Beyond the 1960s, many of us don’t know much about the history of natural hair. Omonike, member of the NaturalSunshine.com forum posted this brief history of black hair based on the Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History by Victoria Sherrow.
Why do Black women typically have so much pride in styling their hair?
This “pride” has been passed down since pre-colonial Africa where afro-textured hairstyles were used to define status and identity. Different styles indicated certain qualities about an individual during that period. An individual’s age, wealth, marital status, religion, fertility, and manhood could be identified simply by the style of their hair. Because hairstyles were tied to identity, skilled hairdressers put much time and care into creating elaborate designs that met the cultural standards of their region. The styling process would last hours, and sometimes even days, depending on the hairstyle and skill required. Hair grooming was considered a very important, intimate, and spiritual part of one’s overall wellness. Dense, thick, and neatly groomed afro-textured hair was something highly sought after and admired. Afros at this time were not the norm and were avoided, as they indicated filthiness, mourning, and/or mental instability.
Since there were no salons back then, who was typically responsible for grooming afro-textured hair?
The head female in the household was typically responsible for grooming the hair of her family. Inheriting and mastering the craft of intricate designs and styles was highly significant and therefore such practices of proper grooming were taught and passed down to her daughters. It was pretty standard for communal grooming to take place in the form of social events, where women would socialize and bond with other women and their families while sharing styling techniques (sort of sounds like NatSun!). Unlike today, hairstyling was not a paid service, but was done with love and devotion.
What products did pre-colonial Africans use on their hair?
Black soap was widely used for shampooing in West Africa and Central Africa. In addition, palm oil was used for oiling the scalp, Shea butter was used to moisturize and dress the hair, and argan oil was applied to the hair and scalp for protection against the harmful rays of the sun.
Why does the hair of modern-day African women always appear short, as opposed to the long elaborate braided styles represented in their pre-colonial days?
It’s important to know that the African men and women portrayed in the mainstream media are NOT representative of the entire African continent. Much of what mainstream media portrays are third world countries in Africa, where there is very little time or concern for hairstyling due to impoverished social conditions. Many of these men and women spend most of their days working or in search of food and water. Remember, longer afro-textured hair demands proper care and attention which requires time, especially since this type of hair is very fragile—therefore, shorter hair is more prevalent in African regions where the luxury of hairstyling is just not feasible. In addition, once African countries were invaded and colonized, social conditions changed for many African cultures which affected their access to the time, resources, and tools necessary for maintaining their hair. Overtime, poor health conditions also became a factor that affected the healthy appearance of hair for men and women in these colonized regions.
40 Responses
WOW, I’m shocked at how poorly researched this article is. The information is inaccurate and full of generalizations. Many African cultures wear their hair short by choice as part of the culture. It’s not because they don’t have time to grow long hair; while others DO grow long hair. I’m perplexed by the misinformation, Stereotyping and Generalization Of Africa and African History.
Oh this website went back from 2011 so I missed alot. I was in 10th grade then. Well, This was interesting and I am glad to catch up on my history since Martin Luther King day passed. If I were to start my own club, I would use this reliable information to teach.
I wouldn’t do that. The information is inaccurate, full of generalizations and lacks research.
This was an interesting read! And I must say that women are and will always be in tune with their hair. No matter if you rock your tresses relaxed, natural, locked, bald (low fade); under a wig or weave the truth is women have always been very creative when it comes to their hair. This, of course includes women from Africa, the America’s, Europe, and Asia etc. Although there is a new surge in African American women to wear their natural hair, many women in Africa still choose to wear weaves and wigs. I hope that other women will not judge them as wearing “fake” hair has always been a part of our culture which I think the article did not mention. Yes, African women took pride in their hair but they also chose to be creative in styling their hair by wearing wigs made out of wool, and hair from animals etc. This was done in part because of the sun and was used to protect the hair and scalp from the harsh and damaging heat from the sun, and as the article stated how long the hair styling took-this also cut down the amount of time done doing hair. Women in Egypt and Ancient Kemet wore wigs, if you take a look at pictures of women like Nefertiti with a short bob -yup you guessed it was a wig. I brought this point up because some of the comments made it seem as if African women wearing weaves/wig is solely due to them not embracing their natural beauty/hair and/or civilization. No harm just a little food for thought.
