The Relation Between Hair And Identity

A little girl goes to school only to be an outcast. Another sits next to her. When she looks at that girlś hair, and back at her own, she doesn't see her hair is just as beautiful. She thinks she lacks the beauty that she doesn't even know she holds, Blinded by what she can’t see in the mirror. Her kinks spring back when she stretches them out, but yet she describes it as something less: “nappy” and unmanageable. Yes, it is hard to get a comb that you so forcefully try to rip through those kinks with nothing but hatred and deceitfulness. For black women and girls, hair is part of their identity. This identity comes from the presentation of her hair. Hair is important in many cultures and it’s meaning varies depending on their social and cultural
They would spend hours washing, combing and oiling their hair to ensure it remained healthy. Africans let their hair speak for itself. Age, marital status, ethnic identity, religion, wealth, and social rank. In Senegal, young women would shave a portion of their off to let any man know that they were ready and right for the picking. In the seventeenth century, Africans were captured and brought to the United States. When they got there they had nothing, Without the combs and herbal treatments used in Africa, slaves rely on bacon grease, butter, and kerosene as hair conditioners and cleaners. Lighter-skinned, straight-haired slaves command higher prices at auction than darker, more kinky-haired ones. Internalizing color consciousness, blacks promote the idea that blacks with dark skin and kinky hair are less attractive and worthless.white women were more privileged than them. “Since the beginning of slavery, black women have been contradicted to believe that their natural hair is unattractive.”(Thomas page:2).The belief that European hair was more beautiful resulted in black communities wanting to change the way they looked. Starting with the kinks they disliked so
But there is a twist. The revival of love for one's natural hair is astounding. It is significant and, in some ways, is similar to how our early ancestors wore their hair. We wear our unaltered, natural texture in various unique styles. The movement has moved away from using harsh chemicals, decreasing relaxer sales by 26%. At the same time, this has forced major hair companies to manufacture products that will help with the styling a needs of natural hair of every type and texture in order to stay afloat. Hair trends of the African American community have been adaptations to the circumstances our ancestors were forced to live under. Now is a time that African Americans control the hair market because we’re making our own demands. This is no longer a time where society is trying to impress upon us eurocentric ideas of beauty. We’re defining ourselves. No more relaxers tingling on her scalp until she tells mommy that it burns. Not so she can look like people who aren't apart of her decent. Where she descended from is not where you're taking her. If you do this she is gonna lose herself in the process, she's gonna believe this is her, this is what she is supposed to look like. Don't take her away. “Her hair is a crown full of her identity, insecurities, and respect for herself” (Thomas page:13). This is not her beautiful it's someone