THE HAIR ISSUE

A discussion amongst friends on facebook got me thinking about the hair issue, and with some doubt I decided to blog about it. I know a black girl’s hair is not open to any kind probing, unless the discussion revolves around how great the hair looks and how one can get one’s hands on it. 

The facebook discussion was not focused on hair alone, it interrogated the “beauty” standards women and men put on African women. Weave your hair; lengthen your lashes so you will be beautiful. Is this our definition of African beauty, was the main contention. This reminded me of a recent article on British Vogue tackling a similar debate. The article titled “I AM NOT MY HAIR” tackled the controversial; do I weave because I’m trying to be white question. The hair issue at hand seemed to be the question of whether as Africans we see our beauty as somehow associated and intertwined with our hair?  The other underlying motion is whether I am less African when I weave or straighten my hair? 

The wigging and weaving of hair is a practise as old as time. The ancient Egyptians wore wigs to shield their shaved, hairless heads from the sun. Black Supermodels like Naomi Campbell wore wigs and later weaves to protect their hair from the constant styling that was abrasive to their afros. Many women weave for convenience; but we cannot deny that there is usually an intended consequence of beauty when one “gets one’s hair done”. We also must admit that there are Africans who believe the closer to western you are is the closer you are to beauty. These poor souls are lost. One woman braids her hair; the other weaves, then shaves all her hair off and at some point dreadlocks it.  If the woman’s beauty that glistens on the outside reflects her inward state then who cares what hair she has on? *Being black is not a matter of pigmentation - being black is a reflection of a mental attitude.

 

^{*Steve Biko- I write what I like}