This is a sensitive topic and typically kept in the back burner. At last, Chris Rock has come up with a documentary on the subject. It’s name is “Good Hair“. It is true that black women call their natural hair “Bad Hair” and Caucasian hair “Good Hair”. It is kind of ironic that even today, after all the fights for respect for blacks in public space, black women of all ages consider their natural hair “Bad Hair”. The well known stand up comedian got the idea of a film from his own daughters query about her “Bad Hair”.
When it comes to their financial power, black women are at the bottom of all groups of American women. Even then, they spent billions of dollars on hair relaxers, hair weaves, wigs etc. Some of them have to literally rob their husbands/boy friends of their money to look great with “Good Hair”. Such artifical hair will prevent them from enjoying many joys of life like swimming, exercising, certain positions of sex etc among a host of many other things. Many of them won’t even let their husbands to touch their hair! As is revealed by Chris Rock, some of the chemical components present in hair relaxers can adversely affect the health of the woman using it. In this documentary, you can see women describing their past experiences of burned scalp and other horror stories about hair relaxers.
Black women are typically blessed with short, curly, spring like hair. Even famous black personalities like Condoleezza Rice, Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks use chemical relaxers to gain straightened “Good Hair”. Generations of black women have been trying to get their hair straightened to look like white women and blend in well with the majority population. This is not a crime in itself and need not be condemned as a disrespect on black women in general. Any group of economically disadvantaged minorities living among a different group of rich people would have been foced to change their lives and looks so as to please their rich counterparts. This is the only thing happened with black women who were struggling to make both ends meet among the white people.
One thing, Chris Rock missed to bring out is the mentality of black men. Many of them prefer black women with long straightened hair rather than some one with a much more “black” hair do like an afro. As such, these women are forced to change their natural hair so as to attract potential husbands. Chris Rock is accusing black women of trying to “look white”. But he is not taking to task his fellow brothers for seeking “white” qualities in their dates, girl friends or wives.
White women are changing their hair color a lot too. Besides, they change straight hair in to curls and curly hair in to straight ones too. In this case also, they are changing their natural hair color. But no one is taking them to task for this. Chris Rock should have taken this also in to consideration in his documentary.
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I really don’t understand why people assume that black women who relax their hair are trying to look white. I relax my hair because it’s easier to maintain & I’m a low maintenance type of person. I have completely no interest in looking white!
For one, in 2006, Black women as a group had more earning power than white and hispanic females. The only chicks who brought in more were the Asians. Heck, that FACT is even in wiki.
“It is kind of ironic that even today, after all the fights for respect for blacks in public space, black women of all ages consider their natural hair “Bad Hair”.
Here we go with this ‘blacker-than-thou’ crap. According to WHOM? To you? Why — b/c we’re not natural?
I don’t have to prove my blackness to any of these damn naturals. There are folks who arer still on the ‘good/bad hair’ issue. But *I* relax my hair b/c it makes it easier to deal with. Period. We’re on the internet. Anonymous. I have no reason to lie.
…and no one wants to look white. Do you know every single relaxed black woman on this planet? Black folks make me sick always generalizing and stereotyping their own.
Would I like those cute little puffs? Yeah…but going natural is one helluva leaning curve…and I don’t have the time to deal with it right now. I’m not the type who runs about with big a** ‘fros. It is not becoming on me.
I want cute styles and I can’t do that with natural hair b/c I have to first figure out to maintain it THEN I have to learn how to cornrow and twist THEN I have to spend every other night twisting hair to keep it fresh. I’ve tried and it was a pain in the a**! I transitioned for 11 months and it was all over the place. I could not control it…and there are no natural hair care salons in my area to help me.
I stick with relaxed hair b/c it’s easier. And of course, it would be…I’ve been dealing with it forever. I don’t know what to do with natural hair.
Tish, let us not argue over here, this is just an opinion.
But you are contradicting your own opinions, on one hand you say you do not call your natural hair “bad hair” on the other hand you say it is difficult to deal with, Tisha something difficult to deal with is “bad” ain’t it.
Tish, I wrote this post after watching the documentary from Chris Rock. If you know him, he tend to go over board by a lot, and I love that about him. I used to watch his stand ups even when I was in high school ( to the utter disbelief of my mom) Comedians have to be loud and there is nothing wrong with that. You are wrong about the earnings potential of black women. In reality asian women and white women are better off than black women. Only latino women fall behind black women in this category.
While working part time in a corner store, I have seen desperate black women trying to buy hair supplies with their food stamp card. They may represent only a very minor chunk of the black women population. But their desperation to look good makes them to even spend their food stamp money on hair supplies!
As you mentioned, I do not know the whole black women population and not making any tall claims about them all. If my post offended any one I am deeply sorry about it.
I hate when relaxed people get so offended when everyone has there own opinion. I use to be relax but i went natural last yr. I have always said that I have nothing against relaxed people, its ur head do wat u wanna do. I can only say that going natural was a very liberating experience. Im glad i cut off my relaxed hair. I enjoy being able to take care of my hair w/o the assistance of a hair stylist. I enjoy my hair texture and being able to sweat without sweating it out lol…….i love my boyfriend playing in my fro…..im jst in love with my hair texture…..but im bummed i didnt get to experience this joy sooner.
asian women are petite and most of them are mild mannered compared to western women.