Ok, I’ll admit it.
I stereotyped Africa. I did.
I thought that on a majority and indigenously black continent, natural hair would be celebrated and commonplace.
For a whole week on this blog, we displayed and discussed styles from “the motherland”, which I guess I kinda put forth as the cradle of natural hair ingenuity.
Which is why I came to a screeching halt when I read this in my interview with Miss Fizz (a native Nigerian now living in Ireland.)
Nigerian ladies, if you’re out there, break this down for me. PLEASE break this down…
***update @ 12:01 p.m. Monday… I am amazed at the discussion this post has sparked. I won’t be updating today, so that the post can get its due attention.***
136 Responses
I’m from South Africa and it’s quite frowned upon for women to wear their natural hair here as well. Especially Coloured (Mixed) girls. Although, that is starting to change with the younger Generations.
I started transitioning to Natural hair 2 years ago and eventually I was so tired of hearing my mother and friends saying things like: “You look so ridiculous”, “I would never make myself suffer like that” and “God didn’t make your hair to be worn naturally, it’s not going to grow.” that I gave in and relaxed.
It was my biggest regret and so I’m back on my Natural Hair Journey. I have been transitioning for 7 months and not giving a damn what anyone has to say about it. I just wish more girls in this country and on this continent would embrace their natural hair.
Sometyms, I feel we act defensive coz we’ve chosen to go natural. Nigerian women who went natural coz of religious beliefs did so coz dey viewed relaxing it as a sin, not bcoz they loved their hair in its natural state, hence they couldnt style it in a desirable way.
The major obstacle is the fact dat Nigerian women havent been provided wif sufficient information on how to care 4 their natural tresses & how glamourous our african hair can actually look.
My stance on the issue however remains that the owner of the hair should be left with the choice on how to wear her hair ( natural, relaxed, weaves, locks or whatever).
They copy African-Americans. When they see that natural hair is “in” they’ll copy that too. Has nothing to do with their mentality, the ones that have weaves just emulate Black Americans. There’s plenty of women who wear their natural hair in Nigeria, there’s also several tribes, so just because someone from the Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba, etc.. tribe says something, doesn’t mean its true for all, because there are certain tribes *cough cough* that idolize westernized culture.
I am a Nigerian and i live in Abuja Nigeria, i have been natural for 2 years and 4 months. I must say i have experienced a lot of reactions when it comes to hair.
Most people are surprised that any one past adolescence age should be wearing natural hair. The first question i always get is how do you comb it? is is not painful? Did your church ask you not to perm your hair? Some people are polite and some are not. Some people feel they have a right to tell you how to wear your hair and even touch your hair without asking.some have even asked if i didn’t have the money to “do” my hair.
I try not be one of those who look down on people just because they don’t wear their hair the way i do.
I think the problem in Nigeria is ignorance of how to care for and style natural hair and even relaxed hair.and also many feel Nigerians don’t have “good hair”.
People are always amazed that natural hair can do cute and fashionable styles.
I feel with time, and with the increasing number of natural haired Nigerians enjoying their kinks, people would get to ask questions and learn to appreciate what grows out naturally from their heads and stop attacking those who choose to do so.
Till then, i would keep rocking mine.
Hello,
I was delighted to have stumbled on your article which describes the perception and attitude of Nigerian towards the natural hair. Please do not be too shocked by your findings because being a Nigerian and having had my natural hair all my life, I can attest that it is true.
Coming from a conservative Christian environment where women were taught to wear their natural hair, I grew up with the perception that having my natural hair was closely tied to my religious affiliation and this was the view of many people around.
Our inability to understand the mystery and science behind our natural hair (especially the Type 4) as Nigerians (and generally Africans) coupled with the glamour of the sleek white/Asian hair by the media and hair extension industries has made the natural hair to be regarded as too tough to manage, unkempt, or old-fashioned, causing people to opt for the seemingly classy and fashionable option of relaxing/perming their hair using chemical treatments or using hair extensions. To make matters worse, salons discriminate and shy away from the natural hair partly because they lack the required skills to manage it and more because they consider styling the chemically-treated hair and hair extensions to be faster to complete as well as fetch them more money than working on the natural hair. One would have thought that if rates were the problem, they would have standardised their fees while demonstrating a mastery of the natural hair. Unfortunately, because we do not understand how to maintain and style the natural hair in a chic and modern way, it is rather despised and regarded as ‘old-school’ (old-fashioned) and left for the ‘poor’, the locals in remote areas, or the ‘S.Us’ (a label given to conservative Christians). The name ‘S.U.’ had originated from the Scripture Union, a conservative Christian movement in Nigeria that started some decades ago and became especially popular for their natural hair. The natural-hair style is still maintained by offshoot conservative Christian groups today, although becoming less popular with time.
This perception is rather sad and contrary to what I found on leaving Nigeria for the UK where I discovered a totally different perception of the natural African hair. I found Africans in the diaspora sporting their natural hair with pride and style and it made me proud to be an African. I quickly realised that my kinky and unruly natural hair is a symbol of my identity, first as a Nigerian and as an African. It has got nothing to do with my religious affiliations or being poor or local and should be worn and styled with pride. Even the white and Asians do admire the style and texture of our hair, which confirms the saying that the world treats us however we treat ourselves.
We are facing an identity problem back home and it affects everything about us, including our hair and the colour of our skin. On skin toning, reports even show that Nigerian women tops list for skin-lightening products (http://www.enca.com/africa-life/nigeria-tops-list-skin-lightening-products). Where is our pride as Africans?
Having personally experienced the struggles of maintaining the natural hair, I have a strong desire to partner with interested institutions to enlighten our people back home, especially on the natural hair. There would, of course, be the need to empower hair stylists as well in order to unleash their art of creativity in making their services available to even the average woman in the society and affordable. Hairstylists who are currently skilled to manage the natural hair are mainly located in the posh areas and not accessible to the average woman because of their high rates.
I am thrilled to discover that the African hair is an active area of research and was more thrilled to learn of the American hairstylist, Andre Walker’s work and his classification of the hair, which was as a result of his hands-on experience with the natural African-American hair. I hope to be able to make a difference in restoring our African pride in this area.
(My sincere apologies for having written a feedback so lengthy. It is because the subject of understanding and maintaining the natural African hair as well as the science behind it has been very dear to my heart.)
Thank you so much for this article.
”….Having personally experienced the struggles of maintaining the natural hair, I have a strong desire to partner with interested institutions to enlighten our people back home, especially on the natural hair.”
Get in touch. I’m trying to put together such an initiative.
Hello,
Did you get my email about a week ago? I wonder if I’ve got the right one as I had used the one on this page. If not, how can I reach you please?
It’s all the same here in Rwanda, people find it weird that I rock my natural hair..And now that i want to BC, they all have these horrified faces
But this time i am determined to do it.
I am a 16 year old Nigerian American and I can honestly say that Nigeria’s mentality with natural hair is that you have it as a child but once you reach adolescence or adulthood, its either relaxed or hidden away in weaves. especially when in the schools, you are supposed to have cornrows. i haven’t been to Nigeria in near 3 years, but from what I hear from others who have went and such straight hair and soft hair is always optimum and people will make fun of your hair if it’s not. I never had that problem since i had what they considered “good” Fulani hair (I’m half Fulani half Hausa) but alot of my cousins did and its sad. Another thing they do is bash you if you are darker. I remember one time my cousin, who’s darker than both her parents and her siblings( looks exactly like her aunt from her dad’s side though) was insulted severely by her mother because she did something wrong. Her mother called her stupid useless charcoal. I could never forget that because that just showed me the racism was even in the middle of west africa. Another thing is i went to the naming ceremony for a baby( Nigerians would understand) and all the older people were saying that they hoped the baby wouldn’t get darker. It just blew my mind, and I was so angry
I agree with oye.. People should be left with their choices. I am Nigerian by birth, Live in Lagos Nigeria and i have been natural for a year and 4months now. Nigerian Ladies are realizing how amazing their natural hair can be and lots of girls have taken bold steps to Big choppp-ing and starting over with proper tener care and love.
http://www.leylarhcadne.com
Hey Ladies! I’m proudly Nigerian & I’ve been natural for just over a year now. I believe this site is meant to support women who’ve decided to go natural & not oppose those who don’t. It’s not a trend here but it’s not as negative as it has been presented to. I think people should be allowed to make their choices as it suites them.
Yeah but don’t you worry cause in a few years they will go back. They do what the States do and what black celebs do, so if enough of them go natural then they will too. Its not for the right reason, but sometimes you have to take a win as a win.
Its hard to comment when there is no link to read about-apparently to access the discussion you have to be a member lol.
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This is funny cos I live in Nigeria (Lagos) buh I spend most of my holidays outside Nigeria and I’m planning to leave for school in a month (outside Nig) *u knw why* anywhu! I went for a forum for ladies today organised by my church and all I had in my head was “I need to spot a lady with natural hair and rocking it on purpose”. We all know hw the story ended yh? No? Well I went home disappointed!! Most ladies were rocking “brazilian weaves” or braids with their egdes totally relaxed and gone!!!!!
I’m always on the look-out for natural ladies lyk me buh *sigh* the ones I see are usually “not in Nigeria”. I’ll blame this on lack of information.
I decided to go natural wen I was in london…randomly scanned youtube looking for wot to do to my hair cos of d ‘not so friendly’ wheather and BAM! I saw a couple of videos!
Big chopped-Got home-funny stares-nice comments-im still loving it.
BoTtom line is on this side of the world, trends such as “going natural” don’t sink in as fast as those trends sink in-in other parts of the world!
I’m 50% sure if these ladies know they can rock the “bohemian look” with their natural hair? *tsk tsk*…..
It is a choice we all make. I remember when I was about 6 or so … I wanted to have my hair permed or at least blown out but my mom refused. My reason? All the big “Aunties” were doing it. I waited till primary 6 and decided I wanted my natural hair chopped off because short hair looked so good then. I had to relax the hair when I was in the JS 2 cos the women who did my hair in the local market complained that it was too thick and not very long and would charge me extra ALL THE TIME. Relaxing became my comfort cos it was cheaper, I could even do the cornrows myself since the hair was permed thereby saving my hair money for other things I wanted. In college, I could do anything to the hair since it was permed: cut it so short and have those darling styles toni braxton used to have in her earlier days, etc. In 2009 I decided to go natural again. Why? The weather here in America was not helping me at all. My hair for years had been falling off. Uneven patches of hair loss. It was a big decision cos I could have gone back to my short perms but the money … I could not afford every week not less than $70 for just a wash and set not even a perm! So Natural it was. The reason most people dont do natural in Nigeria is the inconvenience of doing so. Perm is easy, and the air has more moisture in it than here in the States, hence my ability to stay permed in Nigeria without the profound hair loss I suffered in the States. Its no wonder why a lot of people are seen wearing braids in the winter. Its not a sad thing that Nigerian women do not wear their hair more natural. Its a choice thing. Do I think its the best thing? Nope, cos now that I’m natural, I can see what I lost the many years I went permed. However, it is a choice a woman has to make for herself. But I strongly believe that kids should be left natural till they are old enough … all that chemical and heat … who knows what damage it does to their brains.
*notify*
Everyone has said it already.
There are many reports, articles and what nots, Nigeria is extremely developed in terms of how its people relate and can blend in with the rest *ahem* the western world, like you can find Chinese people in every country in the world, you can also find Nigerians.
Nigerian of not, black women just want to look like what is idolised as an attractive or good looking or fashionable young black woman.
This unfortunately is repeatedly publicised by the West and Europe as the beyonces, the kelly’s, there are no more Moesha’s, and Jill scott doesn’t really fall into the mainstream category.
I would disagree about Nigerians not wearing their hair natural.
Though the movement isn’t big, I think Africans are more comfortable with their natural hair, it is not a common thing for toddlers to have their hair relaced, most mothers will make their children wear braids or more likely plait the girl’s hair.
I see women wearing their hair natural or if not natural, with some “Expressions” hair fibre in a kinky style to lengthen their cornrows. More women wear their hair closer to traditional than they do in Africa (for obvious reasons).
What I mean is who’s to say that African women ever evolved to wear their hair natural in the first place, most are skilled in how to weave thread around their hair (you know the style your mum made you wear, that people made fun ‘cos they looked like spider legs with wire wound around). I wouldn’t completely call this natural, all sorts of additions to the hair, be it thread/wool or modern day plastic Kanekalon or Expressions fibre, African women love to adorn.
Be it by weave or by cornrow. It’s all been done.
