Natural Hair Discrimination
Hair. We all have (or had) it, and all have a very love-hate relationship with it. But more often, then not, we change it and do not let our natural hair shine. This stems from many different things like; simply wanting change, to just experiment, or from facing years of discrimination. Natural hair discrimination is something that seems to slip through the cracks but is very real in today's culture. When asked about her hair, actress Tracee Ellis Ross responds with, "I love my hair because it's a reflection of my soul. It's dense, it's kinky, it's soft, it's textured, it's difficult, it's easy and it's fun. That's why I love my hair" (BLGH Marketplace). Natural hair is not often talked about but tends to …show more content…
Hair that is not permed, dyed, relaxed, or chemically altered," (Urban Dictionary). With all different types of people, comes all different types of hair. But today's standards are not accepting of all type of people or their hair. This effects many people but mostly, African American women. Areva Martin wrote an article, titled The Hatred of Black Hair Goes Beyond Ignorance, about her personal experience with her hair and the discrimination she has faces stating, "I joined black student organizations where chemically processed hair was seen as a throwback to the era of white suppression. In order to be a card-carrying progressive, you had to embrace your natural hair," (Motto). She also mentions that white hair is set as the precedent due to British colonists thinking that African hair is closer to sheep wool than human hair. These types of oppressive stereotypes have not only caused women to change their hair, by using relaxers, braiding, weaves, etc. but go deeper into racial stereotypes. After slavery, hair straightens were used to allow blacks to gain "class mobility within African American communities and social acceptance by the dominant culture," (Wikipedia). But that changed later during the Civil Rights Era when the afro became popuar and created a visual way to link to their African ancestors and helped define black identity. Afros became a political
Hair. We all have (or had) it, and all have a very love-hate relationship with it. But more often, then not, we change it and do not let our natural hair shine. This stems from many different things like; simply wanting change, to just experiment, or from facing years of discrimination. Natural hair discrimination is something that seems to slip through the cracks but is very real in today's culture. When asked about her hair, actress Tracee Ellis Ross responds with, "I love my hair because it's a reflection of my soul. It's dense, it's kinky, it's soft, it's textured, it's difficult, it's easy and it's fun. That's why I love my hair" (BLGH Marketplace). Natural hair is not often talked about but tends to …show more content…
Hair that is not permed, dyed, relaxed, or chemically altered," (Urban Dictionary). With all different types of people, comes all different types of hair. But today's standards are not accepting of all type of people or their hair. This effects many people but mostly, African American women. Areva Martin wrote an article, titled The Hatred of Black Hair Goes Beyond Ignorance, about her personal experience with her hair and the discrimination she has faces stating, "I joined black student organizations where chemically processed hair was seen as a throwback to the era of white suppression. In order to be a card-carrying progressive, you had to embrace your natural hair," (Motto). She also mentions that white hair is set as the precedent due to British colonists thinking that African hair is closer to sheep wool than human hair. These types of oppressive stereotypes have not only caused women to change their hair, by using relaxers, braiding, weaves, etc. but go deeper into racial stereotypes. After slavery, hair straightens were used to allow blacks to gain "class mobility within African American communities and social acceptance by the dominant culture," (Wikipedia). But that changed later during the Civil Rights Era when the afro became popuar and created a visual way to link to their African ancestors and helped define black identity. Afros became a political