DO WE REALLY HATE OURSELVES INSIDE? GOOD HAIR VS BAD
HAIR
As black women, nothing is more personal than our relationship
with our hair. Ever since I was a child, I had a love-hate relationship with my
hair that only another black woman would be able to understand. In a sense, our
hair is our identity. We create it to fit our style. So how does this tie in
with having good hair versus bad hair?
I know most of you
have seen the film Good Hair by Chris
Rock; in my opinion, the film kind of hit a nerve with me. As a black woman, I
love my hair, flaws and all. Just like every other race. We have good hair days
and then there are bad hair days. I just thought he focused too much on black
women not accepting the fact that they can never really have that “good hair.”
My assumption could be incorrect but that is the way I perceived it.
Back in the day, it was thought that if you had straight or
wavy hair, you were from good genes. You most certainly could not be 100% black
because black hair does not behave itself. Black hair is thought to be unruly,
unkempt, dirty, and unmanageable. I am just confused as to how this “theory” continues
today. I still hear the terms “good” hair or “bad” hair. This is a form of
self-hate within the black community that is still evident in today’s society.
This has been going on for centuries; all because of our “kinky” hair.
I once heard two girls talking about the new school girl in
the class. Keep in mind that all three of these girls are pure
African-American. Girl #1 was asking girl #2 about the new girl who had long “kinky-straight”
hair that reached her lower back. She wanted to know if that was all her hair.
Girl#2 answered by simply stating that yes it was real and the new girl must be
mixed because she has yet to see any black girls with long hair. Girl #1
responded by saying how she hated being black because black people have ugly
hair with naps. Situations like this are still an everyday occurrence in 2012.
I am not sure how to fix it but what we all can do is spread the word to our
young African-American girls to love their-self. Let them know that there is no difference
between “good” hair and “bad” hair, only a difference in how we manage our
hair. We have to put in their mind that black is beautiful.