I am Nigerian American, 19 born in Nigeria, came abroad when i was 10 now live in Philly. I think the reason that a lot of Nigerians are not natural is because the Western culture is a very big part of the way we live, we adore everything about America from the food to the language, if perming our hair makes us look a bit more American thats what we will do. i know it makes no sense but you have to understand that we are a developing country so not everyone has the access to learn about the benefits of natural hair, or even the opportunity to see other sisters with there natural hair. we are a product of our environment and its going to take time for us to be educated. our mothers are relaxed our grandmothers are relaxed our friends and our neighbors, the few that are natural are frowned upon and ridiculed, so we relax, and we relax. but we are growing and we are learning it just takes patients. natural hair in america was not as popular now as it was 10 years ago but look and the mark were making. just give me some time i plan on making Nigeria Natural on girl at a time.
i always wanted to wear my hair natural even when i lived in Nigeria for the following reasons,
tired of the burns those relaxers cause and secondly all the home grown stylists who kept complaining” your hair too strong ,e no dey relax on time” who cares to be made to feel like what you have naturally growing from your head is bad!black women irrespective of our nationality should embrace what God has given us.We didnt choose our hair our hair chose us;for a purpose(for us to celebrate our strength ,freedom,victory and beauty through the pains of slavery or colonization whatever your historical background is. Once i made the decesion i asked God for strength to go through with it.am HAPPIEST BEING NATURAL.If you are natural and friends and family are asking you questions how you did it,grab them by the hand and encourage them until they get there.
I am a Nigerian, born bred and brought up in Nigeria, currently living in Nigeria (Port Harcourt) and every day i see other Nigerians with natural hair just like mine. And underneath most of the braids and weaves/weave-ons u see going around, alot of the ladies are natural.
By the way, who cares if u want to apply relaxer to ur hair until it stretched within an inch of its life. It all boils down to choice. One lady likes to wear make-up, another lady prefers the “natural” look. one lady attaches long artificial nails…another lady grows hers out. One lady chooses to use a padded bra…lol. and another lady decides to remain naturally flat. Everybody has a choice…and its up to each person to make choices based on the influences within and around them.(Did u ever stop to think that natural hair might be a luxury some people cannot even afford?…i remember getting my first batch of natural hair care products from – bless her soul – http://www.thekinkyapothecary.blogspot.com , and someone saw my bill…she asked if i was going to use the products for a year or a month?)
So please, enough of these stereotypes. There are more important and life changing things to be sad about than the hair choices of Nigerian women.
Try being sad about the number of children dying of hunger in some parts of the world, or the fact that Malaria is still a killer disease in some developing countries!!!
In my opinion, you’re allowed to feel sadness over a wide range of issues 🙂
I feel sad (yes,I do) that I have to place this annoying weave over my head because I want to look ‘presentable’ and ‘refined’ to get this job. If our people embrace the versatility and beauty of natural hair, then it would be a grand delight.
Btw, we all don’t have to use carol’s daughter, and the likes. The adage says ‘cut your coat according to your cloth (not size)’, so for those who can’t afford the shea moistures, CD, AOHSR etc, Shea-butter, coconut oil, black soap, olive oil and any slippery conditioner, would do…and they would not add up N1,500 (I can break it down for you), which isn’t even up to the amount spent in braiding the air (excluding extensions). They can also steam their hair using hot water and a towel, if they can’t afford a steamer, or the paltry sum the salons would charge to have your hair steamed.
Just my tots.
PS: Yay, for Thekinkyapothecary…she’s a hair-lifesaver.
Correction: *braiding the hair*
Strangely enough when I first discovered this site I realised that there were a lot of Nigerians who were natural than Ghanaians 🙁 …
On another note im finding it difficult to convince my aunt to go natural; when I first told her I was going natural she said to me well your hair is curly so it will look good on you surprisingly I got the same response from everyone I told :/ …so far I only got a friend of mine and her sister and my mums friend to go natural..
I think some people maybe reluctant because they think their hair is unmanageable due to the afro texture only if knew…
I thought I would add this in because it directly pertains to this article and it also kind of gives an “inside”/ everyday look at the attitude towards natural hair in Nigeria:
http://www.curlynikki.com/2010/07/when-are-you-going-to-relax-your-hair.html
the article is from Curly Nikki, stumbled across it today, how ironic 🙂
I believe the reason why natural hair is frowned upon in Nigeria is because Africa is going through a “modernization” phase that doesn’t just include stable access to electricity and internet but also social and cultural “modernization” as well. Actually, you could call this more of “Americanization”.
Anything from the western world is upholded is as better than anything African and since most of the Media that exposes North American culture in Nigeria displays women with relaxed hair and weaves, natural hair is frowned upon. Relaxers and weaves have become a regular part of modern African culture the same way it’s a part of black cultures in other parts of the world.
I live in Canada and I know a lot of Nigerian girls who were born and raised in Nigeria and very few of them are natural, most of them are addicted to the creamy crack and weaves like everyone else. (Actually, where I live, most of the black people are either from Africa or their parents are from Africa, there is an extremely small population of “African Canadian” people where I live). I myself am Nigerian but I was born and raised in Canada (my parents are from Nigeria). I think Black Americans have a very skewed image of modern African culture.. a lot of these people are just trying to emulate western culture.
I am Nigerian, and grew up in the Uk,I staarted realxing my hair about 11 years old, I stopped, then started again a about 15 years of age. I’m now 19, and have been having conversations with my brother- he’s been encouraging me and my sister to go natural- as this is our god- given har and that we should embrace it.
I never had a problem with natural hair, but when I did go natural at 15, I remembered the reasons why I kept on realxing it in the first place ( the pain of handling it! the time it takes to take care of it). I always said I’d love nautural hair if there was some magical way of taming it, and keeping it soft and long. As I often think of ways I’d experiment with it, if I was natural. I think afro hair is so versatile- but am put off by the pain of handling, and maintenance.
Does anyone know or have any suggestions of any products you’d STRONGLY recommend for natural hair which makes it manageble??
also I was inspired by the 5 yr old girl with wasit length hair!!!!
I wonder- is there a way for me to effectively grow my hair, without having to have my hair out- but in braids/weave??
Hey! I’m so happy i stumbled upon your website, i think it is so helpful. I am a Nigerian woman who recently moved to London from Nigeria(lagos). About 2years ago i decided to cut off all my hair, i had been thinking about it for ages but never had the guts. I finally cut it when my hair stopped relaxing and always had a curly half inch at the bottom.
The reactions i got from people varied quite a bit but the main one was disbelief. Noone could understand why i would choose my curly “unmanageable” natural hair instead of straight easily styled relaxed hair. There i was in nigeria and i was suddenly acutely aware of how brainwashed we were about our hair. Even in the villages the idea that relaxed hair was good hair was present and for the first time in my life i had to sit and think about why i had been relaxing my hair at all.
I am a doctor and i actually got called in by one of my bosses in nigeria to discuss my decision to be natural, how it didn’t quite look right.
I must admit that at first i gave into the pressure and texturized my hair, i somehow thought that it wasn’t quite relaxing but now i know better.
Nigerian women are extremely fashionable and stylish and unfortunately, having relaxed hair has become deeply entrenched in our collective psyche. it is completely normal to have relaxed hair and strange to be a young adult professional woman and want to keep your hair in it’s natural state. It seems to be acceptable for people in more creative professions but for people in the corporate world, fitting in frequently involves having a weave or braids, definitely not a fro.
I have found my natural hair journey to be an extremely challenging one. i have been tempted several times to go back to relaxing but thankfully have not done so. I enjoying discovering what my real hair is all about, it’s likes and dislikes and i finally feel like i am me for the first time in so long.
I think that a woman can be beautiful with natural or relaxed hair but the most important thing is that she must be able to decide which style she wants to wear without feeling like she is choosing one style to fit in with the people around her. Black her is not bad hair, in spite of the fact that we have been made to think so.
I am Nigerian American.
I grew up in a household (in America) that frowned upon natural hair. Both of my parents grew up in Nigeria and I know from viewing my mother’s photos that she did have natural hair growing up..
I guess times have def changed.. My mom was outraged when I (at 24 years old) came home to visit rocking my once Arm pit length relaxed hair now big chopped to 1 inch and natural.
March of 2009 I went home to Nigeria to visit (this was my first adult visit. My last time there I was 16 years old). I was surprised to see almost NO natural women around me. I visited Abuja, Port Harcourt and Obosi and the only natural people I saw where males, young school girls and some elderly women.
Nice!, discovered your webpage on digg.Glad I finally tried it out. Unsure if its my Firefox browser,but sometimes when I visit your site, the fonts are really small? However, love your site and will return.Bye
I am not nigerian but heres my perspective,
one of my closest friends is a freelance model(NYC), she is almost very deeply into this industry and i have met many people through her (models, photographers, etc) NYC is a big giant pot of networking so being in the fashion industry period, you’re gonna be dealing with every aspect and meeting people from every strand(I am an aspiring stylist).
Theres a running joke about the nigerian models of the NYC fashion scene. ONE is that they never date within their race, you always see them strolling down the streets of soho with a white man on their arms, not only that but they only hang out with white female models, and/or the nigerian models like themselves.(their very snotty)
Second you will never see one with their natural hair out..they always have in top quality weave freshly sewed down their backs
Once again this is just jokes that i always here floating around from people.not really my personal experience with these models(however i have seen these exact situations that are being joked about come to life in front of me) but i do find the frequency and consistency peculiar.
Also i dont think this explains EVERY nigerian model, just the ones that you see often
I read your article and was intrigue to leave a comment as well. I recently came back from Nigeria (Victoria Island) and I see an abundance of natural and women who wear weaves. In this day in age African culture has been mended with western cultures alike. People tend to forget Naija was British Colonized so a lot of ways we have adapted from European cultures. I am natural and never had a negative stereotype plague me when I went back home. Naturals are widely accepted in Nigeria. Is it the norm now, that is debatable. I feel that trends are adaptable over time and yes Nigerian cultures also follows that seg-way rule as do many other cultures. Its seems like people think that Nigeria or even Africa itself stopped progressing. The country is heavily populated with technology and trendy aspect as due most of the world. We still do hold our tradition very valuable to heart as will. My family is believe in our Yoruba culture and needless to say it will be a part of me where ever my hair blows me.
Recently, I watched a talk on youtube (I think) given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the acclaimed Nigerian author of “Purple Hibiscus”, “Half of a Yellow Sun”, and “The Thing Around Your Kneck”. The title of the talk was “The Danger of the Single Story” (or something along those lines) and its theme was that human beings often base their knowledge and/or perceptions of others on a single story culled from a limited source. The single story of Africa is what sparked this thread, i.e., as a place where only “natural things” are allowed including hair, where everyone lives in abject poverty, people are fed by the UN, absolutely everyone lives in a hut and carries a spear, and absolutely no one has seen a tv or read a book.
A good number of Americans (including African-Americans) have this one-dimensional view of Africa that is so dangerously myopic. In my experience, when Americans encounter individuals or viewpionts from the Continent that don’t fit their understanding of what it means to be African, they seem perplexed. This is what started this thread: an American “discovered” that not all Nigerians like to be natural…and THIS is supposed to be news. That’s like “discovering” that not all African-Americans like the use of the word Nigger. Question. Do all Americans like to be natural? I think not. So, why do you expect ALL Nigerians to like to be natural? Why is your expectation of us so different from your expectation of yourselves? Are we not human beings with a myriad of likes and dislikes just like you?
The best tip that I can give to those reading that are unfamiliar with Nigeria or any other African country, is to not assume anyting about any African country and keep an open mind. This goes for any country. The world has gone global and it is a market place of ideas, which are constantly being exchanged to those who care to participate. Also, traditional practices/customs/belief systems have not died simply becuase we are living in a modern era either.
As for the hair thing, as a Nigerian (of the Igbo ethnic group), I have to first say that I do not know the face of every Nigerian experience when it comes to hair, so it is difficult, if not impossible, for me to generalize without a qualitative or quantitative study. Nigeria is extremely diverse with over 200 ethnic groups, languages, dialiects, etc. It is also a country in transition in terms of development with a mix of old world and new. Given this diversity and dynamics, hair preferences is on a slippery-slope. In other words, hair preferences seem to be influenced by a number of factors: media (especially Nollywood), where one resides (rural vs. city), purchasing power, social strata, expectations of family and friends, access to hair services and products, personal convictions, etc.
When last I was in Nigeria, I went to a salon in Dolphin Estates in Lagos. While having my hair braided by two young males, I observed that many of the clientele had weaves, HOWEVER, when the weaves were taken out, underneath were an abundance of long beautiful natural hair. I was informed by the stylists that a lot of the clientele had natural hair underneath their weaves and used weaves for convenience and as a means of hair growth. Of course, there were plenty of women getting relaxers and braids too. When I went to one rural area, I noted that traditional hairstyles such as braids, cornrows, and threading predominated, though threading seems to be on the decline.
I grew up in Nigeria and the US. My parents (both academics) did not allow me to relax or straighten my hair until I got to University.
