The Afro Hair Debate
Picture by Eleanor Douglas
The Afro Hair Debate
Everybody has been talking about black women’s hair recently. Chris Rock has just released a documentary called ‘Good Hair’ highlighting black women’s hair, exploring the concepts of good hair. I have not yet seen this documentary but I’m worried that what he has come up with gives viewer’s the illusion that black women have a ‘self hate’ issue. This is so not the case with a lot of sister’s. Black women have come a long way. There is always somebody waiting to criticise our choices. This time our hair is top topic.
The reason for my piece on this subject is because a colleague and I had a conversation, about how we can only wear our hair natural or in an afro when we are not in work I.e. on holiday or weekends. We just didn’t think that our work colleagues or bosses would accept such an ‘African’ look, especially since we work in such a corporate environment. Working in Corporate London, it is very rare to see a black woman rocking an afro braving the corporate industry. How would I be viewed if I decided to wear an afro instead of the straightened hair that I am sporting at the moment?
I decided to do a little bit of research on the subject matter just to see how other sisters felt about the 'hair' issue. I sent out a questionnaire to several women asking numerous questions on what they thought about their hair and why they decided to go straight or why they decided to stay natural. I also asked if straightening ones hair meant that we are conforming to the ‘Eurocentric’ ideology of beauty.
I received a lot of feedback from several black women, they explained to me the reasons behind their hair choices. A lot of the feedback that I did receive was quite positive. Not one of the women who filled out my survey had a negative word to say about afro hair and the way that it looked. None of them had a self hate issue. The majority who did wear weaves and relaxers in their hair, did say that they did it for manageability, or because they feel it is the style that suits them. Times have definitely changed with regards to hairstyles. Although none of them felt that Afro hair looked awful, most of them did relax and weave their hair for manageability, and to make life easier in the morning when getting ready to go to work.
I do straighten my hair purely for manageability. The same applies for a lot of sisters who decide to ‘go straight.’ Growing up I always had very thick hair which was a job and a half for my mum to handle. When I got a little older I had to handle my own hair I went for a much easier option of having braids. My mum never allowed me to relax my hair and, braids were in fashion at that time. I didn't start to relax my hair until I was about 19 years old, as it was too much to handle.
Throughout my adulthood I have gone through stages of having an afro or a natural tress to having a weave, to straightening my hair. None of my hairstyles represented how I felt as a black woman. The thought had never occurred to me that me straightening my hair means that I am conforming to the Eurocentric ideology of beauty. I do feel that in some cases glossy hair magazines, help to influence a woman’s decision on the type of hairstyle might suit them. I'm sure every woman at some point in her life, has been fed up or bored with the way her hair looks, and has turned to a black hairstyle magazine or website for a bit of inspiration. We are without doubt the only race that can have the option of having afro or straight hair. Other nations can go curly, but never really afro.
I know a few sisters who still wear their hair natural, but their hair is at a manageable stage. I also found that a lot of these women worked in artistic industries, or their working environment didn’t have restrictions on the way that they can wear their hair. Unfortunately for me, the kind of environment that I work in, I have to wear my hair scraped back like a trolley dolly. This kind of stress is not good for African hair. This has resorted me to wearing a weave so that my own hair would stop breaking from the stress of pulling it back. My hair freedom choices are very limited. I would love to go back to having my afro, when I get bored of having straight hair or weave I like to have the option to jump back and forth to different hairstyles. This is the beauty of having hair choice. Black women’s hair is so diverse, there are many styles that we can experiment with. I do not see anything wrong with enhancing what you have got.
Whenever we switch on the TV, or open the latest edition of a glossy magazine directed towards black women, it is more than likely that we will see pictures of a sister sporting a weave or a straight hairdo. Always very slick, straight and shiny.
I don’t particularly believe that there is anything wrong with sporting a weave or relaxing ones hair, although I can understand where some people are coming from with regards to straight hair resembling a European idea of beauty. There are some sister's who take weave to a whole different level. They look as if they are sporting about 3 bags in their head. But some sisters genuinely wear a weave or relax their hair for purely different reasons. One is like I said earlier is to make life easier for themselves.
