What is Good Hair? - The Big African Woman Debate
What is Good hair?
This is a question that I will pose to every African Woman and man. I seem to have reached my nirvana with hair the day that I decide to go natural. It was a culmination of both an end to the suffering of burns from chemical relaxers, painful scalp from all the pulling and a sort of self realization that I loved myself as I am and did not need to have straight hair to look acceptable.(The song I am not my hair comes to mind by India Arie)
I do not know if there are any studies that have been done on what percentage of Kenyan Women still have their natural hair and those who have either relaxed(permed) or have weaves/wigs on but a spot check on the streets of Nairobi can give you a clue as to what the numbers are. Actually, I think Nairobi has more salons than it has pubs and there is none that lacks customers.
The hair and cosmetic industry is a multi-million dollar one especially in Africa because almost 90% of African Women relax their hair or wear wigs.
I have never been a fan of weaves and I am sure many men will concur with me(though they wouldn't be caught dead saying it to their women). It is a debate that always ends up being nasty anytime I pick it up with my lady friends.
A similar debate became a nationwide discussion in the US as Chris Rock set out to find out What is Good hair? -A documentary that he has been researching on for 2 years.
The same elicited a huge confrontation on Tyra Banks' self titled show part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and Part 5 a show that gave a feel of the real problem that African American women face with their hair, a problem that seems to be an underlying facade of a bigger problem of perception. and to some extent, inferiority.
In his documentary, CK notes that the idea was about by his daughter who kept telling him that she does not have good hair coz its nappy and curly and not straight and soft.
The documentary features one of my favourite poets, Maya Angelou and a host of other African American celebrities who confess to wearing weaves alot and not being comfortable with their natural hair.
Chris also reveals that most of the weaves are made from Indian Hair as India is the highest exporter of human hair.
The comic docu is to be released in select cities on October 9. but previews and info about it can be found here
What are your thoughts on this hair debate?
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5 comments:
Funny, I was about to blog about this very topic. Basically though I'm sorta glad there's a shift back to natural hair among some African women...
hi,
i totally feel you on this hair issue. After more than a decade of growin my hair long, a very futile attempt, i must add, after 7 years of lye burns, blw dries that make my eyes tear, pulling of my hair during plaiting, blow dry and hair drier burns, i have decided if thats beauty am sheling the idea. My chemically treated hair is now weak and always looks dead and dry, no matter the products i use. I hate weaves, and before my current hair style i contemplated and debated with myself to put on one, but the battle was lost. i must have been out of my mind. Now, am done in a few weeks am cutting off my hair, the chemically treated part of it at least. Thats why for the past few months i have been enduring painful plaiting to at least have growth of my natural hair, as i look real funny with short hair. Besides i realized my natural hair is not as unmanageable as i thought when i first chemically-treated my hair. i just need to keep it moisturized, and all will be well. i am done with this notion of long silky as a definition of beautiful hair, as India Arie puts it: I am not my hair!
I have had natural hair for 4 years now and the more I have taken care of it the more I have learnt about it and appreciate it. I love my hair so much I don't even consider relaxer at all. I find that there are some techniques that may have been lost when relaxers came into the scene as there is a specific way in which African hair has to be taken care of. The reason I chose my natural hair was because when I had a relaxer, my hair just kept cutting, it was always weak and did not look healthy at all. In regard to us growing our hair long, it depends on genes, diet and a lot of other factors. I have seen very long African hair therefore this thing of good/bad hair should be eliminated because there is nothing like that.
Please take a moment to check out my documentary film BLACK HAIR
It is free at youtube. 6 parts including an update from London, England.
It explores the Korean Take-over of the Black Beauty Supply and Hair biz..
The current situation makes it hard to believe that Madame C.J. Walker once ran the whole thing.
I am not a hater, I am a motivator.
Plus I am a White guy who stumbled upon this, and felt it was so wrong I had to make a film about it.
self-funded film, made from the heart.
Can it be taken back?
Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p96aaTSdrAE
This post really interested me.I've recently written an article on the issue, which was picked up by a major newspaper in Australia, but first published here: http://web.overland.org.au/?page_id=1603. Hope you enjoy the article, and thankyou for a fantastic blog. will be back.
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