A History Of Fearing Our "Nappy" Hair

“We say straighten your hair, ladies, beautify yourselves, make those aggravating, reclusive, elusive, shrinking kinks long flowing tresses that may be coiled or curled or puffed to suit Dame Fashion’s latest millenary creations, even if it takes every ounce of hair straightening preparation that can be manufactured. …Even God, who discriminated against our women on this hair proposition, knows that straight hair beautifies a woman. Yes, straighten your hair and do it at once.” From a 1910 editorial in the Washington Bee newspaper

While in another gossip blog, I went to leave a comment about a story they ran about Venus Williams dating a white golfer. I was leaving a comment because they called him K-Fraud (which was bogus because it was solely based on him being White and not for any other reason). I found that some of those leaving comments had digressed into a conversation about natural hair and one young lady left a comment saying that her black husband was less than pleased with her natural hairstyle whenever he caught a glimpse of it. She also went on to mention that this hurt her feelings. Of course this would hurt her feelings, after all it's just hair.

The fact that her husband couldn't accept her in her 100% natural state as a black male is alarming but not surprising. Even black men have products that will straighten their hair. We've been peppered with images that convey a message that basically says "to be a pretty black woman, your hair has to be straight and/or long." Nevertheless it is still hurtful and one may even get a feeling of betrayal, especially when it comes from one of your own. I came to the realization that we do this to ourselves just as others would.

On Friday, after waking up at 3 a.m. due to morning sickness, I stayed up to watch television. I turned it to VH1 hoping to catch a rerun but instead came across several rap videos. In each and every rap video the black women who were to be the "vixens" were wearing long hair weaves and wigs of every color known to man. While being a video ho is no great achievement, I would say that videos are a serious driving force to our youth. And what our youth sees is worse than it ever was before. It saddened me just a little that even my own people thought that to be beautiful our hair needed to be straight. Talk about feeling betrayed.

I did some research and found several websites about this form of self-hatred that seriously tears us apart in some cases. As early as the 1900s black women's fears were played upon and confirmed by their own people as in the ad and editorial above. It was a given that most White Americans at the time did not find us attractive or beautiful but brutish and savage in our looks. But it was even worse to hear it from your own people. What were these women to do? I don't blame them, nor do I blame Madame C.J. Walker, the inventor of the hair relaxer and the first black female tycoon. But every action has a reaction, and we are still reacting. Dr. Miracle's hair products (as in the ad above) pepper black hair magazines until today. The ad is simple: kinky hair is ugly, unruly and unmanageable. The women even make ugly facial expressions to ad to the ugliness. The "after" picture is the result of Dr. Miracle and the hair is bone straight and the women have suddenly become beautiful.

I spend inordinate amounts of time staring at my new look in the mirror reminding myself that I am still beautiful, my hair never made me and that I am even more beautiful because I stepped out of the box. There is nothing more beautiful than loving yourself. Besides this cut is hip and I haven't seen many people with it. Hell yeah it makes a statement! It's the loudest statement one can make: "I'm breaking these chains."

I figure when we stop reciting and regurgitating the speeches we heard about our hair being nappy, too kinky, tangled, unmanageable, etc. to our DAUGHTERS and SONS, we will TRULY teach our children about self-love in a world that will undoubtedly try to tell them they are not beautiful because of their God-given features. This is a difficult battle but only when we get over hating our "natural" hair will we be able to move on to greater issues. We owe this to our future.

Sphere: Related Content