I resented it immensely having to go through high school in Madison Wisconsin with natural hair, but I am so glad for it now because it taught me to understand and be comfortable with my hair.
I now live in a small town in the UK with no access to African-Caribbean salons. I have been natural now for almost 5 years and will never go back.
Went home to Nigeria recently with natural hair and every one couldn’t stop going on about my hair. Wore it in twists-outs using a UK brand – NaturalCurls – http://www.naturalcurls.co.uk.
Everyone thought I had texturised it and I spent half of my visit explaining the dos and donts of shampooing, cowashing, conditioning our natural hairtype.
My hair is shoulder-length, my grandmother, mother and aunty have hair down to their backs – and all they use is black soap, shea butter and coconut oil….go figure really!!!!
People tend to forget that when the slave trade happened and we were all brainwashed by European Masters, they were also fuckin up Africa. So yes a lot of African girls do have permed hair.
Oprah actually will not allow her girls to get perms due to the high maitenance.
But I was in the African Students Organization at my old college. Out of a fairly large, predominetly female organization I think only four of us had natural hair. Most of them gave my friend and I the cold shoulder because of our hair, staired at my head, or asked me judgemental questions. I’m not the type to seperate Africans from African Americans, I’ve noticed that that is a African predominet thing. Once we start drawing “tribal” lines we can all easily be divided and conquered. Last time I checked my the face I see in the mirror reflex mostly Africa regardless of what country I was born in.
But I think it will take a lot to convert more women into being natural. But I think we’re coming a long way.
Hi,
I’m from Mali, and the vision of hair there is quite different than it is in Nigeria. Malians are very proud of their history and culture ( most African empires, Songhai, Mali, Ghana etc took their roots there). Being westernized ( they call it assimilé) is not a desirable thing there. Nonetheless, some women do bleach their skin, and many in cities relax or use weaves/wigs. Still, there is a huge variety of hairstyles (including the afro in some cities of the North where men and women sport huge afros), and most people would not wear a westernized hairstyle in a special occasion( wedding…). Most of the population is not relaxed, mostly because they do not have access to such products nor the desire to do so. Furthermore, Fulani women who usually have long and woolly natural hair often is like the idea of relaxing. Things do vary from ethnical group to ethnical group.
Keep in mind that this is a country where you can find every skin color, since Arabs, Fulanis, Bambaras, Berbers and other cultures have lived together for so long.
It is true that Americans have a huge influence on popular culture worldwide. I also think that a lot of Africans would rather identify themselves with Americans than with what is happening aroud them (poor countries, corruption, even tough there are good and wonderful things in Africa).
Last, there are at least 900 million Africans, so I doubt Nigeria is 15%; even if it were, it would by no means be representative of the continent.
@ mo,
I think the other high profile nigerian woman u r thinkin of is Ruth Benemesia-Opia. I loved her flava. She was a very popular newscaster/show host. Didn’t know she had gone into publishing/business (if she is actually the one u were referring to).
Basically agree w/ much that's been said. Won't say too much more (LOL). I was born & raised in TX but I'm a Nigerian. I transitioned and BC'ed in 2004.
As has been stated, most of the naturals are young girls. But, in the larger cities, especially Lagos, a woman is considered "bush" or "village" or "local" if she allows her hair or HER CHILD's HAIR to be natural. That's right, people are relaxing their 3+ y.o. girls' hair. A mess! And it looks it! Very sad.
When I was in Nigeria in 2007, my older cousin who's 40 saw my hair and said that she felt bad b/c "there you are in the US and yet I don't want to be like white people" but "here I am [referring to herself in Nigeria] mimicking them". She even told a religious friend of hers, a man, who came and prayed prayers of thanks for me. (Yes, that part was kinda weird! Lol.) On that trip the neighbor/braider who came to do my hair was astonished about how soft my natural hair was, she kept saying "but your hair could be this long [pointing] if you relaxed" and saying "but you hair will be paining you. isn't it paining you?" Um, no. I told her that education is key. She also said that she had to change her hair b/c "their hair [white ppl's] is better". I think she heard herself in that moment and really reflected!
The sad part is that most AFRICAN BRAIDERS (or hairdressers) know NOTHING. I mean NOTHING. Heck, most "African braiders" in America know NOTHING. I keeps it real y'all! *I actually consider this type of conscious "other-love" to be a good thing. If we can be conscious of our wanting to be like someone else, we can grow to be equally conscious about our wanting to be like ourselves!
I was in Nigeria for 3months in 2008. I was in Lagos this time and saw the Hotmess that was the weave game. NO WORDS! I came in wearing twist exts and privately converted them to twists w/o exts. At first this "beautician" that I was friendly with complimented them, then she dissed them, like two days later, and "advised" me to come to her shop. LOL. Sad thing is I later saw her getting her hair done. :0 BALD spots the size of your palm and where there was hair, the scalp could still be seen. I was very sad indeed. My cousin's wife took an interest in my hair but a female cousin told me that I look "scattered". In my family, my hair is considered to be holding me back from beauty. LOL.
But everything is not bad in Nigeria. I wanna say 50% of the school girls at any given time (maybe 75%) have natural hair in the form of low-cut fros b/c of school rules. There's also the religious — and yes ppl ask you if you're one of the "white garment ppl" when you go around natural! There are also the older women who've never relaxed. They're mostly in smaller cities and towns and no one (20-30s) wants to "look like an Auntie".
The Nigerian actress w/ locs is Dakore Egbuson. She's major. 😉
The only other Nigerian in Nigeria in a position of power I've met w/ natural hair is… her name escapes me, but she has beautiful locs, owns/runs a major publishing company. (There's only like two.) She's back in Nigeria after several years abroad. A real ball buster, and yes, I say that as a compliment.
@ Sugabelly
Lol ^_^, I may have been kinda harsh but that's only because, I don't want ppl to go on thinking that Africa is one sided and primitive. I looooove my culture and I love what my tribe has given to me <3. Lol, if you had read the rest of my message, you would have known =P.
I myself admire tribal images and I love wearing traditional to special occasions (ex. church, nigerian functions/conventions, parties) wayyy more than I love western.
I respect my culture and I respect what it has given me. I just feel as if Americans dont look at the whole picture and instead take what they stereotype Africa to be and claim it as their heritage… its frustrating and it is the root of many misunderstandings/misconceptions =( =P.
Why should I distance myself from my Efik roots? I loooove them and I love my country ^_^ <3. Even if I was born here, lol. I'm still a Nigerian, it's still a huge part of my life.
And lol, even though you have good intentions, alot of us Americans are pretty ignorant, I would be if it weren't for the fact that I am only 1st gen… The images although beautiful can mislead and I'm seriously tired of dealing with ignorant comments from kids in skool about Nigerians and Africa as a whole… it's so frustrating…
Besides, no offense but, who are you to tell me what I believe or what I'm doing is wrong? Is speaking my opinion "distancing" myself? Who are you to tell me what my own culture consists of when I def know wayyyy better than you? Seriously, that's an insult. Do you even understaaaand the pain that is a result of my ppl being looked down on? Ppl seem to think we think we are better than AA's cuz we are true Africans. They think we stick their noses up at them… and they are ignorant to our rich culture. Like I said before, I love my tribe and it's uniqueness but I'm tired of ppl thinking that's all there is to Africa… I'm tired of people thinking because of the pomp and regality associated with our tribes, we assume we are better. Hey, maybe we are, lolol… jkjkjk but seriously, for those that do feel that way… we might as well be.
Besides, you don't really seem to understand either…
@Zara:
There was nothing wrong with her posting those pictures.
Just because most Nigerian cities and towns are fairly westernized does not mean that millions of Africans don't live in every day tribal settings.
Even in Nigeria in the villages there are LOADS of people that still wear all their traditional clothing, still worship all the gods, still celebrate all the festivals, and still do all the traditional hairstyles with their natural hair.
Sure, in Nigeria IN PARTICULAR they are becoming hardER and hard-ER to find, but that does not mean that these people do not go about their business everyday in Nigeria.
There is nothing wrong with tribal pictures. They are who we are. A lot of the time, Africans are too quick to scream that Africa is modern and westernized as if they feel insulted by tribal images.
I don't feel ashamed of my heritage. Sure, Nigeria is definitely quite modern, but modern need not mean the West and all its attributes.
I just had to say that because your indignance seems (at least to me) to be stemming from your need to distance yourself from the people in those images.
Besides, you missed the whole point of African Style Week.
I suggested most of those pictures to BGLH and the rationale behind my suggestion was that photographs of OLD/FORMER CENTURY Africans demonstrated the incredible versatility of African hair and enlightened modern naturals on possible hairstyles to try (for when we get tired of always doing two strand twists).
THAT was the point. The point was not to claim that this is how every African is, or how every African dresses or looks. The point was that many modern day Africans are turning to hair straightening so modern day Africans are not a good source of inspiration for natural hairstyle ideas.
I suggested and supplied some of those pictures because I (and correctly I might add) wanted everyone to seek inspiration from the greatest (and most vast) source of natural hair inspiration on Earth: Our Ancestors.
So, I think we all know on this blog that Nigeria (and other parts of Africa) are modern and have all the trappings that modern technology affords, but I would not be so quick (as you have been) to distance myself from the people that came before me.
It is not generalization, it is just pure fact.
Oh and also… I just realized that I am a huge exception with my hair… my mom and sister are as well. My fam lives in Abuja (I think they moved, lol) and I think that has something to do with them looooving my hair. Like, they loooove it… no joke, lol. My one nigerian cousin who has lived in kentucky all her life though loved my hair but thought hers would be ugly and said I had asian in me….
WHAAAAT?!?! lolol, that's ridiculous XD! We have the same line down to our grandmother =P! It is only split paternally.
Well anywho, I just thought i'd give more examples and apologize for being so harsh, lol ^_^. It's just that the whole hair thing is really personal =). Especially to me cuz, I am a Nigerian <3.
I hate when people make ignorant generalizations or think that natural hair connects them more to "Africa". What is that??? Seriously? The whole natural hair business is more taboo there than it is here and only people with curly hair really tend to wear it natural but even then, they still feel uncomfortable in their skin. Even with the pictures you posted bglh, I'm not even gonna lie… that was pretty ignorant considering the fact that those were TRIBAL pictures and because Africa is quite westernized, they dont represent the culture much at all. We may still celebrate our culture through ritual, dance, food, and more but, Nigerian cities look aloooot like American ones. The major difference is less access to certain technologies but, we are very advanced and the cities are gorgeous with beautiful architectural detail…
sorry, had to get that striaght… anywho…
I love natural hair and, my family from the beginning has supported it, even my cousin who actually lives in Naija but visits wants to go natural cuz of me. There is a huge misconception about natural hair there and so weaves, braids, perms, and other things that alter natural hair texture prevail. There, it's not thought really that our hair can be curly or beautiful but mine is… and i am 100% nigerian. One might argue that becuase my tribe the Efik in Calabar is fairly light (lightish copper with yellow undertones…) but, that is a silly argument and cant be used cuz I'm black and I'm not nearly as light as some of the other ppl in my tribe =P.
Anywho, I HAAAATE GENERALIZATIONS! I know you feel that being all pro Africa makes you feel complete but us actual ppl who are 1st gen americans or still live in our countries and can actually trace our ancestry down only one tribe feel that it's ignorant and obnoxious. Some others might not but, all my Nigerian friends do and my family does and just about every other Nigerian I know thinks it's insulting… so yah…
@Amina:
"If you look at our pre-colonial art and sculpture no one was wearing an afro just out or dreads which in most Nigerian cultures are a sign of madness or being unkempt (i.e. the not combing the hair)."
This is untrue/inaccurate. First of all, there are scores off pictures of precolonial Nigerians with natural curls and afros. Have you read George Basden's Among the Ibos of the Niger? It is full of pictures of people with afros, natural curls and other hairstyles.
It was the EUROPEANS that taught Nigerians that not combing your hair was dirty/unkempt, and that dreadlocks were a sign of madness because the Europeans were used to combing their own hair everyday and didn't realise that this was not good for Nigerian hair.
Our precolonial art and sculpture is full of examples. You just aren't looking hard enough. People mostly focus on the collections of Britain and America, but our art is spread all over the world in miniscule private collections and in obscure countries too.