Throughout history afro hair has been referred to as being ‘nappy’ or having ‘bad head’ whereas if you have a slight kink to your hair then you are considered to have ‘good hair’ or it seems to be more socially accepted. The thing is we can still tell that a black woman has afro type hair even when it has been chemically straightened. Having a perm does not determine how we feel about ourselves as black women. I am very sure of my roots and culture. I think self hate goes far deeper than having a particular type of hair style. It comes from deep within, which is a topic for another article. I personally feel that afro hair is beautiful to look at, but it’s nice to have a choice.
Comments
I totally agree a lot of people seem to question black women choice of hair style, and what ever reason we decide to have our hair shouldn't bother any one
i just find that afro and corporate dont mix. Every time i wear my afro, I get asked when I am doing my hair.
i don't think its fair that to fit in to the corporate world we have to put our hair under so much strain. No wonder hair loss is so common! and i am sorry to stay that the most pressure comes from our african colleagues. I think its time for a revolution
I was slightly nervous sporting an afro ponytail to work (in the city) for the first time but was prepared to stand up to any negative comments that may be thrown my way. It looked very stylish, tidy and wasn't brightly coloured so i therfore would have questioned Management had they had a problem with it.
My colleaugues loved the change, as they have done on other occasions when i've turned up with my weaves, single plaits and cornrows.
They often say how lucky we are to be able to do so many things with our hair and i agree. We should stop giving a damn about people saying we are trying to conform to the Eurocentric ideology of beauty and continue to enjoy and experiment with our hair without feeling guilty.
I have been natural for most of my life. I do understand why sisters feel that their natural hair would not be acepted in the corporate world, however any change in attitudes would have to come from us rather than the other way around. I feel that too many of us are trying to fit in and not make waves.
It is also very saad that many of us feel that relaxing our hair or wearing weaves is more manageable, when the reality is that it is not.
Black women spend more time and money maintaing weaves than any natural headed women. Once you learn how to manage your hair it is easy, and the hair grows long. My hair length is currently past bra strap level and I am not mixed race.
However this is a democratic society and everyone has a choice, I personally wish that more of us choose to be Natural. As the long term reality of these choices in many cases is baldness and hair line issues.
Hi! I'm french and I'm 15. I want to have my natural hair, but I don't know what it looks like. Because it has always been chemically straightened. But I don't feel goo with it, so I find it better to have the choice. And I think that my natural hair would suit me better. But my mother disapprove of it.
She doesn't understand why I let my natural hair grows. She doesn't understand that I don't feel good ( she is white and she has always had straight hair ).
Moreover a lot of my friends disapprove of it. They think it would be too different. I wouldn't be casual enough because here in france I never saw a girl with afro hair in the street. I don't leave in a big city and people don't accept this change.
Hi Touf,
I'm kinda sorry to hear that you have never experienced afro hair. What is it that your mother does not like about it?
Although I agree chemically straightened hair can be more manageable but it is also nice to have a choice. I don't know what its like in France I have only ever been a hand full of times, but it is an awful shame that you can't express yourself in the way in which you please by experiencing your natural hair.
No disrespect to your mother but didn't she have an idea how your natural hair would be if she had a child for a man from African decent?
At the end of the day sweetie you are still young and you have many years before you can make your own decision about how you can wear your hair
You bring up a really important issue when it comes to how black women hair is received. I have also noticed that the type of work one chooses makes the difference for those in more artistic careers such as design, art, dance or writing have a more creative style and wearing a natural fits in perfectly, but I do see things changing in corporate and business offices too!
i also didn't know what my natural hair looked like. i got a relaxer at age 6 i think? so i don't even remember. But i was FED up with relaxers, so i slowly weaned myself off of them (lol) and now i've been relaxer free for 1.5 years and completely afro natural for 5 months! LOVING IT! this website and all the hubs have helped me so much, lemme tell you. Y'all are very clear and to the point! i've also been living on youtube and NaturallyCurly.com these have helped me the most:
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/tips/5-t
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/tips/det
and for HAIRspiration and the strength to keep on going with short hair lol http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-hairstyles-pic
thank you so much :D
Why are people so afraid of black women wearing their own hair? I love my natural hair and it looks great on black women. This is just one of the features that make us different and unique. Natural hair is beautiful and you can do so many things with it. I feel sorry for sister who feels differently about our hair.
