This began as a guide to describing Afro/curly hair but of course, I got carried away. From look and texture of hair, colors and various styles, this guide serves as a thesaurus of sorts for hair, as well as pointers for use in your writing.
Culturally Significant Hair Coverings:
Know the meaning behind head wear and why itâs worn, when and by whom, such as a Native Nationâs headdress, before bestowing a character with it.
Head Coverings Resources:
More on various head coverings.
See here for more Islamic Veils.Â
See here for more on the Nigerian gele.
See here on African American Headwraps.Â
View our hijab and headscarves tags for discussion on these topics.
Afro - Curly - Straightened
There are many varieties of braids, twists & Afro hair styles; have some more!
African/Black Hair: Natural, Braids and Locks
African Hair: Braiding Styles 10 African Types
Describing Black (Afro) hair:
Appropriative Hairstyles: Keep in mind that Afro styles should be kept to those in the African Diaspora, such as dreadlocks, cornrows + certain and many braided styles.
Tread carefully describing Afro hair as âwildâ âunkemptâ âuntamedâ or any words implying itâs unclean or requires controlling.
âNappyâ and âwoolyâ are generally words to stay away from, the first having heavy negative connotations for many and the latter, though used in the Holy Bible, is generally not acceptable anymore and comes off as dehumanizing due to Animal connotations.
There are mixed feelings on calling Black hair âkinky.â Iâm personally not opposed to the word in itself and usage depends on the personâs race (Iâm more comfortable with a Black person using it vs. a Non-Black person) as well as their tone and context (if itâs used in a neutral or positive tone vs. negatively/with disdain). Get feedback on your usage, or simply forgo it.
See our tags âBlack Hairâ and âNatural Hairâ for more discussion on describing Black hair.
Writing Tips & Things to Keep in Mind:
Combination Words: Try combining words to illustrate look of hair. A character with springy coils that dance across her shoulders with every movement, the man with thick silvery hair slicked back into a ponytailâŠ
Mind Perspective: Depending on POV, a character might not know exactly what cornrows or a coiffure style is, at least in name, and it might make more sense if they described the hairdo instead. More defining terms might come from a more knowing source or the wearer themselves. One book I read described a girlâs afro puff as âthick hair pulled up into a cute, curly, poufy thing on top of her head and tied with a yellow ribbon.â
POC & Hair Colors: People of Colorâs hair comes in all shades and textures. There are Black people with naturally blond and loosely-textured to straight hair, East Asian people with red hair, and so on. Keep that in mind when coding characters if you tend to rely on hair color alone to denote a character is white vs. a Person of Color.
Related Tropes: There are tropes and discussion related to People of Color, colored hair, and light-colored hair and features.Â
Check out these posts on the topic: The East Asian Women + Colored Hair Trope - Black Characters & âWildâ Hair Colors - POC w/ Supernatural Colorful Features. - âUncommonâ Features & POC Characters
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