I'm Nigerian and I agree that natural hair isn't very popular. I don't really think it's all colonization's fault. If you look at our pre-colonial art and sculpture no one was wearing an afro just out or dreads which in most Nigerian cultures are a sign of madness or being unkempt (i.e. the not combing the hair). There were braids and twists and thread styles. African-Americans ideas about what is African and what actually IS African are very different. The Nigerian people I know with natural hair are rarely doing it to go "back to their roots" or to "do things the natural way," its their preference or they might be doing it for their hair's health or to copy the current African-American trend. I have natural 4c hair that is about APL when stretched but its always in braids or weaves because I cannot get past my ingrained cultural prejudices on locs (which are thus not for me) and I'm pretty conservative in appearance and mostly like to have my hair in a bun but my hair tends to fight off the ponytail holders I use for my buns unless I use like 35-40 hairpins and those elastic headbands to hold it down. As for why I'm natural, I wanted to see what my natural hair looked like and that's where I am right now, I may or may not later on choose to relax. I don't see my hair as this big identity thing. It's just hair. People of different races alter their hair to what they like, it's just hair.
I'm Nigerian-American and my mom hates my hair, but many of my aunts love it. My mom is the queen of weave on. I just chalk it up to her being Americanized/white-washed living in this country. It really is hard to avoid.
Missing from this discussion is the fact that Nigerians who have migrated come to the U.S. and emulate the styles they see here and then go back home to visit. They are seen as hip American-based Nigerians. So they too show Nigerians what it means to look upwardly mobile. My relatives are very cognizant of this and make sure their hair/nails/everything is done before they go back. And that often time means looking like Beyonce or whomever.
Nevertheless, we have to take responsibility for the cultural hegemony we exact on Africans. We sell images of Black America that Black people around the world want to emulate. And the fact of the matter is we haven't demanded that the media be more inclusive in its portayal of black hair. At the same time, wouldn't we be imposing hegemony in wanting Africans to be more like us and appreciate natural hair?
Any natural hair movement, to really not be about Americans imposing their standards of beauty on the world (and that includes Black Americans). has to come from the ground up. We should support Africans who engage in hair consciousness themselves and we shouldn't be quick to judge places where people aren't dancing to our beat. It's been a process for natural hair to be accepted here in the U.S. We shouldn't expect otherwise for other countries.
Finally, whites are partially to blame for creating ideas here that their hair is the norm and black hair is the worst there is. But we are too. We judge some black girls as prettier than other based on it. Black men often seek out the white-like weave on their potential love interests. So while white people created it, we perpetuate it–both here and abroad.
By 95, weaves were for people who knew about it and could afford it. Most people just braided their hair,with the various options or relaxed their hair.
Weaves started gaining a little ground around 1990/91. Back then it was a few track sewn in, blended with relaxed hair and styled to resemble the woman's hair.People still do it today.
I grew up in Nigeria and moved here when I was 9 (this was in 1995). I was natural the entire time I was there and so were most of my friends my age. Maybe I wasn't aware but I did not notice women walking around with weaves on their heads. I mostly saw braids or maybe pressed hair. My mom recently went back and noted to me how many women were walking around with wigs and weaves in their heads and I was somewhat alarmed. I'm guessing it's a recent trend and I hope it does stop, it's really sad to hear :/
I am not going to do this with you on this blog.Why? I only wish you peace and love.
I have influenced AT LEAST 15 women to go natural in my inner circle with love and encouragement.What is your record?
P.s. I have never witnessed a natural bashing,as you call it, so call me a liar. I reiterate your limited contact of Nigerian women,because you assume I only know a handful of non religious naturals.Why only a handful? Maybe because YOU only know a handful?Your perceptions are clearly not mine and that of a lot of Nigerians so lets agree to part ways on that.
@Anonymous: Did you not see where I said that Nigerians associate natural hair with backwardness, childhood, immaturity, poverty, OVER-RELIGIOUSITY, etc????
And yes, to have natural hair in Nigeria is to burn and die. Those people that follow all those churches in Nigeria with natural hair are labeled. And what we are trying to fight against is getting labeled by greater society just because you wear your hair natural because the greater society sees those labels as negative whether or not they really are.
That is the reason why in Nigeria when you're walking down the street with natural hair a random person might just come up to you and ask you "Are you Deeper Life?"
because "Deeper Life" is a label that many Nigerians plaster on those with natural hair, and they use Deeper Life to mean "all of those churches".
In the same way "mad" is label, "bush or razz" is a label. They are all negative labels that Nigerians apply to those with natural hair, so YES.
And I don't know who you think you're talking to when you tell me (of all people) to think before I speak about my "limited" contact with Nigerian women. Do you even know who I am? Or where I've lived? I've lived all over Nigeria. I am Nigerian. I've lived in Lagos, in Onitsha, in Jos, in Asaba, in Enugu, in Abuja, in Benin, in Nassarawa, so don't you dare tell me about 'limited contact with Nigerian women'.
I've been in extended and perpetual contact with Nigerian women from all walks of life since I was born so don't you dare.
Just because you happen to know a handful of people that are natural for non-religious reasons does not mean that there are not general negative perceptions about naturals floating about in the Nigerian atmosphere.
Just because you, or I or anyone else on this blog might not care what other people think of our decision to be natural does not mean that Nigerian society in general frowns upon natural hair.
Any Nigerian worth their salt knows this and I mince no words about it. The only Nigerians that are generally free from criticism about their natural hair from the society at large are the Fulanis because their hair is so long and perhaps some Hausa women.
I do not believe any Nigerian that grew up in Nigeria has not at some point in their lives either experienced or witnessed a complete stranger berating someone for their 'due', 'unkempt', 'hard', 'indecent' hair. (In other words natural hair).
Yes, you made a personal choice, and yes, just like you there are lots of other Nigerians that have made personal choices to remain natural, but NO, just because you made your choice and you don't care does not mean that the millions of Nigerians that despise natural hair are just going to evaporate. So stop acting like I'm wrong for pointing out that one truth because they are there and you and I know it.
"To have natural hair in Nigeria is to burn and die."
So I guess those working class educated and successful Deeper life, Apostolic Faith, some assemblies of God, some redeemed, some adventist etc women
and their daughters are burning and dying? I cite these churches only because they have HUGE followings. Plus the non religious natural sophisticated women I know . You may not see them because their hair is mostly in braids, Ghana weaving, or sade style. What about your regular chick in the village? I know a lot of young girls in the village/cities who will not perm (they do not want to look like wet rats when it rains)or wear weaves (willy willy) Open your eyes and only speak to your quite limited contact with the Nigerian woman.
Plus the "mad woman" comments are cultural. How do you spot 99% of people with mental illness? By their unkempt free forming dreads.
P.s. In Nigeria,when you look to your left and kook to your right, you see a black face, so we do not have the pressure, self imposed or not, to assert our "blackness".
I wear my hair natural, and I do not care what the next woman is doing to her hair.Hair is the least of my worries as an African living in the west.
@sugabelly: You apparently missed the "and" in my previous comment. Reposted (with emphasis): "The 'African Diaspora' in particular; i.e., the individuals involved in the initial population movements [e.g., African slaves] >>>and<<< their culturally -identifiable/-affiliated descendants [2nd generation+ (so-called) 'African Americans']. In the instance of this blogpost, it is assumed that the author is speaking from (and to) the perspective of persons who see themselves as that sector of the African Diaspora who are at home in the U.S. (i.e., self-identified 'African-Americans')."
Anonymous: I see what you mean, but Africans in the US generally DON'T identify themselves as African-American.
@Sugabelly,
"Actually the Diaspora refers to Africans who live abroad, not African Americans or anyone else."
Actually: a literal and first-wave understanding of "the Diaspora" refers to "the movement of any population sharing common ethnic identity who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their settled territory, and became residents in areas often far remote from the former." (Source: Wikipaedia.org"; simple, but succinct.) In this instance, however (as stated above), the author seems to refer to the 'African Diaspora' in particular; i.e., the individuals involved in the initial population movements >and< their culturally -identifiable/-affiliated descendants. In the instance of this blogpost, it is assumed that the author is speaking from (and to) the perspective of persons who see themselves as that sector of the African Diaspora who are at home in the U.S. (i.e., self-identified 'African-Americans'). Capisce?
@Anonymous: Actually the Diaspora refers to Africans who live abroad, not African Americans or anyone else.
"Oh and BTW, I really think that we need to fix the "Dashiki comment". I veiw that as a sterotype against africans kinda. [sic] They're not called dashikis everywhere. Lord knows how many different languages there are in Africa and in one of the many, dashiki probably is the correct term but in general, no."
Oh come now, enough with the "Dashiki" fixation. It seems obvious to me that the author was not stereotyping Africans of any ethnic group, but Black Americans (African-Americans) who call themselves the "Diaspora," and who wrongly (but fondly) mythologize people of "the Motherland" as having greater integrity of authenticity than themselves. Read her words again: "Let's [Let US – i.e., afrocentric Black Americans] take off our dashikis, stop burning that incense, stop using vague diasporic language and discuss this!"
What a person decides to do with their hair is up to them. I think its important that consumers of perms, wigs and other hair "care" products are aware of the ingredients and health risk that these products could possibly cause. I just pray that once the fascination and concerns of our hair fade that black people will focus more on our health.
Oh and BTW, I really think that we need to fix the "Dashiki comment". I veiw that as a sterotype against africans kinda. They're not called dashikis everywhere. Lord knows how many different languages there are in Africa and in one of the many, dashiki probably is the correct term but in general, no. You can say head scarf or whatever but it's not a dashiki in general. I'm from africa and idk what a dashiki was until someone showed meh.
Well, when I went to Nigeria last year, I saw alot of girls of natural hair and that was one of a few things that contibuted to why I was going natural, ANYWHO, people who have natural hair in Nigeria are mostly young girls but they have to get it cut regularly because of school rules and blah blah blah. Once you get out, it's all weave, extenstions and everything. Matter of fact, alot of girls in Nigeria DO have natural hair. It was basically all I saw. But people who have perms or relaxers are thought of like to be more stylish and have more money because they don't sell perms in bottles around the corner of our house like they do in Nigeria. You have to look and look hard for a good hair dresser that can perm your hair well.
I'm Nigerian and proud :3
Check meh out:
http://naijabarbieangelickingdom.blogspot.com/
I’m Nigerian and i just started transitioning about 6 months ago I’m still in sec. school so whenever i go to get my hair cornrowed the first thing out of the braiders mouth is ” your hair is due . wont you relax” , when i tell them i dont want to relax my hair anymore they look at me like im crazy. I asked my mom if i could cut off my relaxed ends and she firmly said ‘no’ like it would be an abomination to have short Afro hair. Ive seen improvement though there is one salon i go to on occasion where the braider asked if i was going natural , and when i said yes she thought it was a good thing and said that a lot of people are comin in to the sanlon wanting to go natural . Overall natural hair is not that popular in Nigeria unless you’re from the village or from the northern parts( its a lot more popular there)
I’m half Ghanaian, half Afro american. When I lived in Ghana for two years of my adolescent life, I saw everyone with either a perm, or a boy cut…aka, short hair cut close to the head.
I remember one day putting temp dreads in my hair. My Ghanaian aunto told me flat out “you look like a mad woman.” When she took me another time to the hairdresser, they tied my hair up in black string. I can’t describe it, it was a really weird style for me, but its a native style. The same aunt told me, “do you know what you look like? An animal! Thats what you look like!” In my mind I was like, “well why did you let them do that to my hair woman??” It was crazy.
Dreadlocks or locks, are not accepted in Ghana at all. Its what “mad” or crazy people wear and so it is associated with that. Thats my two cents.
@Cocoa J: Dashiki is still wrong. It is Danshiki, and it is a HAUSA article of clothing. In East Africa clothing similar to Danshikis are called something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Remember everyone speaks different languages so to say that East Africans would call a Danshiki danshiki is ridiculous. It would be a completely different word in Swahili or Shumom or whatever. Danshiki is a HAUSA word.
There is nothing like Dashiki.
Shi Kenan!
I think Nigeria is a poor place to look at when you are talking about the attitudes towards Natural hair in Africa. I lived there long enough to feel very strongly that the majority of the so-called ‘happening’ Nigerians won’t be happy until the Queen declares Nigeria an annex of the United Kingdom (or Obama and the United States???). I’m very touchy about this topic, because everything that I hear my family boast about when it comes to Nigeria is always some idea that was imported and embraced to the detriment of something homemade (e.g. Yoruba religion, herbal medicine). So it’s no surprise that natural hair gets a bad rap. Of course afros are really an American thing (braids and low level hair are the norm for natural hair in Nigeria, and is still done to a large extent in the rural areas like someone pointed out). Maybe some readers from countries other than Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroun might want to contribute to the conversation so we can get a fuller picture. Especially the smaller francophone countries (Benin Rep. Being my fav!)and Eastern/Northern Africa. I’m sure that there are more Africans who do not have the desire, time or resources to be influenced by styles that are not theirs, and I definitely do not mean that in a negative way.
Just a male’s opinion. Love, love, love your blog btw. Inspirational.
Us born Naija Igbo… put off by your comment about a Dashiki… I think that’s E. Africa… Different countries with different ethnic groups call articles of clothing different things. Please educate yourself.