Thanks for this article. I work in the corporate world. As a black woman I've simply had enough of feeling like my life has to revolve around my hair. I had my last relaxer October last year and have been growing it out with weaves and braids.
I no longer want to wear weaves as I'm uncomfortable about the whole production process. The girls and women selling their hair are making nowhere near the amount of money I have to pay for it. Somebody somewhere is making a huge profit out of that and I just don't think how I look, is a good enough reason to justify the process.
I want to embrace my natural afro hair, and am even prepared to have a short afro in the work place. I'm doing it for me, because I am fortunate to have been born with afro air. It's not political it's just hair. I want to show that off. My boring white work collegues can take a giant leap. We shouldn't be defined by out hair and that only stops when we stop letting our hair define us ourselves.
Big up to Valerie for the very helpful web sites.
A
I have natural hair and I love it. I think it expresses me and who I am. I work in a corporate environment too and its all about who you are from the moment you walk in the door. I'm no activist and I don't strut around with my fist waved in the air, but I certainly don't subscribe to any doctrine that says that my natural hair in any way reflects my competence. An afro is "not corporate" you say? It doesn't look "done" to you? So what. I do my job, I do it well, and I don't care how anyone perceives my hair style. The reality is that sisters are right to say that black hair is hard to manage!That doesn't mean that chemically altering it makes it any less so. Think about all the money and time you have to put into a relaxer, and I'll tell you all the time,and hair, and money I've saved when I just let my hair be. Natural or straight my hair still does whatever the hell it wants in the morning.
We need to stop hiding behind these psuedo-excuses for not wearing our hair natural. Yes, we ARE being influenced by the media. How many sisters do you see on tv, and I'm talking prime time tv, in their natural state? When we are being represented it is usually with long, straight glossy hair; or with some facsimile of impossibly perfect curls. And I don't care what you say, no one who is more than 60% African American (and that is to say the majority of black ladies) looks like that. No one. And if you want to wear your hair natural to your corporate environment then just do it. The worst that can happen is that your office environment gets a little uncomfortable for you; and if the people you work with can't stand the way you REALLY look then maybe its time for a new job.
Look, I'm not saying that black women with weaves and relaxers really secretly hate themselves and long to be white. Quite the opposite. But we have to stop making these blanket statements about our hairs' "manageability" or "letting it rest" with a weave or some other nonsense about how natural African American hair doesn't grow long. It will if you stop relaxing it and let it be. Try it before you knock it. You might be very surprised at what African American hair can do.
Oh, and FYI, its totally possible to "experiment" with African American hair in its natural state. I've worn locks, braids, curls, waves, and have even straightened my hair without the use of heat or chemicals.
In the end I can't sit in judgement of anyone's choices. It's your hair and you should be able to do whatever you want with it. I've definitely put chemicals in mine and have even cut it all off! But don't tell me (or yourself) that my "type" of hair isn't professional or "manageable". It simply isn't true. I truly believe that in order to get to a better place where these views are relegated to the old dusty shelves on which they belong we have to start holding our heads up and saying "This is ME! This is the way GOD made me. So you can like that or not. That's on you". In the meantime, I'll wear my hair anywhich way I like to work.
I took the bold step two years ago and decided to wear my natural hair. I work in an office environment too. The truth of the matter is that I was the one feeling uncomfortable
in the beginning. I guess I was so used to have straight hair that I felt odd. One of my work colleagues even asked to feel my real hair. It's been a great journey and for me it was about embracing me. My work place have no issues with my hair as I'm doing my job. I guess it really doesn't matter how you wear your hair as long as you love you for you :-)
Fee 2 years ago
As a Black woman living in the UK today I feel that we need to seek the afro within. Embrace the diversity of our hair with all its textures and go natural at least once in our adult life experiencing our real hair for all to see. Yes that includes the corporate world. This is an interesting subject matter and I am glad to hear that it is being discussed. Thank you.