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Last Updated: Jan 10th, 2008 - 20:27:26 |
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| photo credit: naani.com |
As I gaze into the large, bathroom mirror at my reflection and run my hand through my thick, black hair, I remember a time when I did not appreciate its tight, springy texture.
I remember the days I thought of my hair as an embarrassment and the nights I cried, longing for a flowing mane like that worn by the "beautiful and famous" people. Even through painful three-hour ordeals at the hair salon, I never had the ability to toss my hair in the wind, like a horse at play. I remember the shame I felt when I was a source of derision for my White friends with straight hair. They would first advise me to get a perm to straighten my hair, and then when I refused they advised me to get a wig and cover up my hair.
These stinging words pierced my self-esteem as the hunter’s arrow pierces the flesh of his prey. As I stand staring in the mirror, I am in awe of the fiercely independent girl who stares back. I marvel at her wondrous journey from a girl who was petrified to display her cultural heritage through her unusual hair, to an adolescent who is proud of what is her personal mark of individuality.
While I reflect on how far I have come, I realize that hair and culture are two important components of an individual’s identity that should be deemed and respected as a form of personal expression. When I was younger, the idea of a relaxer seemed foreign since my mother never allowed me to have one. She felt that when African Americans perm our hair for a more European look, we are slowly letting a part of our culture die. She decided when I was born in 1990, that she would fix my hair in double-stranded twists or an afro-puff, which I wore until I decided to lock my hair in 2007.
Since hairstyles often reflect of how cultures and tastes evolve and change over time and also indicate of cultural heritage and social status it is important that African Americans have styles that utilize the texture of our hair in ways that reflect our cultural traditions.
In an article by Jo Ann Cornwell entitled “Just Another Hair Care Revolution," she observes how trends in hair adjust as the needs of a culture change “ironically, our foremother’s used the weapon of conformity in their physical appearance to challenge their systematic exclusion from the mainstream." She adds, "they [hair practitioners today] are appropriately responding to a growing demand among our women, only this time the demand is for a more culturally unique approach to beauty that can be found in most salons.”
Cornwell observes how African Americans have made the transition in our desire to have hairstyles that give us a look that mimicked whites to hairstyles that are totally unique to our culture. In another article, she examines the importance of hairstyles to cultural heritage and social status. “The Hamar women of Eastern Africa are known for their beauty and independence," she writes. "And also for their signature hairstyle that uses a clay and butter mixture during the years they are eligible to be “Moran” (Warriors) [who] wear a distinctive style of “locks”.
She explains the importance of this style to the Hamar culture, as it is not only an indication of age and social status, but is also a sign of cultural heritage. In American culture, many African Americans choose to wear natural hairstyles as a sign of cultural pride or simply because it’s much easier to maintain than relaxed hair, however, many African Americans choose to relax their hair as an alternative.
As an African American who wears natural hair, it is very important to me that men and women who choose to relax their hair don’t do it out of self hatred, low self-esteem, fear of negative stereotypes or a need for conformity; but that they choose to relax their hair to please themselves with their appearance. I sometimes wonder if my friends were wrestling with some of these issues.
Hairstyles are also important to people as an expression of individuality as well as cultural heritage. In a poem by Verona Cooper Rose featured in Sisterlocks Lifestyle Journal, she suggests the importance of hair and style to an individual’s personality when she writes:
I choose to live this way.
Wear my hair and clothes this way.
Regardless of what men might do or say.
I make my laws and live them this way.
I choose to eat this way.
Eating this way lengthens my days they say.
Some no doubt may disagree, but opinions were meant to be
Free
So I won’t impose my ideology on thee
I choose to embrace life this way.
In this poem, Rose voices the idea that a person’s outlook on their hair coincides with their attitude toward life and themselves. She also suggests that the opinions of others should not hinder an individual from pursuing their idea of beauty. This poem is not only a reflection of the philosophy that a person has a right to wear their hair in any way they choose but also supports the philosophies of African Americans who wear natural hairstyles to show that they are proud of what makes their culture distinctive.
Although hairstyles serve as an expression of personality and cultural distinctiveness, social pressures often influence the choices people make in their hairstyles. An online discussion moderated on youtube.com by a woman with a large afro named Anika Foster focused on the social issues African American women face when it comes to their hair at work.
“A lot of women feel that they cannot go into work looking like us," she says. "They would have a whole lot of problems in the work place if they had natural hair, and there are people that feel they had to wear their hair maybe pulled back in a bun or something ‘tame’ to be accepted in the workplace.”
Although Foster deals with pressures that black women feel at work, her comments also relate to the pressures that I face from my friends to relax my hair so that it becomes society’s idea of what is mainstream. These pressures have affected my friendships and even my choice in friends.
In addition to cultural and social importance, the way a person feels about their hair is very important to their emotional health and the way they view themselves. In an anonymous online video broadcasted on “youtube,” a young black woman with tousled thick curly hair sits in her living room and tells viewers the importance of natural hairstyles to African Americans. “You don’t need chemicals to be beautiful. Love your hair, love you.”
In this video, the author emphasizes the idea that we should love our hair for its thick curls and dense texture and in doing so love ourselves. She also suggests that it is important for people to appreciate the quality of their hair so they can enjoy the benefits of having a positive self-image and healthy levels of self-esteem.
The main idea of this video is the essence of my philosophy--that natural is beautiful when it comes to my hair and other aspects of my appearance. As an African American female, it is very important to me that more African American women begin appreciating the texture of our hair as one of the many things that makes our culture beautiful.
Just as the woman on You Tube gazed into the video camera, I gaze admiringly at the independent and confident girl I have become, I now realize the importance of hairstyles to African American culture as a reflection of both our connection to the Diaspora and where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going.
Although there are negative stereotypes about African Americans who choose to wear locks or other natural hairstyles, it is important that we don’t allow these stereotypes to hinder us in expressing our individuality.
As I continue to gaze in the mirror, I come to the final realization that although hairstyles are an important part of individuality, they are not the sole component of what makes us unlike any one else. What makes individuality are also various idiosyncrasies such as dipping French fries in milk-shakes or ironing everything including socks.
It’s the part of me that makes me daring enough to be unique and unafraid to stand alone. It’s the part of all people that makes us amazing and extraordinary. But the most important part of individuality is the life-giving part that gives us the inspiration and courage to express ourselves through the beauty God has bestowed on us.
Judith Tonkins is a high school student in Prince Georges County, Maryland.
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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