Ta-Nehisi Coates is, as usual, completely right. So was Chris Rock when he made Good Hair (which you should make an effort to see, if you have not seen it):
That’s crazy, and white cultural norms should not necessarily be aspired to. I mean, come on. We invented coonskin caps. That is fucked up.
And, speaking as an admittedly white dude: I think black women look vastly more attractive with natural hair. Although I never really saw why “kinky” and “nappy” became the adjectives of choice. When I was little and saw black women with natural hair, I just thought of it as “curly,” and even today whenever I see a black woman with natural hair I just think “she has curly hair.”
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I also strongly prefer a natural look to a “flattened” look that may seem a little brittle.
But, much worse, I am an admitted white dude that black women seem to have zero interest in. Nada.
You would probably be wiser to take the opposite of my opinion in this matter.
I saw Good Hair, too; quite liked it. As yet another white guy, I have no opinions on what black women’s hair ought to look like that anybody needs to pay attention to, but obviously I hope they take care of their health and their wallets.
But one thing about Good Hair. A couple of the women in the movie said, in reference to natural hair, that they didn’t want “an Afro out to here”. Well, fair enough, but could we maybe have had a scene where some hairdresser said, “no, you don’t have to have that; here’s how to do natural hair so it’s attractive/fashionable/professional/orderly/cool, without all the straighteners and stuff”? There must be such a hairdresser out there. And that’d be helpful, right?
Wow, I did not have the faintest idea on this particular issue. I just assumed some black women had straight hair or straight enough that it could be regular-ironed or something. I didn’t know it was this excruciating.
A shame too, because I also happen to really like afros on girls. But then again, I am also a super-white dude. From Latin America though, so I’m not totally sure of my actual cultural standing.
Back when “The Boondocks” was still a comic strip, an early arc touched on this. From the episodes of the show I’ve seen, Tom Dubois’ daughter Jazmine (the child of a black father and white mother, for those not familiar with the characters) doesn’t feel insecure about her appearance, but she did in the strip.
TOM: Listen, Huey, you have to try to understand how sensitive Jazmine is about her hair. She sees her mother’s hair and she doesn’t understand why her hair doesn’t look the same way. My wife doesn’t have a clue what to do with it, and neither do I. Meanwhile, we’ve tried everything to straighten it. Every hair relaxer ever made. Nothing works…
HUEY: Have you tried emphasizing the natural beauty of her African features?
TOM: …or how about LYE? You know, BURN her hair straight, like the old days. That might work…
I was also completely ignorant of this, until my girlfriend patiently explained it all to me. I was, as they say, gobsmacked. So much effort with potent chemicals. I just thought it was the same as some people being born with red hair, or thin hair, etc.
It was so foreign to me, since I am of the opinion (and always have been) that natural hair ALWAYS looks better.
As yet another white guy, my thoughts on black women’s hair are:
In the same way that it’s fucked up that a man must own an expensive suit (and honestly, they are ALL expensive if you’re broke) to get a decent job, it’s fucked up that black women traditionally have to spend tons of money, time, and pain straightening their hair to be viewed as “professional.” As much as all of us on this thread think natural black hair is beautiful, the overwhelming majority of corporate climates look on it the same way they would an Alan-Moore-esque beard. That’s slowly changing, and I’m glad. But at the same time, I can’t hold it against black women for wanting to straighten their hair when I still shave and put on an uncomfortable, overpriced suit for job interviews.
Yeah, I was quite shocked to learn about the “secret” behind black women with straight hair, and it remains one of those totally unfair things I’d like to see go away, or at least be reduced to “a few women do it by choice, but most feel no need.”
In HI, there were almost no places black people could get their hair done until Roger Mosely (the guy with the helicopter on Magnum P.I.) started a couple hair salons.
But other people do crazy shit to their hair too. I went out with a gothy part japanese girl for a little while whose hair felt like cracked wheat from all the poisonous shit that went in her hair.
@Mark Temporis: Nah, you’ve missed it entirely. Black women doing “crazy shit” to their hair are not doing it as a fashion, or to make a statement about their identity. They are doing it because they feel that is required to have normal/good hair, and fit in professionally or socially. See the difference? In a nicer world, many would choose differently in a heartbeat.
Paul Mooney’s got a great bit in his standup act about straight hair vs. natural hair, also.
I’m so happy to see this documentary on your website.