Why is Natural not Beautiful?

Mainstream society and the media let us know that natural hairstyles are considered a "statement" at best. Unfortunately, those of us with naturally coarse hair have allowed mainstream to dictate what we consider beautiful...We have been convinced that our hair is unmanageable in it's natural state. We believe that we have to hate the hair we were born with and either chemically treat or apply artificial hair to our scalps to be deemed valuable, intelligent, attractive, progressive people. It's sad that this is the pervasive thought process among people with less than limp hair...It doesn't help that those with coarse hair in the public eye are the main ones perpetuating this way of thinking. It also doesn't help that africans who move to the states end up relaxing, weaving or wigging it as well.. Maybe when we change our personal thoughts about what hair and hairstyles are beautiful, mainstream society will be forced to change it's view of natural hair and hairstyles.

The Myth

GOOD HAIR... If you haven't referred to someone as having it you have heard someone else refer to someone's hair as such. It works my nerves each time i hear the ignorant remark. No hair is bad hair. There are different textures of hair, but all of them are good because that is the hair the maker endowed us with. I do agree that there is always room for improvement. I will forever be grateful to whomever created the comb and brush and mass-marketed it!!

That being said, the variations and differences in hair textures, colors and styles is what makes the world interesting. Who wants to look like a clone? And who decreed that only one texture of hair is beautiful?? Both fine hair and coarse hair have their pros and cons.

• Fine hair naturally hangs/lays a certain way on its own.



• Fine hair also tangles easily.



• Fine hair also requires a lot of hair product to get it to stay in a style.



• People with fine hair have to wash their hair more often because of the hair gets oily



• People with fine hair tend to bald as they age or experience the thinning of their hair.



• Coarse hair doesn't take as much hair product to maneuver it into a style, just time, effort and patience.



• And the hair style will normally last for at least a couple of weeks with minimal maintenance for those with coarse hair



• People with coarse hair tend to have drier scalps and hair and have to add moisture manually



• Coarse hair only needs to be washed every other week

The bottom line is that you should be proud of whatever texture of hair you have. Invest the time and energy into learning how to best take care of your hair so that it is healthy and looks its best. Don't allow anyone else to tell you how you should feel about your hair.