Today I was in Home Depot with my mother when the cashier
looked at me and said: “I like your hair.” Then she proceeded to ask me how
long I’ve been natural and tell me a bit about her natural hair story and how
long she’s been natural.
As I left the store, I thought to myself: Why is it such a
phenomenon for black women to be natural? Why does it always surprise women
that I do not put chemicals in my hair and haven’t since 2010?
Does anyone else ask this to themselves when you are
questioned about your hair?
I’m not sure why it stops me in my tracks or has me thinking
about it later, but it does. I wonder how my hair is perceived in the
community, how outsiders see my hair and their perception of what my attitude
must be to have hair this big and this “unkempt”. I know my father’s view,
based on a time when the afro represented black power and rage at the ‘man’ and
rebellion and anger and everything else that came with it. I…I think I see some
it in my attitude as well, when I’m picking out the curls, when I style it,
when I walk by the window of a store and think “Damn…my hair looks good.” I
feel it when people want to touch it like I’m some kind of animal at the zoo, see
what it feels like, how it springs back when they slam their hand into it as if
I can’t feel anything. I sense it beneath the edges of control when people make
assumptions of who I am at first glance of my hair, how I get a wide berth
while at the same time getting the side glance to make sure that I don’t take
something.
But I digress…that is not what this post is about.
I want to know why it is such a big deal that I am natural.
Yes…it’s a lot of work, sometimes more than I want to really invest, but I do
it nonetheless.
Is it really that odd to see a black woman with naturally
curly kinky hair?