Recently, I attended an event celebrating the natural beauty of Black hair. The event was sponsored by a major purveyor of relaxers and other "natural hair care" products for Black hair, primarily Black women's hair. Most of the numerous attendees sported their natural hair, loud and proud. One of the main highlights of the evening were "easy" natural hair care styles, that only required just a few short hours of preparation and styling. Hmmm....
When I think of natural hair, particularly for African-Americans, I think of the proud and tall Afros of the 1970's, complete with a pick sticking out of the middle. What does not come to mind is curlers and multiple bottles and jars with ingredients too complicated to pronounce without an English teacher present.
So just how natural is natural? Well, that depends on what your definition of natural is. Mine apparently does not jibe with the ideas of well-known hair care companies. Coiffed natural hair is an oxymoron to my mind. After all, if the point of being natural is to wear your hair as God intended, where does all the styling come in?
Several of the participants reasoned that they wanted people to accept them as they are vis-a-vis accepting "our hair" as it is. Again, I take issue. Deciding to stop putting chemicals in your hair is completely reasonable, but if your hair-do's still imitate those with straight or non-natural hair, then what point has been proved.
Celebration is premature in my mind. Hair has never been a good indicator of self-worth, or any other marker of value. However, hair has always been a marker of social status (or lack thereof) and personal self-expression. How telling that in 2011, hair rules our self-perception as much as in the days of the conk and pressing comb.
So don't throw away your weaves and lace wigs just yet, hairstory may repeat itself sooner than you think.
