Surgeon General Calls for Health over Hair

[ericajoy]

And with that I am done sounding like a know-it-all.

 

[andromeda]

maybe her message would have been received better if she were a sexy, tall, handsome man sporting a baldie and not a dowdy middle-aged woman sporting a double chin

 

[LadyRaider]

I'm not thin, and I go hard at the gym.

I wish I knew how to make a half wig look natural on me. What do you do to cut the shine again?

 

[andromeda]

^^^ pour boiling water over it or dust it w/ baby powder?

 

[Solitude]

maybe her message would have been received better if she were a sexy, tall, handsome man sporting a baldie and not a dowdy middle-aged woman sporting a double chin

His message wasn't received at all...

ericajoy I see where you're coming from and perhaps I'm being hyper-sensitive because the topic is hair. In general, there was nothing wrong with her promoting exercise and health.


Sent from my iPhone 4 using LHCF

 

[Raspberry]

maybe her message would have been received better if she were a sexy, tall, handsome man sporting a baldie and not a dowdy middle-aged woman sporting a double chin

 

[ClassicBeauty]

I hear you, there are a lot of reasons people don't work out, but if we assume everyone who doesn't is lazy or unmotivated or making excuses, that stops us from seeing the other reasons and maybe finding solutions. I really think that, outside of lhcf, many Black women still are very limited in their hair care repertoire. (Maybe they don't have the hours to spend on here that we do lol.)

And yeah, it did seem like Black women were being called out somewhat (as usual) so I see what you mean that the article could have been more neutral. But there's a fine line between making the comment neutral and watering it down so much that it doesn't reach the intended audience.

Bottom line, this is one of those things that was very likely meant to be helpful, but can be interpreted and used all kinds of ways, including to stereotype us. But I don't think that was her intention.

Also, yes, she (the surgeon general) is larger, but not everybody who works out is thin. Everybody has a different natural weight range.

Of course it seems like her comments were directed toward us. She was at a Black hair event, so she was speaking to the audience.

 

[likewtr4chklit]

“The role of the surgeon general is traditionally, and appropriately, to take on big issues,” said Jeff Stier, a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank. “I don’t know whether the surgeon general’s role is to engage in smaller issues like this. It strikes me as bizarre.”

But it's not a small issue, it's a very big issue. This is a real health disparity, that a much larger proportion of Black women are overweight than women of other ethnicities. It's exactly the surgeon general's job to address things like this. If she has some access to the Black community by virtue of being a Black woman herself, and if she can speak to a barrier to exercise - like hair - that's fairly unique to our people, I think it's a good thing that she speaks up.

Exactly. She isn't a black man speaking bad about us in public, she addressed it tastefully, and if nothing else she is speaking from experience. Yet there is still a bunch of squawking. She is addressing a number of issues in our community and this happens to be one of them. Not every article that shines a light on bw issues is meant to attack us or bring us down.

 

[likewtr4chklit]

I know plenty of women who avoid breaking a sweat if they are a couple days out from a fresh salon do. I guess LHCF is different.

Yes we are different and it seems the more time we spend here the easier it is to forget that LHCF does NOT represent the majority of BW. We are a small mixed portion of the world and things that are "normal" here seem very odd "outside". I know plenty of women who use "not sweating out their hair" as an excuse not to work out. It's a tired and bogus excuse but most of them are. As we continue to call all of our excuses to the mat there will be nothing but the truth left; exhaustion, laziness, poor eating habits and lack of resources.

 

[likewtr4chklit]

maybe her message would have been received better if she were a sexy, tall, handsome man sporting a baldie and not a dowdy middle-aged woman sporting a double chin

You mean like Boris Kodjoe?

 

[Mizz Diamonds]

never heard anyone use that sweat out my perm excuse before in real life. except for once back in high school when all the girls did not want to go PE because we didn't want to mess up our hair and because the showers did not work either so sweaty and smelly before a party was a huge no way.

 

[andromeda]

You mean like Boris Kodjoe?

Next time she should preface her statements with an offensive joke like "just woke up from the worst nightmare-i was trampled in a stampede of fat black women going to get their hair did. But on a serious note, we've got to do better, studies show..."

 

[ericajoy]

You mean like Boris Kodjoe?

Mm mm mmm. I would definitely listen if he was sayin' something to me.

 

[naijamerican]

Next time she should preface her statements with an offensive joke like "just woke up from the worst nightmare-i was trampled in a stampede of fat black women going to get their hair did. But on a serious note, we've got to do better, studies show..."

Thank you. SMH at the flagrant double-standard.

 

[chelleypie810]

As much as I hear or read about the excuse black women don't exercise because of their hair I have yet to hear someone irl say so.

Sent from my PC36100 using PC36100

I used this excuse yesterday about going to spin class lol. But then I backed it up with yoga would be a better option on days when I don't wanna overly sweat.

 

[Solitude]

I'm watching the Today show and Hoda and Kathie Lee were talking about this story. Hoda (who is of Egyptian decent) said that she has had a relaxer in the past and would not work out the way she does if not for the glam team she has at the Today Show.

 

[Lady S]

I think it's kept a lot of women (both black & white) from swimming. Not to say swimming is the only exercise available, but it's an example of the hair issue.

Part of the problem is that black woman are judged on our hair. There's so much emotional and cultural luggage. Not everyone has wash n go hair or the length to put it in a ponytail. Even as a natural, it can take up to 3 hours (on a productive day) to put my twists in.

Of course, there's always 15 minute walks, taking the stairs instead of elevators, etc.

 

[havilland]

i have always been dedicated to working out no matter what i looked like. i just usually have my hair in a bun of some kind. in more recent years i discovered weaves and half wigs. so that helps me have a little more style instead of just wearing a bun all the time.

but i think it's unfair to dismiss hair as a barrier to fitness for some. this is a real issue. and some women don't want to wear a bun, phony pony, wig, or weave. they want to rock a hot style and have it last more than a day.

some ladies want curls and flat ironed styles or whatever and want them to last more than a few hours. esp. when those styles take so much time to achieve.

having said that, health is a choice that we all SHOULD make over hairstyle.

personally, i will workout like a beast in the days before i go to the stylist, so i can take a few days off and enjoy my hair for awhile.

i get that it can be a challenge to do both and i am not gonna judge those who have difficulty with it. i will try to encourage ladies to find a way to make both hair and health priority in their lives. no point in being cute if you are dying........