Black Women have been straightening their hair since the 1850’s, during the 1950’s relaxing became popular amongst both black men and women. Straight hair was seen chic, sexy and sophisticated, tight coils were viewed negatively and often associated with slavery. This craze stemmed with the help of one individual; Madam C. J walker, the inventor of the hot comb. The hot comb changed the lives of many African American girls during the early 1900’s.
My mother being one of them has clear memories of my grandmother heating up the hot comb over the stove and literally leaving burn marks on her ears or forehead from the heat. Remember ladies and gentlemen 'pain is beauty', or so they say...
(chemical relaxer) or other straightening systems such as keratin to attain a straight or looser curl pattern. Today however we see a rebellion in the typical African American home, the coming of the Naturalista. In 2013 relaxers and perms saw a sharp drop in sales, a staggering 26% fall over the period of five years according to a Mintel article. Natural Hair Community websites such as Blackgirllonghair, Afrobella and one of the most popular CurlyNikki on the other hand have taken social media by storm. The Natural Hair community consists of men and women of all hair textures, curl patterns and grades of hair, with the simple aim to spread knowledge, cultural awareness, self-understanding, and self-love.
This new trend in the black community, convincing women to 'big chop' and 'transition' back to their natural coils via protective styling although great, hasn't all been plain sailing. There have been many issues in the not just the community but in the mainstream media. Youtube for example constantly promotes those with looser hair textures , labelling big coils as ‘goals’ and identifying kinks as ‘bad hair’. Mutually Facebook, Instagram , and magazines have all played their part in this new problem of texture discrimination. The Natural hair community has almost reversed its progress. Women of colour are choosing to compete with each other in regards to length, texture and thickness. It sounds ridiculous but I’ve even found myself doing it too!
These last few months have shown particular interest in the BHC being over sensitive with regards to the general public's views. Read Blackgirllonghair’s take on it here http://blackgirllonghair.com/2015/01/is-the-natural-hair-community-too-sensitive/ and consider watching the Youtube sensation Jouelzy’s take on how things have taken a left turn in the community