On to my comment:
I always had the long straight relaxed hair growing up and was praised for it. When I cut my hair short 2 years ago I was questioned by elders I don’t even recall meeting, and now that I’m transitioning, I’m ignored.
Most of my mom’s friends wear wigs or weaves and always comment about her hair [she has relaxed hair past her shoulders that is thick]. For many Igbo woman, having long straight hair is a source of pride and status, it has become part of the culture.
This is a discussion that we need to to talk about more so thank you BGLH. A lot has been said that I agree with. Thanks for bringing up the "dada" issue, Mellowyel. My story is a lil' different. My sister and i had natural hair (boy-cut style) all thruout pry and sec. sch in Lagos because my dad believed (then) that having to braid/relax our hair was too much distraction away from our studies. My sister and I used to hate it so much – and we believed that our parents were denying us the joys of being a young girl with long hair, ribbons and other "girly stuff." But besides us, there were other girls in our schools (like say <5%) who also carried their natural hair braided because their parents believed that young girls should not have perms. Anyways, the point I am trying to make here is that there are some Nigerian parents who also believe that becoming a woman means that you should now perm your hair, and leave your natural days behind.
I for one, am an advocate of NASHURAL HAIR…I just wish I had the guts to do it.
I completely agree with TheLady (above) and had the exact same thoughts regarding the abdication of blame while reading the comments here…
In regard to BombChell’s comment, I’ve lived in Germany and in France for much of my adult life, but I am US born (East Asian/African descent). Let me reassure you, the grouping of those of African descent does NOT work outside of the US.
People of African descent can usually be identified as to their exact origin on site (overseas). This is something that surprised me as an American, because I am used to the ignorant (though well-meaning) grouping or “one-lumping” of people of African descent as it’s done in the US…this is not the case in Germany or France.
Also, one of the easiest ways for me to identify an African-American woman is by looking at her hair. Yes, that’s true. In the military, (at least at the time that I was serving) we had to learn to identify other Americans (in particular) on site if stationed overseas. One of the easiest markers we developed was her hair. Among Caucasian Americans, it was their shoes and sideburns.
So let’s not fool ourselves by thinking or implying, “we all look or dress alike because we all have a level of African lineage”. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Each group throughout the diaspora has their own approach to style, their own culture, and their own features.
Just wanted to set that straight. Great post, BGLH.
americans seem to take a delight in being the more influential culture. im nigerian and my decision to go natural has nothing to do with watching black americans. personal choice is what it is, and these choices are sometimes guided by the dominant ideas where one resides. i wont say nigerian women are trying to be western, i would just say that they(salons, our mothers) do not know how to take care of natural hair, and this is what makes living with it here un heard of, and unwelcome… if we trace it back then maybe we can ‘blame’ african americans and the influx of relaxer or a western idea of beauty, just as ppl seem to take delight in the fact that americans ‘domnate’ the natural hair culture. but for today, it is what it is. natural hair does not make someone more or less african, its all a matter of personal choice.
Oh wow Ade I feel for you. I hope you continue gaining more information about how to handle your hair so that you are happy and that your husband can see the natural you is just as beautiful.
Are there any natural salons that do natural hair maybe you could take a break from doing it yourself sometimes and request a style or carry a reference pic of someone from fotki or other natural hair websites.
I wish you luck AND strength to continue to do what is right for you.
This All-Nigerian girl loves this blog! I just started reading it 5 days ago and I wish I knew about it much earlier 🙁 I cut off my 3 yrs old natchy about 11 mths ago! it was beyond my shoulders but grossly unmanageable so I hid it under braids most of the time. I just couldn’t find the right info as to what products to use to keep it soft and stylable. One of the reasons I actually decided to go naturally was cos I was going to be very busy (and broke.lol) in graduate school so I wanted to go the ‘easy’ and ‘less expensive’ route.
My family was sooooo against it, my natchy was termed “my phase”. But my foreign friends LOVED IT. It was somewhat exciting for them to see me in my short kinky hair this week, cornrolls the next, and long braids the next…lol.Infact during my job search my mum quickly pointed out that “maybe getting a perm would be ideal now. Don’t disqualify yourself from job offers”. So now I’m back to the world of relaxers and hair appointments that take all day, but in retrospect I just wish I was armed with the right knowledge to handle “my phase”.
Let’s see what the future holds; I sense ‘a natchy relapse/return’. Your blog, your natchy-concious readers inspire me!…*signs* maybe in some years.
I have just read all the comments on this post twice and I am one of those Nigerian women with short natural hair. I grew up in Lagos (one of the big cities in Nigeria) but I now live in London.
I have really thick, kinky, “stubborn” natural hair and growing up in Nigeria, it was a complete nightmare. I got insults and abuses from everybody who handled my hair, including my own mum. “I don’t know where you got this horrible hair from” she would say. It hurt really badly. She gave up trying to plait my hair when I was about 5 years old and so I had a low cut throughout secondary school. But even then, I would cry every time I combed my hair because I didn’t know how to take care of it properly. Having hair natural is seen as a pain, people would tell me, why don’t you just relax it? It would be so much better, easier, etc.
In my typical Nigerian secondary school it wasn’t “cool” to have natural hair. All the girls considered beautiful, popular, and socially upwards had relaxed hair, and often, the longer the better.
As soon as I left secondary school, I got a relaxer. And while it made my hair a lot more manageable, it was also very dry and brittle and it never grew past a certain length. My hair also never relaxed properly and the salon people would leave the relaxer in for so long until my scalp gets burned. Gosh I endured so many hours of torture in the name of beauty!
Fast forward to the present – I decided to go back to natural last year when I took out a weave and was horrified at how weak and damaged my hair looked and how dry scalp was. So I cut off all my permed hair and armed myself with information from natural blogs and websites.
Since then I have to say I’ve not had a smooth ride. I am still learning everyday how to look after my hair. Funny enough I get great compliments from white people when they see my hair. I guess that’s because it’s “different” from theirs. But the hurtful looks and comments I get from black people are really hard to deal with. I mean WHY do we hate our own so much? Friends and family think I’m crazy for not relaxing my hair anymore. But that’s not even the worst thing I have to face.
Nope, the most hurtful comments I get are from my own husband. When we were dating, I had a relaxer and I was always in braids with long extensions or with a weave. He rarely ever saw my hair. But since I liberated myself from those things and started leaving my natural hair out, it’s been HELL. Everyday I get comments like, “your hair looks awful”, “why do you look like a mad woman?” “you are not going out with me if your hair is looking like that”, “why don’t you go back to doing those nicer hairstyles?”, “I hate seeing you with dirty hair” etc
He even went as far as showing me a photo of Tyra Banks with a weave and said he wanted my hair to look like that. Gosh I was so sad!
I’ve tried to explain to him, over and over again that I cannot go back to the relaxer. He just can’t get his head around it. My hair is about 4 inches now, so there is not a lot I can do with it in terms of styling, unless I put in braids or kinky extensions. I don’t get any support from him whatsoever and I’m fast losing my patience.
That’s why blogs and forums like this are a Godsend. Honestly it is you guys that are keeping me sane. I flipped out last week and started crying after yet another argument with my husband. I’m tired, but it’s a battle I have to continue fighting.
Hey, it´s not just the hair….Do you know how many Africans especially West Africans bleach their skin? You have no idea! About the hair, I was in Kenya 2 yrs ago, and even in the rural areas they are now straighteneing their hair. I even saw relaxers in a supermarket I went to. That was unheard of before, but not anymore. Beauty to a lot of Africans is light skin and straight hair. And that´s the truth. May God help us.
Wow, I just know in Africa, the natural beauty was uplifted… how I know so little about my heritage. But I am trying to get better and cut this slave mentality.. white is better.. because sometimes one may have this ideology and dont even know it…
I must add, I have a interesting story to share with you all, a prime example of slave mentality being passed on from generation to generation … my neice, maybe 10 at the time told me once…”I want to go to my white grandmother house.. ” now keep in mind… my mom is fare skin african american and my neice is has a dark skin tone… that hurt me to think she placed my mom on a higher pedestal then her other grandmother…
old post, I know, but I wanted to comment! I’m from London (uk) and I’m less shocked by the revalation that Nigeria has less natural haired peeps but more shocked that Americans don’t realise the impact that America has on the rest of the world! I mean, wow!
Popular culture is near by dominated by America even though other countries have their own vibrant cultures and nuances.
The gist of this seems to be that Black women in other countries do not wear their hair natural because Black Americans straighten their hair. This makes no sense to me. You have your own culture, cities, predominately black populations why would you not look there for your trends. There seems to be some abdication of responsibility. Black Americans are such a small percent of the world’s Black population, I just don’t see how they can have a bigger influence over your beauty standards/trends than your own culture.
@ Bombchell… the whole point/objective of the post was to get a clearer view of Africa, beyond stereotypes.
And it’s not just American chicks who are surprised that natural hair isn’t hot in Nigeria. If you read through the comments, several Nigerian women express their disappointment that natural hair is so unpopular.
And it’s not a matter of us not wanting people to try different styles. People can do whatever they want with their hair. It’s the fact that many of those in Nigeria who try natural styles are ridiculed and discouraged by others.
I would encourage you to read through the comments to get a better semse of this discussion.
~Thx
(side eye) Its not that serious. regardless of ethnicity, with black girls lots of people with 4a/4b hair, perm their hair or get weaves whether they are in africa , usa, or uk. You should ask yourself why you expected Nigeria to be different from any other African country, or even the UK, or US. styles changes, trends change, fashion of the day, globalization, media etc. Are you seriously kidding me??????? this is such an insulting post! more because of what you assumed, and expect from a country you are not even familiar with, because it's in Africa! the motherland, and all your perceptions of it.
This post seems a bit…. *. from your "motherland styles" oh good gosh I never saw most growing up. Its more fascinating to me on why you Expected, or had preconceived notions that Nigeria or any other country in Africa should all have natural hair. Its all personal choice.
perhaps you should check yourself & your prejudice. I can pick crazy styles from any country doesnt mean thats how everyone is. Next time you go on facebook (if you use it)try to join a diverse group with various ethnicities, with people in different locations globally, and tell me if you can see huge external differences in our generation such as hair, clothes etc.
there's no point of writing this, if it's not "do you live in huts" "wear clothes" its some other crazy ish.
Why am I the only one from the US NOT shocked?..Think about it. Who do they put on pedestals over there? The chicks with the long silky hair, so of course they would want to mimic that.
Simple.
I’m confused as to why people believe that it would be celebrated.
Wow lol. There is so much I want to say, but I cant. I just cant…
Great post.
Agree with Sugarbelly, 1 in every 5 africans is a Nigerian.. That country has over 120M people as at last census.
I am nigerian too, but Yoruba thats from teh ousth western part of the country.
Hair isn’t all that back home, having a relaxer is just one of those things. Some folks wear their hair natural but they are very few and far between. I miss the different cornrow styles and didi( another type of cornrows). Did was my favorite style.
I also agree with previous posters about the fact that afros (except Twa’s),twists, coils are not common place in Nigeria, Never heard of those sytles until I travelled west. Bantu knots are one of our natural hairstyles though.
I can imagine threading my hair to the office, the reactions will be crazy! lol!..
Sugabelly,I must disagree with you and side with eccentricyoruba. This is also a statistic – 1 in every 5 people in the world is Chinese.
I completely agree that South Africa is a different ball game. Natural hair does not have as much stigma attached to it. For every natural, you find a relaxed head and they co-exist. Nobody would hurl insults as they do with Iffy in Nigeria for having natural hair.
Africa is diverse and some places are doing better than others with regards to natural hair.
Just to point out:
1 in 5 Africans is a NIGERIAN.
I think what Nigerians think is more than valid since we represent ONE-FIFTH of Africa.
Just pointing out.
‘Just to point out that Africa has 53 countries, if natural hair isn’t accepted in Naigeria that’s one thing…it is not an accuret picture of all of Africa.’
I second this which is why i shared my experience on being taken for a woman from southern Africa because of my hair.
Just to point out that Africa has 53 countries, if natural hair isn’t accepted in Naigeria that’s one thing…it is not an accuret picture of all of Africa.
Another Nigerian weighing in here. I did the big chop down to 0.5″ two months before going back to Nigeria and no one bothered me about it. My aunt lamented the fact that I had chopped all my hair off, but I wasn’t harassed to relax my hair. I was in Abuja, and I saw plenty of natural hair and natural hair styles, along with lots of relaxers, weaves, wigs- with the latter outweighing the former.
I think the issue about relaxers , weaves and wigs has more to do with fashion than it has to do with self-hatred for our hair. Like many have mentioned, young girls in Nigeria, secondary school on down have to keep low maintenance styles, which are often natural hairstyles. Relaxing one’s hair is sorta like a right of passage: you graduate from being a girl to being a woman. A woman who can afford to shell out money for a perm, weave, wig etc.