-happy, natural, strong, compassionate, intelligent and stylish
Why does the hair of modern-day African women always appear short, as opposed to the long elaborate braided styles represented in their pre-colonial days?
Pstyles – great addition to the argument.
I have spent the past two weeks going over the various forums that deal with “african hair” and one thing I have personally concluded is that many of the forums contain a lot of good information which has really helped my hair out.
I have also concluded that they are mainly for people with some American or European or other such kind of blood in them. I dont mean this in a racist/bad kind of way. But just to state that, given this scenario, we must not apply the same expectations of long curly hair to women/people who are “purely” African, i.e people who have no “white” blood in them.
Because for many of us “Africans from Africa”, our gene’s do not give us hair which can grow up to or past our shoulders. Its just how we are made and has got nothing to do with availabilty of time, wealth, nourishment etc. A lot of African women have long hair,but very rarely is it the kind of hair which is as long as that being discussed and shown in these forums. There is nothing bad about that, I just make this point to help us embrace everyone as they are, i.e with realistic expectations.
Very true that the article was very unresearched by the original author and for someone like me who is an African in Zambia/Southern Africa, it is in very bad taste, and paints a very bad sterotype of us Africans in Africa. One would wonder why the author of this forum would pick such an article to share with others, unless if he/she means to convey that this is how others out there percieve us as well???
I don’t agree with you on the whole ‘our hair is short because of our genetics’. Pure Africans can gain amazing length (natural or permed!).
I’m pure Nigerian. My hair is a wild as anything!! Coarse and in curls with an average diameter of about 5 mm, it’s a bit looser at the crown (1 cm). My Dad had thick hair my Mom has fine…I ended up with both. Every strand is constantly having a fight with the next.
I went natural in 2006 cos I didn’t really have anywhere to do it. I went abroad so I just wore it in braids all the time. It was NEGLECTED! I was only good at making the braids LOOK neat. I didn’t even understand how to care for my hair then. BUT IT GREW A LOT!!! I attained lengths I never reached even as a child. Some hairdresser always came along to cocked it up and then the clippers would come out.
Sadly, I let one of these annoying hairdresser texture my hair; I wanted to loosen the curls and the clipper came out again!! Back to square one. I wear it out more now to train myself to be less impatient with it having obvious length so it’s growing back slower. It’s been like a marriage… We sometimes fight but with that we understand each other better and grow closer.
Anyway my point is, don’t blame it on genetics. African hair is intricate and requires expert skills to manage if you want fabulous length. Nowadays there are too many distractions to stop us from spending days and hours styling and caring for our hair like they would have in pre-colonial times when society was very different.
As a proud, full bred, 100% and satisfied African (Ghanaian to be precise) the final statement in the article has got it all wrong. The generalization that every African woman in every nook and cranny is looking for food and thus has no time to take care of her hair is preposterous to the core. The opportunity to shake our heads and tut at the whim of every news such as this is in itself insulting and we forget that we have at least some power if not all to path our destinies. I therefore wholeheartedly disagree with the statement because, such as every rule, there is always an exception and let me tell you… as much time as you have in the so called “1st world or Western world”, we have an ample amount of it where never before seen intricate styles of both the long and short hairdos exist. and, G’dammit NO! they have nothing to do with wealth. the queenmothers of Ghana hardly had the hair long, but they were the epitome of royalty and wealth. If you’re going to say something at least eyeopening about Africa and the race in general, don’t beg for the sympathy of others because i think we are (and definitely should be ) sick and tired of encouraging that from others. we never needed it in the first place. do some ‘research’.
Why the anger and insults? You can correct the author without the venomous anger you (and other’s here) are spitting out. Why not post links correcting her? Photos perhaps? As far as I’m concerned, without *some* evidence, tall of this is hearsay.
