Change Starts Here
I started this self-esteem blog to make women of color feel better about themselves. Too many of us settle for less because we don't think we can have it all. I hope these blog posts will help you realize you can have it all and so much more.
If you have any topics you think would be beneficial or questions, press the "ask" button above or e-mail confidencehappens@gmail.com.
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This is the first in a continuous series about topics taken from conversations I’ve had with black women.We were having a discussion in my African-American literature class and somehow got on the topic of hair. Some women stood behind their natural locks, while others flipped their relaxed tresses and proclaimed their love for perms. Then there were the women with weaves who said they allowed them to be creative without cutting their actual hair.
My professor, whose naturally curly hair is in dreds, couldn’t really understand the debate. One girl made it clear, “There are levels of nappiness.”
I loved that we were engaging in this discussion, but her comment brought something in perspective for me. A lot of women are doing these things to their hair because they running away from the hair they have. They have not accepted their “nappiness.”
Before you change anything about yourself, you need to learn to love what you have. You need to stop pinch-plaiting, corn rowing, texturizing, relaxing, flat-ironing and blow drying for long enough to appreciate what you have, regardless of its aethestic value.
Personally, my hair is like a big bush of entangled curls that I could never have the time or patience to manage, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Because it’s mine and there’s something beautiful about things you were born with that no one else can have.
No one’s hair is ever going to be the exactly the same as yours, so before you camoflauge its original beauty with chemicals and store-bought hair, accept it and learn to love it. And when you’re in between hairstyles, give it a little TLC and (gasp) exposure.
Your hair has always been there for you; why don’t you give a little love back?