Nigerians are all about status! Social and socio-economic status. So yes, a grown woman walking around with natural hair will be perceived as being poor because she can’t afford to pay someone to do her hair.
I grew up in Nigeria, by the way, so I’m speaking from my personal experience only. Since going natural a year ago, I’ve inspired two cousins and one of my girl-friends- all Nigerian to go natural as well. And I agree, it’s the natural culture here in the United States that is influencing us, not Nigeria.
Another Nigerian weighing in here. I did the big chop down to 0.5″ two months before going back to Nigeria and no one bothered me about it. My aunt lamented the fact that I had chopped all my hair off, but I wasn’t harassed to relax my hair. I was in Abuja, and I saw plenty of natural hair and natural hair styles, along with lots of relaxers, weaves, wigs- with the latter outweighing the former.
I think the issue about relaxers , weaves and wigs has more to do with fashion than it has to do with self-hatred for our hair. Like many have mentioned, young girls in Nigeria, secondary school on down have to keep low maintenance styles, which are often natural hairstyles. Relaxing one’s hair is sorta like a right of passage: you graduate from being a girl to being a woman. A woman who can afford to shell out money for a perm, weave, wig etc.
Nigerians are all about status! Social and socio-economic status. So yes, a grown woman walking around with natural hair will be perceived as being poor because she can’t afford to pay someone to do her hair.
I grew up in Nigeria, by the way, so I’m speaking from my personal experience only. Since going natural a year ago, I’ve inspired two cousins and one of my girl-friends- all Nigerian to go natural as well. And I agree, it’s the natural culture here in the United States that is influencing us, not Nigeria.
I’m Nigerian Also, but my experience with natural hair in Nigeria is quite different. In primary school most people had natural hair, including myself for a while but I think that’s because it was irresponsible to relax a child’s hair, although I had relaxed my hair at primary/grade 4 I believe (not too sure).
Anyway, the people that had the longest hair in secondary school (grade 7-12) were natural. These girls had long bra strap length hair and even longer (I have three girls in mind) the rest were like shoulder length and a handful were quite short.
I felt like their parents were controlling them with their hair because some of them did want to relax their hair. I felt like this because it was so easy to take care of relaxed hair. All we did was wear our hair on cornrows (extensions were not allowed). So during the weekend we took out old cornrows, washed our hair and braided it again. (Just a side note, I went to boarding school). The difference was the period between the wash and re-braiding, when we were allowed to wear our hair down. All I had to do was put my hair in a bun but for most naturals, the combing and buning was quite difficult as they would comb their hair when it was dry (it looked like torture to me). I just felt like it would be easier if it was relaxed.
Other than that, they had beautiful hair, especially the three girls a fore mentioned (now that one of them knows about moisturizing natural hair, I can see that her hair is a cross between 4a and 3c). Two of them are still natural but the one with probably the longest hair relaxed it. Even thought I didn’t have natural hair, once I heard I felt kinda sad. It is even more sad because relaxing it was kind of a graduation present for her. “She was becoming a woman”, imagine that mentality.
When I was in Nigeria in Dec of 2007, really close to the end of the year I was a new natural. My hair was like 2-3 inches long. I was excited about braiding my hair in Nigeria because they have better braiders and nicer styles at a very nice price (my humble opinion). My sister and I were natural and my sister had little knowledge about moisturizing. My sister went first and the woman could not believe we had natural hair. Especially since we lived in the US. She was like “who still has natural hair?”. When I told her a lot of people in the US did, she was surprised. She also complained of my sister hair being “hard” (somehow synonymous for dry even here in the US). Luckily I had conditioned my hair with the Oyin handmade honey hemp conditioner (I ordered a sample pack of the conditioner, the whipped pudding, the shine serum thingie and something else I don’t remember before I left for Nigeria). I then moisturized with the whipped pudding. When she touched my hair she was surprised, “your hair is so soft”. She kept commenting on how she should have used it on my sister. Unfortunately I did not have the pleasure or rather the displeasure of having others comment on my natural hair cause it was in braids.
I have not been completely immune to the negativity. My mum really got on my nerves before I texturized my hair. She went on about how it looked horrible, her exact words. Especially to my sister. My sister’s hair is made up entirely of coils. I’ve never seen this on any other head. Her coils are the loosest on the crown of her head and tighter everywhere else. I was really hard for her because I’m convinced that the amount of strands of hair on her head were actually meant for two full headed human beings (lol). She hated combing it cause the coils would tangle and knot and it was hard for her. My mum succeeded in getting her to hot comb her hair. Something I had never heard of in Nigeria or done in my life (till date).
Anyway since becoming natural and now going natural again (texlaxed on Dec 6 last year, now about 3 inches of natural beautiful hair, yup three, yay!!!) I’m not going back and my family has a different understanding. I’m sorry this is sooo long.
I feel the natural issue in African countries is a rather complicated mix of modern American influences, convenience and traditional ideas. To break it down: natural hair in and of itself is considered acceptable ONLY if it’s in protective styles like braids, because this is the traditional african way of styling women’s hair. Afro’s, dreadlocks etc are western hairstyles that were in Africa in the olden days only associated with the mentally ill, who before there were institutions to put them in, would be roaming the streets and were incapable of washing or combing their hair. So protected natural hair isn’t considered bad and is the norm in most of rural Africa. But to be sophisticated, or be considered modern and fashionable, following African American hair trends is thought to be a neccessity. And these trends for the past 30 years have been for relaxed, then curly perms then weaves.
great topic! methinks long overdue..:)..if someone had told me 2 years ago that I would ever go natural in my life, I probably would have thought they were crazy..but here I am today, loving the hair God gave me..As a Nigerian woman, I would definitely love to see more acceptance of our hair..I can count on one hand how many people I knew who had natural hair and did not hide it..
lol@ “Aunty your hair don due ohhh, you no go relaz your hair?”
funny but so sad and true..
Will be going home for the first time in a while..my dad has not seen me since I’ve been natural so I’m psyched to see how he’ll react..hopefully he’ll not drag me to the hairdresser..:)
someone asked how men style their hair..from what I recall, cleancut/ low was the way to go..any other kind of hairstyle (like dreads, etc) will have people praying for you..:)
I’m Jamaican, moved to the U.S. a few years ago and I recently did my BC. I can only speak from what I know and that is natural here is still sort of a taboo back home esp. afros; most prefer to loc. I remember when I told some of my friends I was going natural they asked if I was crazy, there were others who were supportive, but most acted as if I had gone off the deep end. My mom was not too thrilled but I think she’s coming around, esp since she had to shave all hers off because most of it fell off right to the scalp. Sadly, she probably will relax it again when it grows back.
The guys are not much better than the women. I asked a guy what he thought of me going natural and he gave a less than nice response *side eye.
But, I think it’s just that people have been conditioned to think that way. When you grow up seeing the same thing, that’s what you’ll hold on to.
And seeing that back home people are still fighting with their identities in that they still believe lighter is better, it doesn’t surprise me one bit. We just have to continue doing what we’re doing and in so doing, I hope, re-educate people.
Oh– and I almost neglected to mention the two toddlers I spotted on my SN Brussels flight back home with weave on their heads.
I was horrified and deeply saddened.
“Let’s take off our dashikis, stop burning that incense, stop using vague diasporic language and discuss this!”
At last, someone’s suggested this very necessary exercise. Afrocentrism is as American as apple pie. But I digress.
Just came back from visiting family in Liberia; I’ve never seen so much weave– bad, bad weave– in my life.
I began relaxing at age 9 or 10. My Filipino mother was very easily swayed by her (Black) friends to sit me in a stylist’s chair because– not in spite– of the luscious, wild head of hair I had. And while I’ve been blessed with length and general hair “health,” I always look at photos of my seven year-old self and fantasize about reclaiming the head of hair I was forced to “give away.” Didn’t realize, until a few weeks ago, that there was a whole community– a nation, even!– of sisters reclaiming their natural beauty.
Haven’t relaxed in about 8 or 9 months. Not sure I’ll BC, but I’m getting my mane back!
Glad to have found BGLH.
Hello,
I really enjoy checking into your blog. I’m late to this really good discussion, but I do want to add my two cents. First, I’d have to agree with all of those who have pointed that out African-Americans, i.e. those born in the US (b/c technically all blacks on this side of the world are African-Americans), tend to know very little, if anything, about how black folks throughout the diaspora experience and see the world. So many of the tensions that exist, for good or bad, between different Afro-descended people can come down to groups assuming that we must all think and behave the same way. It’s a shame because a lot more can be accomplished as far as upliftment is concerned if we stopped for a second to consider the ways that we perpetuate the notion that Europeans/Westerners generated about us—that we are all the same.
Second, and more on topic—many of the commenters have given really, really interesting stories about their experiences either in Nigeria or in the West Indies and receiving or seeing negative reactions to natural hair. I think we should be careful though, about making another generalization that natural hair is not, in general, well-received in Africa or other parts of the diaspora. My own personal experience as a Jamaican [born there, been in the US since I was six, so I guess I’m a Jamerican ;)] was one where natural hair was always embraced. I got my first perm when I was eight, and that was only because I BEGGED my mother to let me do it. When I decided to go natural in college and then again four years ago, there was no big to do about it. In fact, I’ve always gotten compliments on it from my family. The only thing my aunts and mother do say is that they don’t know how on earth I can stand spending so much time on my hair! LOL.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that for every story we hear about a woman or women being shunned for keeping their hair natural, there is another one, where being natural is preferred, or at the least that there really isn’t a preference of straight over natural or vice-versa. I also think that once we go beyond highly urban areas the whole natural versus straight/ relaxed becomes more of a non-issue—folks have other things to worry about, I would think.
Thanks again for getting this great discussion going!
Let me first write that I’m a big fan of this blog, and lurk often!
Big wave to all the sistas in the global village (waving like a mad woman).
I think much of the transition away from natural hair in Nigeria has been over the last 3 decades. I think it has little to do with colonialism and a lot to do with American influence, specifically, as others have stated African American influence.
As a Nigerian I have noticed that my mother’s generation wore their hair natural. I have pictures of my mom as a young woman and here hair was natural in an afro. When we immigrated to Canada she wore an afro, it was only in the early to mid 90’s she relaxed her hair.
With the greater American influence specifically looking to African Americans for style, this has changed. Several years ago I use to see the majority of Nigerian women wearing outlandish looking weaves, but if you notice as African Americans have moved towards weaves that blend into the hair and don’t look ridiculously obvious, that trend has started to penetrate into Nigeria as well. I went home in 2006 for a visit, and the weaves were bad, I mean hideous! But when my mom went back recently she started to see weaves that look more like the Gabby Union, weaves, and more “current” looking.
The African American influence on hair is similar to the influence on West African music videos. I’m sure I’m not the only one that has noticed the influx of biracial and white women appearing in African music videos. This is a complete 360 from when African music videos that were completely dominated by Black African women.
It truly is sad to see what has happened to Nigerian women regarding our hair, but I think as other readers have pointed out when things change in America, then we will see the change in Nigeria as well(crossing my fingers).
Is it fair for us to blame the media/slavery/whites for our dislike of our hair? Aren’t we the main ones continuing to perpetuate the hatred when it comes to black hair? I don’t get negative comments on my curls from non-blacks. Just the opposite. I’m told often by non-whites how beautiful my hair is. The only negative comments I get come from black people. Non-black people aren’t the ones teaching our girls how to hate their hair (and skin). The people closest to them (parents, siblings, friends, family) are the ones doing that. From my viewpoint, the media/advertisers seem to be embracing natural black hair, but we aren’t. I remember a few years back when Alex Wek was really huge and I thought she was GORGEOUS. I was shocked at the backlash she received. Black women were offended that a woman as dark as she should be the new black face in modeling. WE couldn’t get past her dark skin and short hair. WE have to take responsibility for the continued hatred of natural hair and dark skin in our community. Until WE do that, we will continue to struggle. The world follows what we do. If we embrace it, so will everyone else. The ball’s in our court.
I’m an American-born Bajan (family is from Barbados) and I would also like to weigh in on this topic. When I went home last year I wore my natural hair (for the first time). I’ve been natural all my life, but I’m usually braided up when I go to Barbados. It seemed to me that as long as you have curls and not kinks, no one says anything to you. I actually got compliments on my hair and one of my mom’s friends thought I had a weave (I guess the curls were extra big that day)! I saw a lot of locs (of course) on men and women, and tons of braided and twisted styles. I saw relaxers also, but no kinky-headed naturals. Barbados is still stuck in the light-skinned/dark-skinned good hair/bad hair thing and I think its due to years of conditioning (from England an dthe USA) that lighter/whiter is better.
