I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there are certain little nuances within the natural hair community that are just absolutely funny. Then there are those things that are a little questionable, those things that cause people to pause and go “Wait, what?”
Here are three of the quirky things about the natural hair community that are quizzical to say the least:
Hair envy with a seemingly underlying split personality complex?
That’s really the only way I know how to describe our lust affair or appetite for styles that sometimes seem to contradict the natural hair journey we are on. We naturalistas will lust over short haircuts.
Don’t believe it? Just check social media. We’ll be longing for length and almost develop OCD with that tape measure, checking to see how much hair has grown since yesterday like “Why don’t you just grow already?” Ranting and raving to anyone who’ll listen: “I can’t do nothin’ with this TWA!” or “I’m about to get fed up with this BSL now, the goal is hip length and it seems I done hit a plateau”.
Of course there will be those of us who are very proud of our progress thus far cause we’ve never passed neck length until now.
Some of us remember the struggle of trying to create a ponytail when in fact we were really only capable of an oxtail, so it’s understandable that after hitting APL we start channeling Rapunzel. Then a pic will come up in our news feed and we’re like: “Oooh Chile this cut be givin’ me life!”
You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones we might have sported if we hadn’t been delivered from that “creamy crack,” those slick, laid down shaved sides, bangin’ undercut with dope designs and that itty bitty section of hair on top.
We can go ga-ga in a second for those styles; sitting before the computer screen, shears and clippers in hand going ” Lawd deliver me from temptation”, tagging the stylist to indicate our desire for the latest must-have work of art, or volunteering our girlfriends for the style so we can fulfill our dream through them.
Ten to one if a natural hair pic shows up it won’t get the same 20,000 likes that a short haircut would. I always get a kick out of this. At least we can appreciate the versatility that our hair lends itself to.
A child’s hairstyle is grounds for a Bill of Law or full blown Constitution
So maybe that’s a bit of a stretch but where else have you seen people clamor for a petition or call for a trip to the big house on the grounds of a hairstyle? This one has several levels to it though so where do I begin.
Signing a petition for a child’s hair to be groomed to our standards? Accusing parents of child abuse on the basis of a hairstyle? It seems to me that some of us forget that it wasn’t that long ago that we would get the slanted Asian eyes from having our braids pulled so tight we could almost see stars, or we’d have that hot comb kissing our ears. No one cited child abuse then.
This article is so true!! Especially about kids hairstyles! LOL
Lmao my hair is shoulder length when stretched and flat ironed and I can acheive a ponytail and get some hang time . Lmao the only time I had an ox ponytail was when I was permed and my hair was damaged and breaking off . Anyway my next goal is armpit I want to achieve by next year . This article is true though . It’s irritating to hear girls with a twa complaining about their hair not growing . Trust me I had a twa last year . Hair will grow . Also when girls with long bra strap length hair complain about not reaching waist length gets on my nerves . Bra strap is my long term goal . I don’t want any longer than that . I think us black woman should just be happy with what we have . If what you are doing isn’t working CHANGE IT and stop complaining . Maybe it’s your hair routine, maybe you don’t get trims , or maybe you don’t drink enough water , or maybe it’s your diet . Evaluate your actions and change it .