In 20 years will we look at women with relaxers like we look at smokers today?

[Keen]

I think we may look at relaxers in 20 years the same way we look at jheri curls now.

That's a better way to put it. But comparing relaxers to cigarettes? Please people, if you want to go natural, that's your prerogative. But don't go demonizing relaxers. Yes some people should not wear relaxers for health reason but it is in no way compared to cigarettes. This is all scare tactics and fear mongering.

OP, I'm not directing this at you. I'm just saying...

 

[BrownieBrie]

Unless there is a hazard of second hand relaxing, I don't see the similarities. I personally don't have a problem with smokers. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[30something]

Maybe, some people look at women who relax as smokers now.

 

[PinkGirlFluff]

No matter what I think we as a people have low standards when it comes to caring about what goes in and on our bodies healthwise. Why would we care about relaxers when we don't care about any other aspect of our health in general? As long as we "look" good nothing else seems to matter. If relaxers were found to be horrible for the body people would still get it. People still go tanning in tanning salons knowing good and well it's not a good idea healthwise.

I do not relax anymore. That is my personal choice. I don't judge those that do. I don't judge people that smoke, drink, get high, drop it low, or cuss. I'm way too much of a free spirit for alla that kinda judgement. I wouldn't look down on somebody the way some people look down on me for not wearing my hair straight and flowing. I don't think that's fair.

And serious side eye to people with relaxers thinking that all naturals are sitting around pondering about relaxed hair. Nah boo boo.

 

[cbanks67]

Did anyone see in that movie Chris Rock did where he was showing how the workers that
make the relaxers in the factories end up suffering from various ailments? I thought that was interesting considering all the protective gear they wear. I do think eventually more and more women will find others ways to manage their hair. I know I have and I'm thankful for it but it was a journey.

 

[Raspberry]

Who's this "we"? Women do many things to their hair and I think that 20 years from more new technology may allow women to permanently straighten their hair using other methods.

I agree, it's much more likely that more efficient ways of straightening hair will be invented, like some kind of drug or genetic modification that permanently alters the way the hair grows from the scalp.

I will not equate the effects of a relaxer to that of smoking. Also if your friend gets sick from the sodium hydroxide that's in a relaxer then she should stop using products with sodium hydroxide in it. I get allergic reactions to benzoyl peroxide so I don't use products that has it but I won't equate it with smoking. Especially since it doesn't affect everyone in the same way.

I agree with this as well. It's simply not logical to compare applying a caustic creme to one's scalp for 10 minutes every 2+ months to ingesting carcinogens directly into your lungs multiple times per day.

Because there is a lot of cultural and emotional baggage attached to relaxing for black women, objectivity tends to go out of the window when discussing it.

I put relaxers in the same bag with many other cosmetic products that have been normalized. Some people are very adamantly against the regular use of SLS ingredients in shampoos, parabens in all types of hair products and lotions (applied on a daily basis). There's laser hair removal - long term effects unknown, hair removal cremes which some women use on a regular basis. Acrylic nails and the formaldehyde used are a danger to some, not to mention the workers who are exposed to the fumes for hours on end. Many of these products have been documented to increase cancer risk but most people would think it extreme to stigmatize their use on the same level of cigarettes. There's also things like hormonal birth control that often have major side effects and sometimes (rarely) cause major health problems or even death. But again, their usage is largely seen as a personal choice and a pro v. con type of thing.

 

[MsLizziA]

This is ridiculous -_____-

 

[Keen]

Did anyone see in that movie Chris Rock did where he was showing how the workers that
make the relaxers in the factories end up suffering from various ailments? I thought that was interesting considering all the protective gear they wear. I do think eventually more and more women will find others ways to manage their hair. I know I have and I'm thankful for it but it was a journey.

It's one thing to be exposed to the chemical once every couple of months, it's another to be breathing it all day, every day. I'm sure that's toxic.