I also have a natural friend who’s father is from Cameroon. Her Cameroonian relatives HATE her hair. They tell her that she looks like a child and that she needs to relax it or braid it (with extensions). She’s never gotten support from any of them and they think she is crazy for growing out her relaxer. Even her young cousins have relaxers and extensions and they haven’t even hit puberty yet…I’m talking like under the age of 5! Her hair is the kinkiest I’ve ever seen, but she knows how to manage it and her styles are amazing. I’m so glad that she doesn’t listen to her family and she is confident and feels great about herself and her hair.
Anonymous said…
I’m a fan of the old Twilight Zone movies and I remember an episode where a young girl was being pressured by everyone (her parents, friends, even doctor) to undergo this cosmetic procedure where she would be transformed into her pick of one of two “looks” – beauty ideals – and she fought so hard to resist the pressure because she just wanted to look like herself, but in the end she gave in.
April 13, 2009 8:38 PM
its called ‘number three looks just like you,’ and its one of my FAVE episodes (im a huge twilight zone freak lol), but youve got it a little backwards- in the end the government FORCED her to change by brainwashing her, i think they gave her a lobotomy, and the procedure was a right of passage you had to undergo once you turned 18 (much like some Nigerian women are saying they are expected to ‘grow up’ by receiving a perm at a certain age).
while not necessarily to the extreme of the show, i do believe that our media is doing a similar thing to African and African-American women by supplying us with these ideals of beauty, to the point where, if you choose to do ANYTHING different, be it go natural, go bald, dye your hair pink, whatever, its looked down upon. in the episode, her friends and family GENUINELY couldnt understand why she wouldnt want to be one of those ideals, and we are following a same path here with these societal and cultural hair norms. its cultural hegemony at its worst.
i think another relevant episode would be ‘the eye of the beholder’, where a woman is undergoing cosmetic surgery to make her ‘beautiful’, since she was born with a horrible birth defect. at the end of the episode it is revealed that she has a ‘normal’ face, and that everyone else in this society has the face of a pig! she is sent away to live in a colony with other ‘deformed’ people, and all of the people living there would be considered beautiful by todays standards. but since they did not have the normal faces of pigs, society didnt understand them, and ridiculed them for their appearance. people have similar issues with natural hair, and this will never change until it becomes so commonplace as to become a cultural norm in its own right, much like, say, tattoos in the workplace.
sorry for the paragraph
First, let me just say that this here is the BEST EVER natural hair blog that has ever hit the web! Real conversation, real intelligent, on all the real time-praise God!
Second, Amazing Topic! This is sooo keeping it real.
On the carribean side of this, I am a US born Haitian woman and the bottom line is this: this thing has got to be everywhere-not just in Nigeria. I remember my last visit to Haiti about ten years ago, it was like this; the maids, dwellers of the country side, the uneducated, the poor, and the devout christian, these people had natural hair-maybe. But anybody who was trying to have any kind of “upper class” status needed to get or have straight hair by any means necessary! Unless of course one had type two or early type three hair then perhaps it would be ok.
I had a perm in when I went and a relative told me that as long as I kept my relaxers going then I could pass for someone with “good hair”. I remember I loved looking at Essence and took it with me on the trip so that I could be entertained on the plane ride. When I got to Haiti I showed it to a relative and she just needed to be these women. Haitian women are just as influenced by American beauty standards.
Now I have not been to Haiti since then but I am natural these days and it’s my fourth time doing it. I just would grow shoulder length hair and did not have any idea what to do with it and it felt like if I did not relax it I would never get a man. Plus my family had me feeling like, “what is she doing?” So I would cave in over and over again and get a perm. The last time I went natural was in 2000 and there wasn’t nearly this much support out there. I never expected any support from my family and I certainly am not holding my breath to get it now. My Haitian support is minimal but what I have now is this huge online community that is helping me to feel sane about keeping it kinky.
So yeah, just like in other African decent countries, I have found that the Haitian community is not that accepting of natural hair either, although there is some slight change-thanks to naturals in America.
I’m talking with Sugabelly right now, and she mentioned something that I thought I should put out there: When we say African American women have influenced Nigerian styling, we specifically mean black women in the mainstream media, i.e. Hollywood. So when Diana Ross was rocking the fro, so were we. And when Beyonce rocks the blond lacefront wig, so do we (though apparently she’s natural underneath). I’m hoping that as natural hair becomes more accepted in the US, the same thing will happen back home.
This discussion is interesting, shocking and so disheartening. I’m beginning to see that natural african hair is treated the world over like a birth defect, almost as bad as a cleft palate or club foot – something that needs to be corrected in order to have a normal life. I’m a fan of the old Twilight Zone movies and I remember an episode where a young girl was being pressured by everyone (her parents, friends, even doctor) to undergo this cosmetic procedure where she would be transformed into her pick of one of two “looks” – beauty ideals – and she fought so hard to resist the pressure because she just wanted to look like herself, but in the end she gave in. My point is, sometimes I feel like that girl; like this whole natural hair journey – this wanting to just be myself – will all be in vain because eventually the pressure (from family, men, employers, society in general) will be too much and I’ll just give in a go buy a relaxer.
Gotta cosign those who say that AAs know next to nothing about Africa. I’ve said for years that for ignorance about other cultures, AAs are more AMERICAN than they realize…and I’m saying this as a native-born AA.
Johnson Products was selling relaxers in parts of Africa starting in the late 50s and early 60s. (That coincides with the poster who described her 70-something grandmother perming since she was 18.) Ebony was there before that if I’m not mistaken (Essence didn’t crop up until the early 70s, I believe).
WE (AAs) are the ones who taught African women how to look less African. We have NOBODY else to blame BUT US.
I was very excited to see this post and the dialogue started. I am a US Born Nigerian and my parents HATE my natural hair. My mother is slowly just accepting it. However my Dad says repeatedly my hair looks unkempt.
My cousins talk SOOOOO mch trash about how I need to take care of my hair (Mind you mine is healthy and growing) While theirs is relaxed to no end ( which I have no issue with relaxers except they have overprocessed dry and broken off and colored hair. Yet still relax all three strands of their hair every 4 weeks) and have what Essence once dubbed a “When Kunta Meets Becky Weave” (They throw tracks and tracks of silky shiny yaki #2 in their dry and courser textured hair) but yet I am the one who looks a mess…………right
At the end of the dya to each her own. All I know is since I started co washing stopped relaxing and treating my hair like the fine fiber it is, my hair has never looked better. While I wish my fellow Naija compatriots would be more open minded, no one can change my regimen :o)
Sad to say, it is so true that most Americans, black americans, know zero about Africa. It is sad that many are ashamed of their roots. We have to change that. It is also sad that the only time we see images of Africa, it is more on the National Geographic level, so I guess that is where the idigenous thinking comes from. Maybe not as far as the loin cloth and zebra spearing, but definitely things like small huts, no indoor plumbing, and men with several wives. I know it’s really awful but it is true. Americans rarely think beyond America.
We need to arm ourselves with more information. Change is not going to happen in a day. We are all affected by what we see in the main stream media. I am happy to a guide to people back home in AL about natural hair. Change will come it only a matter of time.
Plus tigers are not native to Africa!
This is a very interesting post!! I too was under the impression that natural hair was thee thing in different African cultures. Every article/photo I’ve ever seen has given me information to support that. I mean, I knew about the nightlife and fashion scene and such, I hate to be completely ignorant but again, any images I’ve seen always left me under the impression that natural hair was/is the majority amongst most African cultures.
But, that’s all “they” (and we all should know who “they” are) want us to see, and its messed up that the media can be controlled to alter our knowledge and nurture the stereotypes we are fed.
@ serenissima… i definitely think your indignation at the stereotyping is righteous, but i do want to make clear that my stereotype of african women wasn’t that they were walking around bare-footed and killin tigers and shit.
my stereotype was of natural hair being common and celebrated among african women…
k, let the discussion continue 😉
Anonymous said…
Wow. I am truly shocked. I really need to do more research on Africa because obviously I don’t know a thing. Like the blog writer stated, I too had more indigenous pictures in my head of certain parts of Africa.
April 13, 2009 1:19 PM
this makes me terribly sad. there is so much stereotyping going on here! its just as bad as saying you still have an image of Africans as running around in loincloths with spears hunting lions and tigers all day
Interesting post and I agree with many of the responses. I’m Nigerian as well. As a new natural (1 year now), I get constant heat from parents – “When are you going to relax your hair?” or “When are you going to get braid extensions?” As if to suggest I should hide my natural hair.
I want to be optimistic and say that if women in Nigerian knew the true versatility of natural hair (twistouts, finger coils, etc.) and how to care for it better, then they’d be more inclined to be natural.
Part of me feels that this natural hair issue may be rooted in being brainwashed from years of imperialism. (Similar to the effects slavery had on black hair in the US.) Part of me feels it ALSO stems from Nigerians merely following one of their main trendsetters — the US. Relaxers have been a big thing in the US for years, and it’s only recently that a movement towards natural hair seems to be developing. Maybe the same will happen in Nigeria soon.
lol!! All my Nigerian friends used to refer to my hair as ‘due’ before they realized, it is going to be ‘due’ forever.
I think it comes from hair being due for a relaxer, or due for braids or something other than being natural.
Wow. I am truly shocked. I really need to do more research on Africa because obviously I don’t know a thing. Like the blog writer stated, I too had more indigenous pictures in my head of certain parts of Africa. A lot of people here in the US think all Nigerians and South Africans have very thick and coarse hair, yet are accepting of it, and think that all Egyptians, Somalians and Ethiopians have thick,long and curly hair.
There are many natural stereotypes here as well. The most recent one I heard is that women who go natural are extreme feminists and/or lesbians. Hmmm…
ok, wow. im from the jamaica – and i just wanted to weigh in about the caribbean side of things. in jamaica we are losing our cultural heritage, people everywhere are killing themselves to look like americans. they hold the US as the standards of beauty, seriously women walk around with light skinned faces and dark skinned bodies! As for hair, if you have natural hair u r automatically thought to be a christian, poor, have no fashion sense, or from the country (if ure mixed it is not cool to wear your hair natural). i once saw a 2 year old with a weave! i kid u not! im only 2 months natural, and i sent pics to my yaardie friends and only one person out of like 20 commented! everyone ignores it, one girl says oh you are crazy. its not that it doesnt matter, its just that now im seen as the girl who lost her mind and chopped off all the good hair and wear it short and nappy – so ill be spoken to when it grows back and its looking fly. and as for a beautiful flowing afro – nah! not unless it was a sew on, otherwise they tell you – oh my your hair would be so long if u relaxed it! hmmmmmmmm……
This discussion is really interesting, here’s my question: How to men in Nigeria wear their hair?
Awesome topic.
I’m AA and I’m really shocked! I’ve been called “afrocentric” since I went natural and it’s interesting that even though I don’t care for that label, it kinda doesn’t ring true!
I also had no idea that AA hairstyles influenced African hairstyles so much. The natural movement is getting larger and larger by the day. I hope that grows larger in the other non US countries as well.
i don’t agree with natural hair not being hot in nigeria. perhaps in lagos a lot of people have a relaxer or weaves just like in the states but there are plenty of other places where everyone is natural but just braided up. I’m nigerian and the majority of my family is natural. it’s just a choice and i’ve never had anyone in nigerian say anything about it because they were natural too or simply didn’t care. Obviously if you’re natural and you’re walking around looking a hot mess then you’re gonna have a hard time getting a job… how ever if it’s styled i don’t see why not. What’s the problem with not being natural anyway.. i’m natural but i haven’t always been…i don’t think nigerians think their hair is bad or dislike it but based on their skewed perception of how the western world will perceive them they feel that doing what they see as “popular and american” gets them that much closer to be like americans. To me it seems like fad sorta thing. If everyone in the states were natural and that was “american” i’m sure they would follow suit.
I’m going to Nigeria this summer and I’m going to have to braid my hair myself before i get there because I’m going to be working in a bank and I’ll be kicked out if I walk in with an afro or fuzzy twists and also because if I hear one more hairdresser say to me
“Aunty your hair don due ohhh, you no go relaz your hair?”
I might hurt her.
It is so sad. They have no idea how to handle natural hair at all! In my relaxed days, if I had more than one inch of new growth, the hairdressers would freak out and try to force a perm on me.
I met up with some of my naija friends here in Ireland and their reaction was “what were you thinking?” I’m not ready for them yet, but when I am I will educate them.
The Nigerian actress with dreads is Dakore Egbuson.
