Incredibly Stupid Black Hair Myths

sipp100 said:
I never heard any of this stuff until joining LHCF! I grew up in the rural Midwest. I don't ever remember people really talking about hair at all. Or maybe I wasn't paying attention.
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Me too :yep: But I still heard a lot of these myths. Not from my family but from others in the community.
 
I'm watching Ma & Pa Kettle on AMC right now and these "tips" sound like advice they may have given, lol.

These myths aren't funny, though, they're :(
 
Okay, ladies. Hold on to your TWAs, mini-fros, big fros, protective styles, weaves, wigs, whatever. I have a doozy:

I was told that black people could never, ever catch LICE because lice don't like greasy/kinky hair and can't thrive in it. Now me having a sort of medical background and a house more sterile than a brand new hospital's operating room believed this mess until we had a play date at a play ground with friends and several unknown, infested children. My oldest dd starts scratching and itching for WEEKS. I'm thinking maybe her scalp is too dry as we live in a hot climate most of the year. Wash, condition, oil scalp, see nothing. This goes on for weeks until we were at Sunday services and she literally could not sit still. Take her into the bathroom, undo her bun and HUGE black insects crawling out of her hair. I am silently screaming, scoop her and her two sisters up, call the hubby like she was in cardiac arrest and went on the hunt for something to kill these things. It took us about a month to a month and half to rid all 3 BLACK girls, who supposedly cannot get lice, rid of lice. I was so ashamed and embarrassed we just quarantined the family and washed and disinfected the whole house repeatedly for weeks and their hair several times per day. To this day, I cannot believe I was soooo ignorant. I thought lice liked "unhygenic" people which did not fit our description. Worse part was telling my MIL that and the myth and the stunned silence on the other end of the phone. I'm considered very bright but I could literally hear her thinking ( YOU IDIOTIC MORON!!!), lol. I was so upset, I actually had to go on anti-anxiety medication. Today's lice are similar to roaches. Hard to get rid of or kill. I was about to just shave everybody BALD because I was so grossed out at the lice and my stupidity. People may be prejudiced but lice aren't. lol:lachen:
 
"black people don't have to wash their hair every day because we don't have the same sweat glands......we don't sweat in our heads and our scalp doesn't stink."

(WTH)*side eye* - and this of course was said by a black woman to a non-black woman....sigh.
 
Shula said:
Okay, ladies. Hold on to your TWAs, mini-fros, big fros, protective styles, weaves, wigs, whatever. I have a doozy:

I was told that black people could never, ever catch LICE because lice don't like greasy/kinky hair and can't thrive in it. Now me having a sort of medical background and a house more sterile than a brand new hospital's operating room believed this mess until we had a play date at a play ground with friends and several unknown, infested children. My oldest dd starts scratching and itching for WEEKS. I'm thinking maybe her scalp is too dry as we live in a hot climate most of the year. Wash, condition, oil scalp, see nothing. This goes on for weeks until we were at Sunday services and she literally could not sit still. Take her into the bathroom, undo her bun and HUGE black insects crawling out of her hair. I am silently screaming, scoop her and her two sisters up, call the hubby like she was in cardiac arrest and went on the hunt for something to kill these things. It took us about a month to a month and half to rid all 3 BLACK girls, who supposedly cannot get lice, rid of lice. I was so ashamed and embarrassed we just quarantined the family and washed and disinfected the whole house repeatedly for weeks and their hair several times per day. To this day, I cannot believe I was soooo ignorant. I thought lice liked "unhygenic" people which did not fit our description. Worse part was telling my MIL that and the myth and the stunned silence on the other end of the phone. I'm considered very bright but I could literally hear her thinking ( YOU IDIOTIC MORON!!!), lol. I was so upset, I actually had to go on anti-anxiety medication. Today's lice are similar to roaches. Hard to get rid of or kill. I was about to just shave everybody BALD because I was so grossed out at the lice and my stupidity. People may be prejudiced but lice aren't. lol:lachen:
Click to expand...

yeah, my mom believed that too til i came home from church camp with lice when i was 6 :lachen: she chopped my then hl hair to just above sl with the kitchen scissors so she could get that darn lice comb through my head... i still remember it vividly :look::lachen:
 
Shula said:
Okay, ladies. Hold on to your TWAs, mini-fros, big fros, protective styles, weaves, wigs, whatever. I have a doozy:

