checked me and it wound up being quite traumatizing. She was my coworker and I thought we were cool. Her edges had been vaporized by terrible weaves and she wore eyelashes with weave glue. We would always talk about hair and beauty so I thought that was her way of trying to step up her cosmetics. One day I came to work with a poofy blowout a la Diana Ross’s fabulous wigs. I had given a few coworkers permission to touch it that day so I think that’s why she asked if she could TOUCH my hair. I assented, thinking I would get petted or stroked or gently tugged at the most. This broad jabbed her whole hand into my cloud of hair and raced her nails across my scalp in painful circles and large zigzags! When I pulled away angrily, she started laughing sheepishly and had the nerve to say, “I just couldn’t believe that was all real! I guess it’s all yours after all?” After all that she still wasn’t sure!!! I was LIVID! “Yes it’s all mine! Why would I lie? I’d say if it weren’t!” Then she had the nerve to say it could be micro wefts and all these other possible extensions that defy the typical weave checking methods. Oooouuuu I almost lost my job that day. But what stopped me from losing it was the idea that I had somehow invited that violation. Never again. Lesson learned. I never spoke to her again.
 
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