 

[ProtectiveStyling]

My mum is finding all this "movement" business hilarious as am I. Things happen in cycles, natural hair is back in fashion and that's great, but I can bet in the next year folk will be going back to wearing straight styles as fashion changes.

The difference would be that there would be more natural/less harmful relaxers such as Phyto for straightening, John Frieda too now has a 3 day straightening line, and I'm sure many more will come into the market

I agree. Eventhough im natural, i think relaxers are the norm for way too many people and here to stay. I look at the natural hair movement the same as other hair trends from the past that some people (NOT ALL) do because its in style, like the afro use to be in the 70s. I love my natural hair and will never relax again, yet i think in 20 years, people will look at NATURALS the way ppl in the 90s looked at those still rocking a fro from the 70s & dnt forget how powerful that black power/ fro movement was, but it still faded. Todays natural hair movement will be the one that will soon fade and then come back around in the future, not the relaxer. On another note, I cant wait to see what the rejuvenated movement will bring in the future, meaning from a huge fro (70s) to twisting, coloring, protective styles, ect. (now) to ___________________ (future)...... Rlaxers will probably be greener and last longer than a month or two, plus rain/humidity resistant

 

[Tiye]

The person who said it is taking her natural hair way too seriously. I hope she's takes that same level of seriousness and applying it to her overall health and well being, etc.

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

No. Me relaxing my hair is not gonna do anything to anyone else.
Smokers endanger the health of everyone around them.

It's not the same thing at all; that lady needs to sit all the way down.

 

[diadall]

Since you asked the question I will say that there will always be women that want straight hair all the time or some time. Whether it a process called a relaxer or a new process I think women will want some chemical straightener.

Plus when I still hear people say they can't go natural because, "my hair isn't like yours." they still don't view their natural hair as desirable.

I can't picture a world where getting a relaxer is out of style like many people asking for a Jheri Curl.

 

[4evershika]

Im not sure what the surgeon generals warning would be when it comes to relaxers comparing smoking to relaxing hair....reaching imo.

This.


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[divachyk]

I'm relaxed; who cares what anyone else thinks as long as I'm content with my decision. And, my relaxer doesn't stifle the fresh air of others last I checked. And, it hasn't been the cause of any deaths best I know.

 

[Raspberry]

I'm relaxed; who cares what anyone else thinks as long as I'm content with my decision. And, my relaxer doesn't stifle the fresh air of others last I checked. And, it hasn't been the cause of any deaths best I know.

divachyk Girl you know your hair buns are laying folks out

 

[niqu92]

....what in the heezy....

 

[divachyk]

Lol Ras (Raspberry) you are a trip. I thank you for the compliment.

 

[yorkpatties]

I suppose I am reading the question differently than some of the ladies commenting. I am not looking at it as WILL BLACK WOMEN STOP WANTING STRAIGHT HAIR IN 20 YEARS, which it what some people seem to be responding to. I am sure we will continue to wear our hair in various styles as the years pass, but it is possible that we will also discover some things about relaxers that we didn't know. We've found links to cancer in all sorts of places we've never expected, like anti-perspirant, so who is to say a Doctor won't come around and find a link from relaxers to ovarian cysts. Who the hell knows. We all just want to stay as healthy as possible.

 

[iCandyc]

DOubt it! There are still many who wouldn't ever consider going natural.. What works for one doesnt work for all

 

[mscocoface]

20 years from now we will have naturals and we will have chemically treated hair.

On both sides of the spectrum there are some that will never ever go the other way.

 

[diadall]

I suppose I am reading the question differently than some of the ladies commenting. I am not looking at it as WILL BLACK WOMEN STOP WANTING STRAIGHT HAIR IN 20 YEARS, which it what some people seem to be responding to. I am sure we will continue to wear our hair in various styles as the years pass, but it is possible that we will also discover some things about relaxers that we didn't know. We've found links to cancer in all sorts of places we've never expected, like anti-perspirant, so who is to say a Doctor won't come around and find a link from relaxers to ovarian cysts. Who the hell knows. We all just want to stay as healthy as possible.