I was told that black people could never, ever catch LICE because lice don't like greasy/kinky hair and can't thrive in it. Now me having a sort of medical background and a house more sterile than a brand new hospital's operating room believed this mess until we had a play date at a play ground with friends and several unknown, infested children. My oldest dd starts scratching and itching for WEEKS. I'm thinking maybe her scalp is too dry as we live in a hot climate most of the year. Wash, condition, oil scalp, see nothing. This goes on for weeks until we were at Sunday services and she literally could not sit still. Take her into the bathroom, undo her bun and HUGE black insects crawling out of her hair. I am silently screaming, scoop her and her two sisters up, call the hubby like she was in cardiac arrest and went on the hunt for something to kill these things. It took us about a month to a month and half to rid all 3 BLACK girls, who supposedly cannot get lice, rid of lice. I was so ashamed and embarrassed we just quarantined the family and washed and disinfected the whole house repeatedly for weeks and their hair several times per day. To this day, I cannot believe I was soooo ignorant. I thought lice liked "unhygenic" people which did not fit our description. Worse part was telling my MIL that and the myth and the stunned silence on the other end of the phone. I'm considered very bright but I could literally hear her thinking ( YOU IDIOTIC MORON!!!), lol. I was so upset, I actually had to go on anti-anxiety medication. Today's lice are similar to roaches. Hard to get rid of or kill. I was about to just shave everybody BALD because I was so grossed out at the lice and my stupidity. People may be prejudiced but lice aren't. lol:lachen:
Click to expand...

Ok as scary as that whole story was (I'd be horrified if that happened to my daughter too) I don't think you should be blamed for believing that. Alot of our myths sound crazy - especially those without explanation but when we hear a myth like this when we are younger AND it is backed up by some seemingly plausible explanation, how WOULD we know any better?

I'm just glad the lil' mamas got better! :nono: Poor babies!!!
 
Shula said:
Okay, ladies. Hold on to your TWAs, mini-fros, big fros, protective styles, weaves, wigs, whatever. I have a doozy:

I was told that black people could never, ever catch LICE because lice don't like greasy/kinky hair and can't thrive in it. Now me having a sort of medical background and a house more sterile than a brand new hospital's operating room believed this mess until we had a play date at a play ground with friends and several unknown, infested children. My oldest dd starts scratching and itching for WEEKS. I'm thinking maybe her scalp is too dry as we live in a hot climate most of the year. Wash, condition, oil scalp, see nothing. This goes on for weeks until we were at Sunday services and she literally could not sit still. Take her into the bathroom, undo her bun and HUGE black insects crawling out of her hair. I am silently screaming, scoop her and her two sisters up, call the hubby like she was in cardiac arrest and went on the hunt for something to kill these things. It took us about a month to a month and half to rid all 3 BLACK girls, who supposedly cannot get lice, rid of lice. I was so ashamed and embarrassed we just quarantined the family and washed and disinfected the whole house repeatedly for weeks and their hair several times per day. To this day, I cannot believe I was soooo ignorant. I thought lice liked "unhygenic" people which did not fit our description. Worse part was telling my MIL that and the myth and the stunned silence on the other end of the phone. I'm considered very bright but I could literally hear her thinking ( YOU IDIOTIC MORON!!!), lol. I was so upset, I actually had to go on anti-anxiety medication. Today's lice are similar to roaches. Hard to get rid of or kill. I was about to just shave everybody BALD because I was so grossed out at the lice and my stupidity. People may be prejudiced but lice aren't. lol:lachen:
Click to expand...
WOW! i really swore on a stack of bibles that one at least was true... sheesh... guess you never know.. that kinda grossed me out too no offense..
 
Shula said:
Okay, ladies. Hold on to your TWAs, mini-fros, big fros, protective styles, weaves, wigs, whatever. I have a doozy:

I was told that black people could never, ever catch LICE because lice don't like greasy/kinky hair and can't thrive in it. Now me having a sort of medical background and a house more sterile than a brand new hospital's operating room believed this mess until we had a play date at a play ground with friends and several unknown, infested children. My oldest dd starts scratching and itching for WEEKS. I'm thinking maybe her scalp is too dry as we live in a hot climate most of the year. Wash, condition, oil scalp, see nothing. This goes on for weeks until we were at Sunday services and she literally could not sit still. Take her into the bathroom, undo her bun and HUGE black insects crawling out of her hair. I am silently screaming, scoop her and her two sisters up, call the hubby like she was in cardiac arrest and went on the hunt for something to kill these things. It took us about a month to a month and half to rid all 3 BLACK girls, who supposedly cannot get lice, rid of lice. I was so ashamed and embarrassed we just quarantined the family and washed and disinfected the whole house repeatedly for weeks and their hair several times per day. To this day, I cannot believe I was soooo ignorant. I thought lice liked "unhygenic" people which did not fit our description. Worse part was telling my MIL that and the myth and the stunned silence on the other end of the phone. I'm considered very bright but I could literally hear her thinking ( YOU IDIOTIC MORON!!!), lol. I was so upset, I actually had to go on anti-anxiety medication. Today's lice are similar to roaches. Hard to get rid of or kill. I was about to just shave everybody BALD because I was so grossed out at the lice and my stupidity. People may be prejudiced but lice aren't. lol:lachen:
Click to expand...

I had this YT girl (dh's cousin's baby momma lol whom I canNOT stand) tell me she went to someones house,found out they had lice so she came home and put grease on her hair because that makes them slide off......all I could say was wow and laugh. Thank goodness I only see her once a year!
 
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:lachen:Oh geez! I couldn't help it! I had to see how this thread would read if I read these all at the same time and it was HILARIOUS!! They were even funnier (or sadder) than they were when they were posted separately! Take a look! (Sorry if I missed some);


ON HYGIENE, MAINTENANCE & HAIR GROWING TECHNIQUES

· Co-washing will make you hair fall out.
· Conditioners are for white people
· Dirt fertilizes the hair and makes it grow faster
· Washing your hair too often will wash out the perm...and sweating will wear out a perm.
· Split ends can be repaired by special conditioners
· Black people don’t get lice.
· It’s ok to grease your scalp with Vaseline
· Extra, extra tight braids, ponytails and buns will make your hair grow because the tension will make the hair come out of the scalp faster.
· Keeping your hair down at all times will cause you to grow hair faster because of the constant "weight".
· Having a man play in your hair makes it grow

ON OUR “LIMITATIONS”
· Good hair is white people’s hair and that’s the only hair that can grow long.
· Black women can't have long hair. Only mixed black girls can have long hair.


ON OUR “WELL BEING”
· Washing your hair when you're on your period will kill you!
· Two pair of hands in the head is bad luck!
· Don’t cut a baby’s hair until they are 1 or they won’t learn to talk!
· Having a pregnant woman do your hair will make it fall out!
· Burn the shed/broken hairs so that no one can put a root on you!
· If a bird uses your hair in their nest, you'll have headaches for the rest of your life !

:lachen::lachen::lachen:

See now, THIS is what makes me really proud of LHCF!!! :weird: Every time we share things that truly work we are slowly but surely removing myths that did nothing but limit us in terms of our health, beauty and self-esteem! To now have them replaced with hygiene and maintenance techniques that work really shows how far we've come as women of color!!!:circle:


Up until I joined LHCF I held many of these things to be true (you couldn't tell me back in'a day that a man playing in my hair wouldn't make my hair grow:rolleyes:) but now I've come such a long way that I can't wait until I get to a headful of healthy waist length hair!! Then I'll be a walking example to all the little girls that desperately need the message that all they need are healthy hair care practices, a healthy diet and patience and they can achieve it too! :yep:

I'm also hoping that as time goes on more and more black women will start taking the advice of women who have healthy hair instead of taking it from those who clearly don't know what they're doing! If they do then a lot of these myths will go away! Until then all any of us can do is go get some popcorn, sit back and watch the show as some people continue to live out these crazy myths!:rolleyes:
 
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i thought the one with lice only hold true if you grease the scalp (which most blacks typically do to their daughters hair). they don't like to attach to greasy areas.

were these girls scalps greased?
 
If you try to do your own hair (such as braid, trim, style etc) and you are not "trained" or don't have the "knack" for it, it will fall out.

Split ends cause you to have thicker hair.

Keeping your hair down at all times will cause you to grow hair faster because of the constant "weight".

Cutting your hair during a full moon makes it grow in healthier, fuller, faster or longer (some people still believe this but I dont....)

Dandruff is like fertilizer for hair.

Dandruff is caused by a dry scalp

Split ends can be repaired by special conditioners
 
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FroFab said:
There was a thread like this before, but I'll play now.

