Diversification allows for a cultural melting pot one of which we as people are forced to conform to. I once felt a need to be accepted by my peers based off of appearances.
In my locale, the standard of beauty is to have long, flowing, straight hair, and tan complexion. One might say that these features epitomize a more southern European appearance. Given my heritage, my hair is naturally afro-textured and my complexion is a caramel-toffee color. As a result, I was always aware of how different I was from most of the girls. In elementary school, the majority of the Hispanic girls wore their hair in cute ponytails, while I wore mine in large plaits with colored clips. The girls would always bombard me with questions similar to “Why don’t you wear your hair …show more content…
Upon having my first relaxer, my hair transformed from shoulder length plaits of textured hair to long, flowing, straight, waist-length, European-like hair. Suddenly, I felt like a humble caterpillar who transformed into a beautiful butterfly. An abundance of compliments came my way and my confidence level soared. I began to feel a lot more like the other girls. However, there was a price to pay for this “beautiful” appearance. Every six weeks from then on, I would have to sit in the chair in a hair salon for two hours to have a chemical relaxer applied to my new hair growth. If I did not adhere to this regimen, the butterfly would begin to regress back to the caterpillar. To compound that problem, my hair began to break and split at the ends and the hairdresser started a process of cutting about two to four inches of my long, beautiful hair at every visit. Over a period of three years, my hair went from waist-length to shoulder length. In addition to that, it did not appear as beautiful as when I got my first relaxer. Emotionally distraught, I regretted this so-called beautifying
In my locale, the standard of beauty is to have long, flowing, straight hair, and tan complexion. One might say that these features epitomize a more southern European appearance. Given my heritage, my hair is naturally afro-textured and my complexion is a caramel-toffee color. As a result, I was always aware of how different I was from most of the girls. In elementary school, the majority of the Hispanic girls wore their hair in cute ponytails, while I wore mine in large plaits with colored clips. The girls would always bombard me with questions similar to “Why don’t you wear your hair …show more content…
Upon having my first relaxer, my hair transformed from shoulder length plaits of textured hair to long, flowing, straight, waist-length, European-like hair. Suddenly, I felt like a humble caterpillar who transformed into a beautiful butterfly. An abundance of compliments came my way and my confidence level soared. I began to feel a lot more like the other girls. However, there was a price to pay for this “beautiful” appearance. Every six weeks from then on, I would have to sit in the chair in a hair salon for two hours to have a chemical relaxer applied to my new hair growth. If I did not adhere to this regimen, the butterfly would begin to regress back to the caterpillar. To compound that problem, my hair began to break and split at the ends and the hairdresser started a process of cutting about two to four inches of my long, beautiful hair at every visit. Over a period of three years, my hair went from waist-length to shoulder length. In addition to that, it did not appear as beautiful as when I got my first relaxer. Emotionally distraught, I regretted this so-called beautifying