Do Not Make A Big Deal Over Your Hair
Simply, if you don’t make a big deal they won’t make a big deal. Sometimes we are so proud of our natural hair we tend to go in hard with trying to communicate our feelings to everyone, and since we are almost always at work, that might mean managers, clients even the cleaning crew.
So what your wash and go gave you life that morning, smile about it to yourself and keep it moving. If someone says something or directly asks you about it, feel free to indulge in a little hair talk. If by any chance someone chooses to have a cynical conversation with you about your hair or tries to bait you in any way, the best practice is to politely and quickly shut it down and move on.
The idea here is if you want people to accept that ‘its just hair’ then act like ‘its just hair’.
Accessorize Less
Accessories are anything from, really huge flowers clips that dangle and make annoying clicking sounds to spray bottles. Again this is all about distraction. In a relatively quiet office, no one should ‘hear’ your hair or be unable to concentrate on an important conversation because they can’t get past that bright yellow dandelion is that’s practically covering your left ear.
This brings us to spray bottles, early in the game most of us carried a spray bottle for touch ups in case our hair got dry within the hour.
If you are at a staff meeting and all you can think about is getting out of there so you can get your spray on then, your spray bottle is a distraction. If you are constantly bending over at your desk to spray, and moisturize, whether you want to admit it or not, your hair is a distraction and it will get noticed.
Avoid Coming To Work With Your Hair Wet
If you have to wake up an hour earlier, then that’s just what you have to do, because wet hair with little white speckles of conditioner or Miss Carol’s Kink It Up Pudding is extremely unprofessional and quite messy.
Nobody wants paperwork slathered in watery conditioner. Get a diffuser*, and if you want to avoid heat try styling your hair the night before so that it isn’t sopping wet when you get to work.
So do you agree, disagree? Let me know in the comments.
Bettina says
2 years in and I’m just tired of it all… sigh…
BiscuitBunny says
The political Afro point irked me I have to say. That whole idea feeds into the Eurocentric ignorance of black hair/ people being frozen in a time of heightened racial politics. I highly doubt that most people I meet (Afro/Caribs included) know who Angela Davis is! my hair is not very long compared to some, so its not going to be very big- and heck, I can tie it down to make it sit lower. I hate having to call my hair ‘something’- every other race has hair. Yet I have to call mine an Afro, like I’m naming a pet dog. If I had lots of hair it would stand out very wide- I would tie that back or down, I don’t like hair on my neck or around my ears very much.
froyo11 says
RE the political afro–
Even though I don’t feel free to wear my hair in a (large) afro to an interview, I’m not upset about it BECAUSE I’m so optimistic about the future. Things are changing! I honestly think my kids or at least their kids will feel just about free to wear afros whenever they want! And I’m happy about it.
Don’t despair!
Dawn says
We don’t have to be stuck with anything we don’t want. Movement has political overtones as well as the basic meaning of moving. If we want to we could use various words such as: acceptance, evolving, re-emergence. All these words also have overtones and undertones, which could lead to different levels of discussion.
Jamila Kelly says
Really shouldn’t matter how your wear your natural hair as long as its not in other people’s way. Sometimes wearing a bun in class is better than your sig puff…not because we are haters or because we are trying to restrict you or anything else but be cause is just common sense and being polite :p
Sedinam Fianyo-Nartey says
I stopped reading the moment I saw “Avoid Potentially Political Hairstyles Such As Afro’s” Really??? Ridiculous!
Deanna Merritt Ross says
Ikr???
Neva Tavenner says
I always wear an Afro. It’s all I can really do with my hair at the moment. The humidity in my work place makes my curls frizz and I end up having to pick it out…
Deanna Merritt Ross says
My Caucasian colleagues say their favorite style is my huge Afro. I have also recently been hired to do presenting work for a non-profit and in my own school district. My new colleagues all love my “cool hair”. So thanks for the advice, but no thanks.
Cheyenne X Revfrolutionist says
Eh, I didn’t particularly care for this post