1. Dirty hair makes the relaxer take better.
2. Trimming your ends helps your hair grow.
3. Its ok to grease your scalp with vaseline
4. There is a such thing as a "good grade of hair"...well I guess mine gets an F ;-)
5. You should burn your shed/broken hairs
6. Two pair of hands in the head is bad luck
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My mother did this when I was little.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Riverrock
What would be the point of burning the shed/broken hairs?
Because someone could use them to put a 'root' on you.




Or, birds will make a nest out of your hair.
 
Mareeღ said:
Back home they say after a hair cut you should wrap the hair up in some tissue paper and stuff into into the shoot of a banana tree, that will make the hair grow faster :look:

Also to never throw your hair outside, but to burn it or birds will use it to make a nest and make all you hair fall out :look:
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:yep: lol are your from Jamaica or the caribbean by any chance?
 
Riverrock said:
That black women can't have long hair.


What would be the point of burning the shed/
broken hairs?



Oh yeah, a stylist told me that a girl with super kinky hair came in, they kept on shaving it off everytime she came, and eventually that made it change textures.
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My momma said and she still do, she said if you don't burn the hair:
1. Someone is going to make a voodoo doll with your hair and mess with you:nono:
2. The birds will make a birds nest with you hair
 
Majority of the things you ladies have stated I have never heard of before like the lice thing. I know my mom was very concern if she heard anybody had lice and didn't want us around them.

The only thing I heard about was and to this day hearing about is too much washing of the hair will take the perm out. LHCF has de-mythed that for me.

Myth or no myth is that your hair must be dirty before a relaxer so hence no washing but the whys are not explained. The reason why the hair should not be washed (at least 4 days) before a relaxer is for the scalp not be manipulated (causing skin breakage) to reduce scalp sensitivity when a relaxer is applied and gets onto the scalp. Some believe the dirtier the scalp the better and this being said some may not wash their hair for weeks before the R-day.
 
BEAUTYU2U said:
Once a week is too much?! LOL. Wow. I always washed my hair once a week. I used to look at my stepsister cross-eyed when I couldn't figure out her schedule for hair washing :perplexed:nono:
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I can attest that the majority of black people (men and women) go without a week of washing. Most black people still think once a week is too much. And they wonder why their hair looks dull and dry. When my friend use to ask me to wash her hair, I always aked for gloves jokingly.
 
Celestial said:
I can attest that the majority of black people (men and women) go without a week of washing. Most black people still think once a week is too much. And they wonder why their hair looks dull and dry. When my friend use to ask me to wash her hair, I always aked for gloves jokingly.
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LOL, sad but true. I always thought one week was the silent rule (lol) I mean I used to read in black hair care magazines - which don't always give the greatest instruction - that one week should be the limit.
 
BEAUTYU2U said:
LOL, sad but true. I always thought one week was the silent rule (lol) I mean I used to read in black hair care magazines - which don't always give the greatest instruction - that one week should be the limit.
Click to expand...

I think once or twice a week is the norm. I say people from India, if their hair is very long can go without a week of washing. When your hair is super thick and uber long then 11-14 days may be okay. I can usually tell if a black person hair is dirty just by the way it looks.
 
I was told by a friend that came to visit...THIS conversation
Native: You must not be from around here
OOT friend: No. How did you know
Native: Our hair doesn't grow here. See they changed our water and now our hair won't grow

:look: True story
 
BEAUTYU2U said:
LOL, sad but true. I always thought one week was the silent rule (lol) I mean I used to read in black hair care magazines - which don't always give the greatest instruction - that one week should be the limit.
Click to expand...

I told a friend that I washed my hair 1/wk and she was like, "Well, you can do that. Regular black girls don't wash their hair that often because water is bad for the hair." So I'm like :spinning:..."Okay, what do you mean by "regular black?" And she says, "You're not regular black. Aren't you from the West Indies?"

I kindly directed her to LHCF, but she's still a nonbeliever. ::smh:::nono: She contends that all the long-haired girls are either wearing weave or they're mixed.
 
DarkHair said:
I was told by a friend that came to visit...THIS conversation
Native: You must not be from around here
OOT friend: No. How did you know
Native: Our hair doesn't grow here. See they changed our water and now our hair won't grow

:look: True story
Click to expand...


Wooooooooooowwwwwww......:look:
 
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