So Hair is a Big part of our culture

[Bun Mistress]

I guess I didn't realize this. Whenever I would go anywhere as a kid I would get critiqued on my hair, jewelery, clothes, ect. It was just what happened. But apparently others not so much.

So I was at work today and had my hair in a bun. I left work early decided I would get some braids again for two weeks.

Went out with co workers tonight (about 5 hours later). We were out for 2 hours before anyone even noticed, hey you got your hair braided. I thought no one said anything because I just had braids a few weeks ago. But no. They just didn't notice. Crazy. It puts things in perspective for me. Maybe my "bad hair days" aren't that important. Maybe bunning all the time isn't a big deal.

I love hair, its the best accessory (besides hair candy!). Anyone else ever notice this or give it some thought???

 

[Geminigirl]

I think hair is big in lots of cultures. I also notice that even small children take notice to hair.

I once braided my DD hair with weave in a cornrowed style and we went to the park. These two little girls kept following her around and trying to touch her hair.

I also witnessed a group of children under the age of 10 talking about relaxers and their edges breaking off. The one girl had this long pretty hair when I first had moved to the area, by this time it was maybe APL and her edges were non existent. She had these pretty waves, so I guess her mom doesn't relax her frequently but I just don't see why she relaxes her at all, she's in need of a serious trim.

 

[Gigi-07]

Hair's a bigger deal to us than to other cultures, for several reasons one could list, but...

 

[Simply_elle]

YES!

It deeply upsets me that even though its a big part of our society we don't seem to benefit at all from the practices...to retail

The bss stores we patronize, are rarely... never AA owned, filled with products which most of the time are filled with cheap ingredients and not beneficial to us... I.e. hair growth, health ect.....

We are given misconstrued information about our beautiful hair and alot of times its at the hands of another black "professional" stylist... Leading to damage, frustration, and the inability for our locks to reach their full potential...We should not fear a licensed establishment...but PLENTY of us here do!

The standard of beauty is skewed to where over processed and straight hair is ideal and we would happily sacrifice health and recreation to maintain a "do"...My boyfriend told me I was the first black girl who let him wash their hair...and didn't fuss about it...

Ahh ANYWAY- I ramble
But I feel if we are going to give so much damn money and time to our hair, I want it healthy, strong, and down my back...I don't want some Nicki Minaj weave looking like everybody else! I want our men to be proud and able to run his fingers and play in oue hair...and not think the only way his chick can be beautiful if is she's weaved/relaxed up to heck and back... I want us to as a culture learn healthy hair and pass it on to our children... And our society accepts THAT ALL OF OUR HAIR IS BEAUTIFUL

My hair is my obsession....

I want my hair to be what god gave and not made entirely into something else...If it's going to be a big deal to us lets at least do it RIGHT.

And...If my post/rant/musing made sense to you....God bless

 

[LittleLuxe]

For me it's kind of the opposite.

For a very long portion of my life hair wasn't important at all. I noticed when it was at it's very best but that was it. It's only recently that I've become interested in it and began to take note of how everyone's looks.

At the same time I realize I'm still not that obsessed, outside of my own hair I still don't really care how others looks or what they do with their hair.

Hair is a symbol of many different things. Personal health, wealth, style, position in society or social class - and it can mean a million different things to a million different people in a million different cultures.

 

[Tamster]

heh, I would want to go into a whole discussion about how systemic racism stemming from slavery has contributed to the way we understand ourselves and our hair, but ... well... I'll save that for another thread.

But yeah, I almost wish I wouldn't get critiqued on hair etc by family members though. When you do something new its nice to get a compliment or for people to notice that something changed, but it can get really annoying if that's all people do- is talk about your hair (especially if they don't know what they are talking about).

 

[belldandy]

it was only a big deal when I didn't have any lol
now it's just fun

 

[Vashti]

I've really begun to pay attention to not only my own hair this year but everyone else's hair too. On the bus, at work, in the store, on the street, at church. Many people love to think that black women have the bad hair game sewn up but I'm sorry, I see bad, terrible unhealthy hair everywhere I go these days on all kinds of women.

