The Fake Hair "Stigma"

[koolkittychick]

Where did you get this from? I was responding to your comment that white women's hair never looks fake on TV with a funny observation. I have watched the show and, no, the bad blending is not intentional. None of them look or dress like Dolly Parton.

My bad if the bolded statement was not what you were implying. I thought that was why you brought up the show. And as I said, I have never watched the show, only read the press on it and seen clips on YouTube, so I can only go by those brief observations. And while none of them are done up to look like Dolly Parton, it does seem to me that the characters are subtly styled to convey how false and duplicitous the country music world (and the people who work in it) can be, and that includes obviously fake hair.

It's kind of like how in many stories where there is a good girl and a bad girl, the good girl is usually blonde or blonnette and the bad girl is usually raven haired. It's about reinforcing your portrayal of a character without hitting the viewer over the head with it.

As for the assertion that white women don't go on TV with bad fake hair, all I can say about that is that anytime I have seen white women on TV with obviously bad fake hair, not only did they freely admit it, they even make jokes about how bad it looked if they were called on it. I have never seen a Black woman do this, this being talking and joking about the less-than-stellar hair on her head.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

Disclaimer: This is my opinion I have seen with my own eyes. My mind won't be changed about it. Now on to my comment


No matter how good weaves are done in the long run they're damaging to the edges and nape. The weigh your natural hair strand down and cause tension. That is a fact. I'll never in this lifetime wear weaves again. There is no way to properly cleanse your scalp with those braids and thread clogging it up. There is no way to get your hair completely clean while wearing a weave.

Now a glueless silk top lace wig, I can get with that. No glue, no clips or combs because I remove those and I can take it off whenever I want and have full access to my scalp to clean it properly.

 

[jbwphoto1]

WF at work stopped by my cube today and said she meant to tell me the other day she likes the hairstyle I'm wearing. She's very much aware of it not being my hair. She also said how much she loves that we can wear our hair so many different ways.

 

[ckisland]

So why is it that people don't ask if "that's your real eye color", "your real breasts" , "your real teeth", "your original nose"

If you're in the right circle, these questions will be asked . But the average woman, of any race, are walking around with fake all of the above. Most ain't got that kind of money, health insurance, or dental coverage . Though people will asked a non-white person if their eye color is real if they're not dark brown. White chicks get asked a lot if they're really blondes because they try to fake it with peroxide like black chicks fake it with weave/wigs.

 

[Adiatasha]

They do though...

I've never had anyone ask me if my teeth or breasts or eye color were real......I wouldn't dare ask anyone else either. lol.

Hmmm I guess the consensus is kind of right.
Long hair on black women is kind of extra ordinary so they ask and most of the time the long hair is fake which leads to "black women can't grow their own hair" which leads to the weave stigma.

Very good dialogue ladies!! I love when these discussions are open and we can exchange ideas!!!

 

[ckisland]

I've never had anyone ask me if my teeth or breasts or eye color were real......I wouldn't dare ask anyone else either. lol.

Hmmm I guess the consensus is kind of right.
Long hair on black women is kind of extra ordinary so they ask and most of the time the long hair is fake which leads to "black women can't grow their own hair" which leads to the weave stigma.

Very good dialogue ladies!! I love when these discussions are open and we can exchange ideas!!!

That's because you have a sense of personal boundaries . The only thing about the weave stigma is that the whole weave/wig culture came about because most black women don't have long hair and don't like dealing with their hair . That's why it's not so big for other groups. Putting tracks to add fullness to your own hair is one thing. Putting in a full head weave, where 95% of the hair seen isn't yours, for 2 months or wearing a wig day in and day out is a completely different level of falsehood.

 

[almond eyes]

I don't know where you live but where I am, the black women around me have no problem talking about their hair. But the thing is why should women have to divulge every damned beauty secret, do I have to tell people hello my name is almond eyes just brushed my teeth with colgate, my hair is relaxed and I just had hip replacement surgery. I think it is so uncooth to ask people if their hair is fake and that is a very American thing. In the UK were a lot of my African friends grew up weaves were not a big deal at all.

And honestly, black women have always been adorning themselves with elaborate and different hairstyles since the dawn of time. My colleague who I worked with a few years ago she was white and she used to tell me that she was jealous of black women because we could change our hairstyles at anytime and still look good. She said that her extremely fine hair could only grow to her neck before snapping off.

Joan Collins wears wigs and she said in a Hello Magazine interview she didn't understand why fake hair was such a stigma. Why that stigma is always placed on black women I don't get that. I have a friend from Italy who wears glued extensions because her hair is balding, she doesn't go around telling people guess what I suffer from alopecia so my hair is fake and people do not go around asking her even if it looks obvious when you look closely.

Best,
Almond Eyes

 

[Harina]

I haven't read all the responses in this thread but I can't express how annoyed I am that this fake hair thing has gotten so big and how everyone talks about it now. I cannot tell you how many times I will be somewhere in public and there will always be someone basically breathing on my neck and staring at the back of my head. I used to wear braids, twists, crochet braids, etc all the time when I was a little girl. One of my fake hair crochet braid strands actually fell out when I was at recess and one of my girfriends (who were only white and asian btw) picked it up and gave it back to me and we went on talking and playing. This was like 6th grade.

It was just something to do and then when I took it out, I'd style and take care of my hair. That's why I wear fake hair occasionally now because I want to change up my style or take a break. But I guess that's where a lot of people are having issues, is because the actually taking care of your real hair part has fallen on the wayside. I guess that's why celebrities feel the need to do these big reveals to show they aren't just covering up a messed up head. I know if I take out braids or a weave or whatever I will have a full head of hair underneath, but I guess I just don't make a big deal of it because it's just whatever to me.

 

[Ogoma]

Do people really ask about fake teeth? That is just rude. What would be fake teeth? Wouldn't it be mainly older people or people that have been through some physical trauma be the ones that need fake teeth?

 

[koolkittychick]

Do people really ask about fake teeth? That is just rude. What would be fake teeth? Wouldn't it be mainly older people or people that have been through some physical trauma be the ones that need fake teeth?

Not necessarily. Here in South Florida, you have the Land of Veneers (a form of fake teeth), and Dental Implants (a very expensive form of fake teeth). I am just shy of 45, and I have an implant due to a lost tooth from when I was a child and a lengthy stint with braces so that the space could be opened up to have the implant. People who have known me for a long time but haven't seen me in a while will ask about it if we run into each other (it was a recent acquisition) and compliment me on how real it looks. So yeah, if you have especially white or Chiclet-perfect teeth, more often than not people will ask what you had done and who did it.