And sorry that a lot of us think you’re all destitute in Africa. That is mainly what we see in our world. Those are the images we are shown. Why not take some sort of action in shaking that “myth”?
@Kate:
To what insults are you referring? Ang made none. And although she’s well within her rights to express some anger, she didn’t stop there but gave facts that are well-documented, should you choose to look them up, and that help refute Omonike’s claims about the African woman’s relationship between hair and socioeconomic status, viz Ghanaian queen mothers. Omonike’s “research” all comes from one solitary (and questionable) book, so why hold Ang to a higher standard by suggesting she post links?
As far as putting the burden on Africans to “take some action in shaking that ‘myth’,” Africans have already done and are doing so. Any curious individual can either pick up a book or google it instead of falling back on the National Geographic excuse. In much the same way, the mainstream media portrayal of African-Americans is fraught with stereotypes and misconceptions, but just a little curiosity would set an individual straight.
Whether the world sees Africans and those of African descent as different or the same, all of us–Africans and non-Africans–should be able to move beyond this “us” and “you” perspective. It’s saddening, therefore, to see it crop up in a forum that ostensibly fosters unity and community.
Preach and Amen. 🙂
That was the most nonsense answer i have ever read in my life>>> Just cause you live in a 3rd world country it doesn’t mean you are looking for food and water and don’t have time to make your hair look good>> Maybe you should come to Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia etc etc before you type such utter poppycock and confuse your readers into believing even more negative African stereotypes. SMH! Can’t believe this mess
That was the most nonsense answer i have ever read in my life>>> Just cause you live in a 3rd world country it doesn’t mean you are looking for food and water and don’t have time to make your hair look good>> Maybe you should come to Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia etc etc before you type such utter poppycock and confuse your readers into believing even more negative African stereotypes. SMH! Can’t believe this mess >>>> “it’s important to know that the African men and women portrayed in the mainstream media are NOT representative of the entire African continent. Much of what mainstream media portrays are third world countries in Africa, where there is very little time or concern for hairstyling due to impoverished social conditions. Many of these men and women spend most of their days working or in search of food and water. Remember, longer afro-textured hair demands proper care and attention which requires time, especially since this type of hair is very fragile—therefore, shorter hair is more prevalent in African regions where the luxury of hairstyling is just not feasible. In addition, once African countries were invaded and colonized, social conditions changed for many African cultures which affected their access to the time, resources, and tools necessary for maintaining their hair. Overtime, poor health conditions also became a factor that affected the healthy appearance of hair for men and women in these colonized regions.”
This post only goes to show one thing: don’t believe everything you read on the interwebs. It has more than just a few generalizations, assumptions, guesses, and just plain inaccuracies, e.g., long hair being a sign of wealth and short hair one of poverty throughout Africa. It would’ve been more informative for the writer to have included all her sources, so that it’s clear where all this misinformation came from, but the entire post seems to be a summary of just one source, Victoria Sherrow’s Encyclopedia of Hair.
for clarity, I meant this statement:
‘Much of what mainstream media portrays are third world countries in Africa, where there is very little time or concern for hairstyling due to impoverished social conditions. Many of these men and women spend most of their days working or in search of food and water. Remember, longer afro-textured hair demands proper care and attention which requires time, especially since this type of hair is very fragile—therefore, shorter hair is more prevalent in African regions where the luxury of hairstyling is just not feasible. ‘
thank you anisa….
That statement was one of the most ignorant, uninformed nonsense I have heard yet.
“It’s important to know that the African men and women portrayed in the mainstream media are NOT representative of the entire African continent. Much of what mainstream media portrays are third world countries in Africa, where there is very little time or concern for hairstyling due to impoverished social conditions”
As an African I must disagree with this generalisation. There are cultures in Africa that embrace the bald or short hair style and it has nothing to do with lack of food and these so called third world countries (developing countries rather) also have affluent areas where women are more prone to weaves and perms than natural hair. There are also impoverished people in the cities who still plait their hair.
