Natural Hair Research Paper

Dating back to slavery, kinky-haired naturals were viewed as second-class citizens. “slave masters privileged those with lighter skin, straighter features, and straighter hair over those that reflected more African features “ (Donaldson). African- American women so desperately wanted to fit the traditional standard of beauty they used blistering metal combs to straighten their kinky hair or lye to chemically straighten it. Women straightened their hair because ”white beauty standards” were the image of what society defined as “beautiful”.One may ask, what exactly is “natural hair”? It is curly, textured hair free of chemicals. Coils fused together are locs, also an option for naturals. In the 1960s the Black Power movement declared that "Black …show more content…
Based on the denotation, one would think unprofessional hairstyles differ, going on a case-by-case basis; in reality, “Googling “unprofessional hairstyles for work” yielded image results mainly of black women with natural hair” (Alexander). This indicates there's a common ideology that natural hair is unprofessional. Women can wear their natural hair and still be professional for …show more content…
In addition, employers feel as though natural hair is unmanageable and unkempt. Hairstyles should reflect a professional image and adhere to basic grooming principles. Many employers believe locs are unclean and inappropriate however, naturals wash their locs often and are well maintained. Furthermore, locs are retwisted monthly to ensure neatness. Just because natural hair grows in spirals instead of straight doesn’t necessarily mean it is unmanageable and unkempt. Naturals have the ability to wear their hair in sleek buns, updos, and other conservative styles appropriate for the