I also pay special attention to any woman, whatever her race, who obviously takes good care of her hair and it's seems rare these days especially if it's long, so a woman like that stands out in the crowd. I think people tend to think you are frivolous if you have very long hair. I notice that women in high positions of business or even other fields usually don't have long hair. I wonder if they are looked down upon or pressured to cut it to fit in with the crowd?

 

[kmn1980]

we would happily sacrifice health and recreation to maintain a "do"...

It's sorta like how Woody Harrelson said on White Men Can't Jump:

"A Black man would rather look good and lose than look bad and win."

My personal opinion: Black women spend entirely too much money on hair stuff that doesn't benefit them for the most part AND Black people in general spend entirely too much money on random conspicuous foolishness.

But that's another topic.

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

It's sorta like how Woody Harrelson said on White Men Can't Jump:

"A Black man would rather look good and lose than look bad and win."

My personal opinion: Black women spend entirely too much money on hair stuff that doesn't benefit them for the most part AND Black people in general spend entirely too much money on random conspicuous foolishness.

But that's another topic.

thank you for this post

 

[LittleLuxe]

It's sorta like how Woody Harrelson said on White Men Can't Jump:

"A Black man would rather look good and lose than look bad and win."

My personal opinion: Black women spend entirely too much money on hair stuff that doesn't benefit them for the most part AND Black people in general spend entirely too much money on random conspicuous foolishness.

But that's another topic.

Very true. Though I think that's an issue with the hair industry, in general and especially with women of color. Lol, folks have been noticing hair but I've spent more time looking at the entirety of the hair industry and just been thinking of the strange irony in it.

For instance weaves are getting so damn high-tech, they're finding more and more creative ways to plop someone else's hair on women's heads and blend it in so damn near perfect you would think they were born with it. On the flip when you look at black hair care products not much has changed since 10 years ago. We still have products with mostly unhealthy ingredients that can lead to more disrepair and damage than health and growth, and those are the products simply meant for styling, conditioning, or moisturizing.

When you do get to the products meant to promote growth or "GRO-FAST!!!" '"SUPERGRO!!!!" "SLOWGRO-NOMO!!!" you can't help but feel like they're bootleg. Lol, no matter how good the ingredients (or bad) the bottles always contain 'black' colors somewhere on the label (anything from red, black, green, yellow in any form), something is misspelled (why is something always misspelled? I'm down for the cause but I side-eye the association), there are usually several exclamation points, and they're always being sold at the back of magazines with wacky pictures to accompany. Does not lend much confidence .

Any lady on this board knows how much time she devotes to the health and growth of her hair but for women buying these products and seeing no results I can understand how a glossy long flowing weave for too much money starts looking like the only option.

 

[Bun Mistress]

Thank Ladies for all the opinions and the stories! I think this topic really makes you think about what is important to you and why. Especially the history behind the why.

 

[Janet']

I agree with you OP...hair is important in our culture...

 

[discodumpling]

Hair is a huge part of African/Black culture...all throughout the diaspora. For, like, EVER!! We are sooooo creative that hair care & styling innovations begin & end with US. We are willing to experiment with chemicals & colours where many would shy away from it. Our babygirls (& boys too!) are trained early to sit for long hair styling sessions. We invented "sleeping pretty" just so we wouldn't mess up our intricate hairdos! We wear scarves not only as a fashion statement but to PROTECT our hair!

 

[ms.blue]

For me hair wasn't really important b/c my was b/w sl & apl and the only it was short on purpose is when I cut it to a chin length in HS. It became important when I had to cut it and now I have become obsessed w/ hair in general. My mom always said that a woman beauty is her hair which I believe this is true. We spend so much money on hair products hoping it will make our hair long and gorgeous b/c it's like a status symbol.

Sometimes I wish I can go back to my ignorant haircare days b/c my hair grew as much as it does now with my healthy hair practices.