I may sound a bit harsh or blunt in my post, so forgive me in advance please my fellow ladies, but this is one of those topics that really grind my gears.
Most people don’t understand the nature of hair in general. And I’m talking any texture.
If left completely alone, minimal brushing, minimal washing, hair will still naturally taper even with the most natural or eco/body friendly practices and products. Because well...it’s hair.
When I say taper I mean either natural taper or regular wear and tear taper. Either way I consider it taper.
I don’t think it’s just the black community but the hair care industry in general still have this notion that a completely blunt cut hemline equates to the end all be all of hair “health”. I put quotes around the word health, because I view it differently when it comes to hair. Hair isn’t “healthy” in terms of how health is applied towards our bodies. Hair is not metabolically active, except for the follicles and glands that push it out. Once it’s out, it is dead and has hardened.
Going off on a bit of tangent:
In my eyes, hair “health” means hair maintenance. Say you have a very nice, rare piece of fabric. Say it’s some type of silk or linen. That linen is not metabolically active. It does not carry out typical bodily activities. Meaning the goal is to keep that piece of linen maintained. It may fray, or lose a few fibers/pieces, have certain parts of it that may be a bit dull, and may not be as soft as it once was, but say you’ve had that piece of linen for well over 50+ years. But it’s still well intact, and you are diligent in caring for it. It may not be as perfect as when it was first made, but it’s still pretty and well maintained.
Same thing with hair. Our goal is to keep as much of your hair intact as possible. That’s what I view as “healthy”, ergo , well maintained hair.
So going back to the subject, it is solely a societal thing. The other hair site I frequent, there are women with hair to the floor who have natural taper, or fairytale ends as I like to call them. So this notion of a blunt even hemline does not guarantee length.
And I think the hair communities equating a blunt hemline to longer length retention can hold a lot of women back from actually seeing their growth translate to length retention.
Me entire head of hair is naturally layered. While I do have breakage that I am currently fixing, even before that I still had a natural layer to my hair. Either from tapering naturally, or as mentioned earlier, typical wear and tear.
As for Mrs. Moore, her hair still looks well kept/maintained. Personally to me, it looks like she has more taper than I do, but that doesn’t undermine her hair care practices, and it doesn’t mean her hair is any less “healthy” or well maintained.