Good Hair Vs Bad Hair

           Good Hair Vs. Bad Hair

It’s 2015 and I can’t believe that there is a still a debate on “Good Hair” versus “Bad Hair.” This topic hurts my heart because as women of color we should be embracing each other’s beauty and differences instead of ridiculing one another. A few days go while I was having lunch, I listened to a group of girls around 12 or 13 make fun of one of the other girls in their group because her mom didn’t allow her to relax her hair. One of the young girls flipped her relaxed hair and said, “I’m sorry your mom won’t allow you to have good hair like the rest of us. My mom says “nappy hair” isn’t cute. Maybe you should sneak and perm it.” Listening to these little girls taunt their friend truly broke my heart. It made me question the things that our young girls are being taught about beauty. These girls are learning from a young age to hate themselves and their natural beauty because they watch the older generation of women altering themselves and assimilating into today’s society. There are many women starting from the age of 25 or maybe even younger, who strongly believe that there is a such thing as good and bad hair. Today I am here to address both terms, with the hope that we can remove the words from our vocabulary when we speak about hair.

Good Hair

The idea behind “good hair” isn’t something new. It actually stems all the way back to slavery days.  Originally women of color all had similar grades of hair. It was thick and coiled and probably a bit unmanageable at times.  Over time hair started to change, which was the result of slave owners mixing with slaves. This created a new kind of hair. It was hair that had straighter and silkier features but still coiled.  This hair became what we now view has “good hair.”  This also became a tool that was used to drive a wedge between women of color.

Bad Hair

The thought of using the words bad and hair in the same sentence actually makes my skin cringed just a tad bit.  People consider bad hair to be hair that is coarse and kinkier than what society is used. The term bad hair was something coined in order to manipulate women of color into believing that they needed to chemically alter their hair in order to be accepted in society.            

It’s Just Hair

The truth of the matter is that hair is just hair. It’s no such thing as good hair or bad hair. If you want to consider hair good, don’t consider it good based on its texture. Consider it good based on how healthy it is.  No two heads of hair are alike, so don’t sit around wishing that your hair were different. Black hair is beautiful. The things that you can do with it are endless.  Accept and embrace your hair no matter the texture, curl shape or length.

xoxo

Frenchie