“It’s my hair…are you wearing someone else’s?”
“My natural hair is True…yours is a LYE!”
One day my mother and I was product shopping in Target, when a beautiful natural haired sister walked up to us after overhearing our indecisiveness on whether we should purchase Shea Moisture or Giovanni shampoo. I couldn’t help but notice she was in the Teeny Weeny Afro phase just like myself and she went on to say “I just used Giovanni on my hair today and I’m not pleased with the results however my hair is natural and it’s not like yours.” Of course I had on my wig, which she probably mistook for a weave and I had to explain to her “I am natural as well underneath my wig, I share your struggles with a TWA.” Although she was always polite her attitude suddenly changed and the conversations of Natural Hair, YouTube and blogging became non-stop. We exchanged each other’s email and promised we would keep in touch. However I can’t help but think what if I wasn’t natural? What if I was wearing a weave or had a perm in my hair like she initially thought in the beginning? Would we have connected so well and so fast? Or would she have kept it moving? This leads me to question:
Are we becoming fragmented by the hair choices that we make?
Is there an invisible pedestal given to natural hair sisters over women who wear perms and weaves/extensions or the other way around?
I see natural girls putting down relaxed girls ALL THE TIME. It seems as if some [not all] of these women think they are better than the rest of the population, or that going natural makes them more "black" than those with permed hair. Im in the process of transitioning now and I promised myself that I would never get that way once I am fully natural. I actually have really healthy relaxed hair and plan on having really healthy natural hair. HEALTHY hair is beautiful no matter how its worn!
ReplyDelete<3 jaz
jaynicole89.blogspot.com
As a male I have to say I was once a victim of this divide and conquer mechanism. I thought women with natural hair generally were more aware of the socialization of black people to think that their "natural hair" is not to be proud of. My mother taught me that since a youth. She has had natural hair since before I was born. As a result I make a connection to my mother every time i see a women with natural hair. The connection makes me put them on a pedestal from the wisdom of my mother. I now know that hair is just hair to an extent. Just because a women is natural doesn't mean she is more socially aware than the perm women.
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