This is a wonderful thread. I definetly agree with the posters here. Forgive me if this has already been posted but I wanted to share this article:
GETTING OVER THE NATURAL HAIR MYTHS
Last May I graduated and entered "Corporate" America. Every natural haired woman's nightmare…or is it? I, probably like most other people, thought that straightened hair was the only hairstyle acceptable in Corporate America. In fact, the summer months that preceded the start of my career I wondered if I was going to be restricted to wearing synthetic braids so that my colleagues would accept me.
As the day to start work grew nearer, I was overcome with frustration about what to do about my hair. I did indeed decided to get braids put in my hair and for the first four weeks of work I styled my LONG braids each morning before work. However, I soon grew tired of wearing the braided style. I had been wearing braids for an entire year and I felt like I was suffocating my hair.
It was late Sunday night when I finally finished unraveling my braids to reveal my pitch black tightly curled hair. It felt so good between my fingertips when I washed it but I was still at a lost as to what to do next with my hair. I had to have something presentable for work, so I brushed it back into a ponytail.
This was not easy at all. It took me almost half an hour to first comb through, oil and then collect my wild strands into a ponytail holder. Then when I was finished there was a big lump in the middle of my head where my hair had bunched up. I was exhausted so I wrapped a scarf tightly around my head in hopes that it would force the lump down.
The next morning when I awoke the lump was still there and my hair was super fuzzy. I was so tired and didn't' really want to wrestle with my hair so I decided to just tie a black scarf around my bun and head to work. I wore my hair in a bun with the same black scarf for a week. It really wasn't cute at all but I didn't know what else to do.
By Friday of that week I was seriously contemplating making an appointment with my former stylist to get a RELAXER. I told myself that by me getting a relaxer I was not making a socio-economic statement nor was I letting down anyone. It was just a matter of what was easiest!!
Fortunately, I couldn't even convince myself that by getting a relaxer I would be letting anyone down….because I would…myself. So that Saturday, I washed my hair and twisted it and wore that all WEEKEND. I still was a little afraid to conquer the office with such a doo. So I asked a friend to cornroll my hair into a bun. I thought that that was conservative enough not to cause too much of a ruckus at work.
I wore that hairstyle for a week but by Friday it was a little fuzzy and I didn't think it would hold up for another day. I decided to twist and then untwist my hair for the weekend but I wasn't sure what I would do on Monday. I really liked the crinkly afro I was rockin' and got so many compliments; enough to give me enough courage to wear it to the office.
So the very next Monday, I wore my fro to the office. As I stepped off the elevator a pack of butterflies began flapping their wings in my stomach. I was extremely nervous about what types of looks or stares I might encounter from my colleagues so I headed straight from the elevator to the bathroom to reassess my style.
It still looked good to me so I headed to my seating area. When I arrived, to my surprise no one even seemed to notice my hair. Not even one person on my team said a thing or even gave me funny look. In fact, a few ladies from other departments said it was beautiful. I felt proud and was happy that my "natural" was accepted in the corporate world.
It seems that I had finally grasped the concept of diversity in the workplace. Prior to this experience I thought diversity meant assimilating as much as possible as to not bring attention to your differences other then skin color. For so long I had been tricked into believing that a relaxer is more professional than a natural, but now I realize that it was just a question of wanting to be just like the people in power so that maybe they will share a little of it.
I know realize that the power is in being confident about every aspect of your being. Although, I may not be VP of a major fortune 500…I am damn sure on my way…and when I get there…I will know it had nothing to do with my hair.
Article written by former "Relaxed Slave"
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Edited to add: If anyone is interested in the "Relaxed Slave" article that the writer of the above article on corporate america wrote here is the link.
http://www.emergingminds.org/march03/relaxedslave.html
( I really hope noone gets offended at the title of this article. I am not implying that all are slaves to a relaxer. I did find the article interesting however)