Since you put it that way...I will say no. I think that the market is so lucrative for companies that they will find other ingredients and still call it a relaxer.

I thought the smoking comment was more about how smokers are shunned away (hotels, restaurants, businesses). I thought the comment meant that people with relaxers will be more on the fringes of the mainstream of beauty and haircare. I don't know if that will happen in 20 years or ever but as I think on it most of my friends daughters (even the ones over 16) don't have relaxers (I never asked why or cared to ask).

 

[GraceV]

Reaching...

 

[bride91501]

I've really thought about this discussion over the last few days, and here's my revised view. Not to hijack/change the direction of the thread, but....

As a mother of 3 little black girls, its really important to me for them to have choice. When I was a little girl, there was NO choice...EVERY little 12 year old black girl (at least in 1991 ) got a relaxer, and I mean ALL of us. 20 years later, there's much more choice, although relaxers are still very much a rite of passage for our little girls.

20+ years from now, I'd be happy with a 50-50 split. No extreme views in either direction, just my future granddaughters having the right to choose.

True choice is so underrated in our community. #ijs

 

[SmileyNY]

I think in 20 years more black women who get relaxers will do so by CHOICE & not b/c they are afraid of kinky hair or conforming to society.

A lot of women will be ex-naturals who know their hair, love their hair. have proven their point, realize that it's just hair & now choose to try something different.

I was natural for 8 years. Now I texlax by choice, not b/c I'm scared of kinks. I was natural long enough to get to know and love my hair & also to realize that it's just hair. So when I wanted to try something different (texlaxing), I just did it. I had matured and didn't feel like I had anything to prove to anyone.

Before I went natural, I relaxed b/c I felt like I HAD to... now I relax simply b/c I want to. If I wake up tomorrow & bc again, it will because I want to... Not because it's the "in" thing to do. No one can ever make me feel like I HAVE to do anything with my hair.

It's all about making personal hair choices stictly for yourself and not for ANYONE else.... & I think in 20 years more black women will do just that.




Sent from my iPhone.

 

[reeko43]

"this is the song that never ends, it just goes on and on my friend..........."

In three more years I would have been getting relaxers for 30 years if I had not decided to go natural. I have yet to have an arm growing out of my forehead or mutated scalp. My reasons for going natural are my own health/hair preservation issues that had nothing to do with the relaxer itself. When growing up, everyone wasn't getting a perm at 9 years old. I got my first on prom night, my choice and my own money.

I think there will be a segment of hair society that will bend with every hair trend. If it became "less cool to be natural", they would be first in a chair with relaxer smeared on their hair. There are those who don't have self esteem/crowd follower issues that will be natural, permed or fluctuate between the two because hair doesn't define who they are just the look they are trying to achieve.

I see the future being a time of new developments for hair care that we have never imagined. I see more product choices for straight natural and in between. If nothing else, I hope to see a future where people have gotten their mind right and don't give a darn whether or not someone is permed or natural and is not trying to define someone's "love for their culture" by same.

I would be more impressed when they do away with the shiny barbie doll hair lace fronts with visible glue and tacky stiff track showing weave styles that assault my eyes on a daily basis.

 

[SmilingElephant]

OMG Chaosbutterfly....your siggy!!!

Okay....to the question....honestly...i don't know. People are becoming more and more health conscious....and honestly its to the point where it's like....well what CAN i eat??! What water CAN i drink?...Heck...sometimes i wonder which air is healthier to breathe! So i would say....i think there will be a steady incline in people going natural. And i agree with those who say that relaxers will be "greener" in the future

Now....i don't think its fair to compare ppl who choose to relax their hair to smokers.....but i DO cringe when i see women who truly believe they need to relax their hair and they have NO kind of newgrowth!....THAT my friend is a form of addiction.

But overall...i have nothing against ppl who relax their hair. I just highly doubt i'll go back to em....too many bad memories

 

[krissyprissy]

Nope!!! That's the beauty of hair. There are no rules.