Loving ALL of Your Hair While Being Black and Femme
“For black people hair is a really big deal, especially for black femmes. From an early age having beautiful hair or ‘good hair’ has always been illustrated as having straightened or permed strands. Socially, I was very much made aware that as a black child my braids, twists and puffs were inferior to a white girl’s long straight strands. At that age I had a strong desire to be desired; I understood that to be desired meant to be beautiful. I understood beauty to be gendered as well, existing only within a context of femininity and the maturity of women hood. Worst of all I understood and idealized femininity within a context of social norms and whiteness.
So when I turned 13, like a lot of black girls I begged my mom for a perm, which in many ways was a right of passage into the feminine maturity I desired. When I turned 13, I also like a lot of black girls, begged for my mom to hand me a razor. With her permission I erased just about every hair on my body in order to achieve the mature, socially desired look. In this sense with body hair, having ‘good hair’ meant having no hair.
Eventually both the permed hair on my head and the lack of hair on my body began to lose its appeal. The perm fried my hair beyond repair and straightening took too much time; shaving created the discomfort of bareness and razor bumps – the constant maintenance of both became an unwanted chore. About 5 years later, amidst the growing natural hair movement started by black femmes, I decided straight hair is not for me; I cut off the perm and I now rock an afro. Now, just this year I have also decided to ditch the razor as well, a decision that was much harder to make…”
Read more here.
[Image: A brown skin individual with a natural curly afro stands outdoors in the middle of the street with hands on hip. They are wearing a green shirt that reads ‘I love my hair.’ Source:Dionysius Burton]
