Natural Woman

Well, after several years of relaxing and damaging my hair from harsh chemicals, I've decided to go natural. I have been relaxing my hair since I was about 5 years old (yes, it was THAT hard for my mother to deal with--the pictures in this blog of my younger years speak for itself), and now I want to get rid of it (the relaxer, not my hair...lol), for GOOD. Back when I was in the 5th grade, I had grown out my relaxer for a little while, but once again, it was more than my mother and I wanted to deal with (she hated to do my hair, and I hated to get it done), so we relaxed it again. But now that I'm grown and know what's good for my hair, I'm going to grow it out again, and this time stick with it.

Going natural seems to be the thing nowadays, like some sort of revolution. Everywhere I go, I see people with TWA's (teeny weeny afros), locks, twists, and cute natural hairstyles. I've considered going natural for quite some time now, but always ended up giving in and going to get a touch-up. I was so afraid that I wouldn't know how to or wouldn't WANT to deal with my unpermed hair and would end up looking bad. I also had the notion instilled in my mind that the artificial and chemically inflicted "long, straight, and silky" was superior to the black man's natural "tight, kinky, and curly". I was finally inspired by a few friends and family members of mine who have taken the step to pursue natural hair, as well as by a great website I found about one woman's journey from relaxed to natural (http://www.motowngirl.com/). I haven't had a touch-up since February 4th, 2006 and boy, are the "naps" starting to emerge...LOL! But as the new growth starts to grow in, I'm starting to realize that my natural hair's texture IS beautiful, no matter what white America tries to make us believe.

So why is it that some of us are so afraid of going natural? When I asked a couple of close friends of mine to take the journey with me, some were with me, and others were almost disgusted at the thought and appalled that I would even consider doing such a thing...like it was a sin! It's the latter that goes to show just how much we've been conditioned to hate ourselves and everything about us, or to judge others and say that one way or look is better than the other (such as our skin color, which is another blog in itself...and trust me, that topic is coming soon). As the woman in the MotownGirl website mentioned, why is it that every other race can happily wash their natural hair and run free with it, but us black women are ashamed to do so and feel the need to cover up the texture we were given with harsh straightening chemicals and long weaves? Why do we strive to be just like "them"? Why can't we be happy with ourselves?

A friend of mine told me that when she went to the salon to get her natural hair straightened with a hot comb, a woman of another race said (after it was straightened), "Oh, your hair looks so pretty now." Huh? What? It looks pretty "now"?! Who's to say that it wasn't beautiful BEFORE it was straightened? Once again, it is that very notion that hair has to be straight and silky to be beautiful that has black women disliking themselves and what God has given them.

The more I think about it, the more I start to realize that the natural texture of our hair is better than what any relaxer can offer because it provides more versatility. We can wear it curly/wavy, we can pick it out into an afro, we can twist it, cornrow it, braid it, AND we can still straighten it if we want to. A relaxer doesn't provide you that without dealing with long hours at the salon, and not to mention that extra MONEY that you spend at the salon. At least I know I'll be saving money, time, AND the health of my hair by going natural.

I'm curious to know what other black women (or any woman in general) think of this topic. I'd also like to know what some of the men think on this topic. Although you guys aren't the ones that have to make the choice, what do you think about black women who are permed vs. those who are natural? Sadly, there are some men out there that automatically think a woman is less attractive when she wears her natural hair or has locks.

I hope that over time as my natural hair starts to grow out, that I will further learn to appreciate the beauty of our kinky, curly, wavy hair. I also hope that as I take the journey from straight to natural, that I can inspire other black women to do the same, as some of my friends and family have done for me. Let's keep the revolution going ladies...get rid of the relaxers!!!