+1
As an a Kenyan, i feel the article has some inaccurate generalizations too as stated above.
sorry, meant “As a Kenyan”. Plz excuse the typo
Hi I am also African (Nigerian) and I was unaware this blog was published on this site. I was simply sharing some information with my natural hair family on natural sunshine.com regarding a book I’ve read. Nothing more. Nothing less. There is a lack of research and there are some generalizations made, but again, this was from my personal blog and is not meant for researching purposes. Thanks:-))
Although this post has quite a few generalizations and assumptions (e.g., long hair being a sign of wealth and short hair one of poverty throughout Africa), it’s nice to see an interest being taken in our hair history. Would be nice to see sources for such articles, though. This one seems to be a summary of just one (Victoria Sherrow’s Encyclopedia of Hair).
Wonderful article. Really fascinating information. I’ll be passing this on to a lot of friends.
I have Locks down my back, my hair loves water I usually wash my hair 2 weekly I find when i wash weekly it looks Beautiful. Never heard the term co-washing before I will try it every week after the two week wash. Thannks for the idea, I live in England a cold Country so washing 2-3 times per week not good.
Wow. This is a very interesting post!
Wow very interesting. No wonder I miss my mom doing my hair 🙁 I’m definitley going to share this with the women in my life so we can all gather around and do eachothers’ hair and have it become a part of socializing once again.
I really enjoyed this part:
“It was pretty standard for communal grooming to take place in the form of social events, where women would socialize and bond with other women and their families while sharing styling techniques (sort of sounds like NatSun!). Unlike today, hairstyling was not a paid service, but was done with love and devotion”
This is a gorgeous article. Posting it on my wall. <3
I LOVE articles like these. And it’s also good to know that although I had to try many things that I eventually returned to things like plain Shea butter (hair and skin) and black soap (for my skin so far) like my ancestors.
It feels good to type “my ancestors” because I don’t know much of anything about them. I always admire people who can trace their lineage to the beginning of time. Articles such as this one, makes me feel like I have some sort of connection. 🙂
– Kudos NatSun & BGLH
Black soap does wonders for my skin. My face is so smooth and clear because of it.
Wonderful article. Knowledge really is power.
I love the history behind our hair! Great article!
When the slavers came and saw how much Africans prided their hair, they cut it off. In a lot of ways we are starting over in knowing how to affectionately take care of our hair. Other women of other cultures have had thousands of years of uninterrupted trial and error at this thing called hair. Yes, there was the 70s but it was a fad and thus did not last.
We must not be so hard on ourselves and especially those who have not gone natural or cant see its beauty. we dont have to take insults lying down either…lol. There has been a 500 yr break and brainwashing. I salute the black women of my generation for turning the ship (in quite a short amount of time too).
Hair is never ‘just hair’.
So beautifully put! :3
+1
It’s not just african americans that are disconnected fromt heir hair. Many “modern” africans are too and I guess it’s just an effect of colonialism. I always pray the natural movement here will spread to the major cities of Africa.
Great comment! Thank you for sharing that point of view.
DF, your comment reminds me of how when I went to African braiding shops in the past, and they saw that my hair was natural, I have seen them give each other that ‘look’, and even had some ask why I didn’t have a relaxer. So no, it isn’t just American born Black people.
AGREED
Well said:) Peace and Blessings!
@ La: I like you comment, and it is so true. Your comment put some things into perspective for me.
THank you Deena, that brought tears to my eyes. I need that this week, because even though I try not to play with my hair because I want it to grown. I cannot keep my fingers out of my hair I CANNOT!!!. I was thinking this week what a conspiracy of why in these last few years I never knew I had this hair texture of curly goodness. If I knew I would never RELAX NEVER!!. I was so mad thinking our community has been bamboozled of all the sterostypes, all the hateful words about our hair. It really made me mad. Even a friend at a show last night was saying she was mad as well. We missed out on all this time of having to deal with perms and weaves. Well I’m going to stop looking back and being mad, and focus on the future of a generation of black women that will not fad, but will be past on to our kids and their kids. PS, wow we really have the best hair in the world !! oh my Jesus!!! PLaying with my hair again!
wow…this brought tears to my eyes…