I’m a british born Nigerian who lives in the UK. The natural hair scene was’nt that big when i went to Lagos last year. It is catching on though, the thing I noticed is that Locs are quite common amongst the male population but weaves and braids are so cheap that most women are trying to emulate the western cultures in dress and style. I wanted to get my hair braided over there and my little sis said I hope you told the braider you have natural hair as its not common in lagos. What!!! you mean my natural texture is like an endangered specie, true to form the braiders did’nt know how to handle my hair at all.
BGLH said:
“@ Jc… so then america is the #1 world power — even when it comes to natural hair?! seriously, this is really changing my view of things!”
This is what I’ve been told by women from other countries: AA women are natural hair trendsetters! In general, AA sets style in so many ways and don’t realize their impact on the rest of the world.
I remember my Global Studies teacher in 9th grade (a white man no less) telling us this. He said that a lot of Black women wear braided hairstyles in order to be more Afrocentric, but African women don’t wear their hair this way. He said the African women look at African-American women for hairstyle inspiration. I was shocked at the time as well. This was 13 years ago.
” Anonymous said…
‘when i think about it, i realize how sad it is that the US has a larger natural hair culture than nigeria’….i could not disagree with you more. there is so much ‘weave’ oooops i am sorry you like to call it protective styling natural hair…i say to each its own
April 12, 2009 7:05 PM”
I disagree with Anonymous on that comment.
You should understand that African Hair (specifically type 4 hair) is not chemically made to survive in the western climate due to the dry and cold temperatures for several continuous months in a year. So protective styles is a necessity.
For obvious reasons, there are Africans/ppl of African decent with type 4 hair everywhere in the world and some happen to be in colder western climates. And we would still like to fight against nature and grow our hair long.
The ideal climate for natural hair to thrive is in warm, humid regions. Yes, people will do what they want, where they want mean what they want but protective styling is just that.
Weave (long hair) is first, a standard of beauty issue for all women from all backgrounds, cultures, races, then it is also a black/African issue stemming from slavery. Yes the boundaries on where these two end and begin is very blurry but they are not one or the same.
It’s also the same in the Caribbean (although things are changing). Natural black hair, unless it’s of the “mixed” variety, is frowned upon. I agree with whoever said that black US culture holds some responsibility. Black people the world over copy black people in the US. When things change here, they eventually change the mindset in other places, but that takes time. I believe the natural hair movement in the US will take hold the world over, but it will take a little longer in some places.
I am glad you posted this. It is so true and I think my Nigerian sisters have said it all. I am actually from Ghana, also in my second year of going natural and I have had my share of looks of death and unsolicited advice ‘well meaning’ from Ghanaians and Africans living here and back in Ghana.
My two cents:
Growing up in Ghana, natural hair on a female is has always been linked to youthfulness and adolescence, immaturity and in some cases, if worn by older women, they are automatically considered to be individuals with lower levels of education, lower socio-economic status or simply unfashionable, or perhaps a woman with low self esteem etc etc.
I am a product of the Ghana School System ( graduated in the late ninties)and I know that in many of the primary and junior high schools, young female students are not allowed to grow their hair long (no longer than 2 inches of hair all around) for the following reasons::
-hair care (braiding,washing, combing) takes too long ( mostly because we don’t know how to take care of natural hair and relaxed hair styled in braids and cornrows does not last long) and it will be a waste of time for the female student who could be using her time to study
-hair care is too expensive and could lead to peer pressure. This reason is pointing to relaxed hair because natural hair styling is so cheap…
-girls with longer hair will attract too much attention, distract boys and this might lead to other ‘indescent’ behaviour. Also, girls with longer hair will start to think that they are women and not girls and that might get them involved in relationships too early etc etc
Bear in mind that all my references to longer hair automatically means relaxed hair.
Relaxed hair was and probably still is regarded as an informal, socially-accepted initiation right into young adulthood/womanhood. So a woman above 18 yrs with natural hair will be automatically branded poor (maybe she can’t afford a relaxer), uneducated (maybe she doesn’t know what it is), or maybe she is just plain crazy.
I must say it has dawned on me in recent years, the extent and how effective mental slavery has been on the African when it comes to hair. My own grandmother, very literate, well-rounded woman who i love and respect very much, could not understand why I was going atural and she said it was not a good look for a young woman.
What I cannot wrap my brain around is the fact that she has been relaxing her hair since she was 18, and now in her seventies, has alopecia all over her head but still insists on relaxing what is left of her hair and then, wearing a sew-in weave on top of that. I kid you not, this is the norm fo rmany older women in Ghana.
I don’t know about Nigeria or other parts of Africa but I know in Ghana, women are more likely to gloriously wear weave to imitate the natural look (like kinky twists and imitation dreadlocks) but will cringe at the thought of even seeing more than 2 inches of their own hair. But the majority only wear these hair styles because that is what they see in the mass media these days so its just a fad.
It might not be the case everywhere but this is what I have seen. I know it is changing especially in the US. One by one African women are taking a stand and we are slowly learning to love our hair again. Only in the western world! God Bless Amrica for that!
@eccentricyoruba
so true! getting a relaxer in Nigeria means you’re growing up, moving past the cornrows and threading of your youth and starting to look like a lady. people look at you funny if you’re rocking cornrows or flat twists once you’re like 15, unless of course you did them with extensions so they hang down your back. *Sigh
This is very shocking. I can not believe this. It would be great to have a historian weigh in on this.
This isn’t just true for Nigeria. It’s true for the African continent as a whole. Natural hair is not always celebrated and loved.
South Africans have a different recent history, and my guess is thats influenced the natural hair scene. There are tonnes of locs among SAs I’ve met.
I don’t know that getting a job is difficult with afro hair in Nigeria. I have a lot of aunts and distant relatives who wear their hair natural, and as long as its ‘styled’ there isn’t a problem. I think wearing a bit ‘fro might make you stand out (and standing out is the problem), though ironically, I’m sure a big afro wig would be fine. I know that when I was last there, people thought I was from a deeply religious family, and respected as such!
The bottom line is that ‘fashion’ is followed to fatal fault. I could go on about the level to which this can go, but its a bit upsetting to honest.
Half African-American half Nigerian here. Yes we Nigerians don’t seem to be that hot on natural hair but that is slowly changing. There is one popular Nigerian actrss whose name escape me now but she has locks.
There is the belief that those with natural hair don’t care for their hair,are crazy etc..
i’m Nigerian and i also have natural hair. to be honest when i decided to go natural i could only meet like-minded people online.
my family reacted horribly to it telling me that Africans don’t ‘carry their hair like that’ and my reply was always ‘so what were our ancestors doing to their hair before relaxers were invented?’ i’m now in my second year of being natural and what i hear from other Nigerians is that i don’t look Nigerian any longer…apparently i now look Batswana or South African because of my hair.
i’ve not seen many nigerian women with natural hair on the contrary i’ve only met 1 woman from Southern Africa with relaxed hair. my Batswana friend told me that she is used to seeing Nigerians with colourful weaves and braids agreeing that i didn’t look Nigerian.
i think it’s odd but i’m not surprised. growing up in Nigeria, i always saw the relaxer as something that signalled my growing up.
So this is a big sigh for me. And I see my friend MellowYel has already commented on this but let me just add my own two cents.
To have natural hair in Nigeria is to burn and die.
I kid you not. Walking around in Nigeria with natural hair, you won’t get more than twenty feet before some random person that you don’t know from Adam tells you to go do something with your hair “so you can look like a human being”
Also if you’re aspiring to work in a bank, you WILL NEVER get work if your hair is natural unless it’s a short low cut.
The year after high school I took a year off to work before college, and I had natural hair. One week I took my braids out and just wore my hair and my boss told me not to come back into the office until I had relaxed my hair or gotten a weave.
EVERYONE in my office had a weave. And these days it seems like EVERYONE in Nigeria has a weave. It’s so sad. I feel like as a whole, in general, we Nigerians HATE our hair.
I cannot understand how a White Woman the way God made her is considered professional, but my fellow Nigerians tell me that the way God made me is dirty, indecent, and unprofessional.
I get tired of arguing with my parents, my friends, and everybody. I have a reputation as ‘that troublesome girl who argues all the time’ because I refuse to give into the collective brainwashing about ourselves and particularly our hair that has been perpetuated by so many Nigerians ever since we were colonised.
It totally sucks, like you don’t even know.
Not Nigerian, just shocked. Also I wish someone would put that version of the show up on YouTube. I would love to see the experience there.
Another interesting thing: this isn’t the case everywhere – I saw this video over on the blog Jezebel, and it made me SO happy: an embracing of African beauty, even in the midst of war. http://jezebel.com/5193842/in-the-congo-a-bit-of-whimsy-that-cant-be-contained
And I agree with what Jc says: if you happen to have looser curls and/or really long hair, people usually assume you have non-black ancestors.
*Sigh – the million dollar question.
So this is the way I think about it – others can correct me if I’m wrong. Colonialism meant for Africans a forceful push in the direction of Western standards of beauty: light skin and straight hair. Little black girls in Nigeria, like little black girls in the US, also played with Barbies with long blond flowing hair, and wanted long hair like the people on TV. And like other people have said, when people in the US and other countries created the hot comb, relaxer and bleaching cream, we embraced them, not specifically so that we could look like the white people (not that this is what people were thinking exactly), but so that we could look like the African-Americans we saw on TV and in magazines. A lot of our styling in the 60s and 70s and 80s was modeled on what was hot over here in the US.
So that’s why we started straightening our hair. Now the bigger question is: why are we STILL straightening our hair? Or why aren’t we embracing our natural hair as much as women are in the US? I think it’s partly because there’s not as many white people in Nigeria. Western standards became the norm, and it no longer looks like we’re trying to aspire to someone else’s idea of beauty: It just looks like we’re trying to aspire to our own standard of beauty. I knew NO natural women growing up at home in Nigeria. Everyone relaxed their hair, so I did it too. It never occurred to me that I might ever want to wear my hair naturally. My hair is mad kinky, and very dry if I don’t take care of it properly (which I didn’t back then), so the verdict was relaxer was the only way to go for it to be manageable. And most people still think this way. You can’t imagine the looks I’ve gotten when I walk into a salon with my kinky hair and ask to have it done. Looks of death, followed by: “You have to relax it or else I won’t be able to do your hair.” It’s gotten to a point where people seem to have forgotten that before the white man came, we styled our God-given hair ourselves. (Thanks for the African Hair Series, by the way! Granted, we did this when we had more time on our hands than we do nowadays, but it’s still proof that our hair can be managed.) Because of this, we often don’t take care of natural hair properly, and it gets so dry and hard and unmanageable that the only option is to relax it.
Because straight hair has become the norm, natural hair gets a bad rap a lot of the time. If you tell someone you’re going natural, they’ll tell you that you’ll look unkempt, unprofessional, and crazy. People have told me, “so you want to go around looking like a Rasta?” – Rastafarians have negative stereotypes attached to them in Nigeria, so anything that reminds people of that is not cool. For example, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Renee Sanders, is a natural – her hair looks like locs from pictures, but close up, they look more like fat twists. A lot of people look down their nose at her because of her hair – they say she looks “unkempt – how can a whole ambassador go around looking like that?” I think they’d respect her more if her locs (?) were tighter and not so fuzzy at the base, but you can’t blame her – there aren’t many good locticians in Nigeria.
Also, since straight hair is the norm, possibly the only naturals you’ll ever see are the mentally ill people who live on the street and don’t take care of their hair at all. So it’s virtually unfathomable that anyone would ever want to wear their hair like that.
I dislike the state of the natural hair scene in Nigeria because I think it points to a larger trend of Africans throwing away parts of their culture in order to embrace Westernization. People often think that anything that’s American or British or Western is automatically better than anything Nigerian, and that kind of thinking will only slow Nigeria’s progress. I think that we can hold on to our own culture and identity and still be modern and progressive: people just need to realize that.
An interesting thing though: Some kids in Nigeria are born with locs, and these kids are said to have some spiritual importance – they call them “dada” in Yorubaland. The locs are left to grow out, but then they are cut in a special ceremony when the kid is about 4 or 5 years old.
‘when i think about it, i realize how sad it is that the US has a larger natural hair culture than nigeria’….i could not disagree with you more. there is so much ‘weave’ oooops i am sorry you like to call it protective styling natural hair…i say to each its own
@ Jc… so then america is the #1 world power — even when it comes to natural hair?! seriously, this is really changing my view of things!
Unfortunately this is true. Both my parents were born and raised in Nigeria and when I decided to go natural neither of them liked it. My mom always says that a woman’s beauty starts with her hair and she didn’t think my afro was beautiful (I say “was” because it’s in braids now). And a lot of Nigerian women that I know (whether here in America or over in Nigeria) wear wigs. So from my experience natural hair isn’t accepted, at least not in the mainstream.
I went to a British school in Kenya and I think two girls(sisters) had natural hair (yep age 3-19 and two girls in a school body of about 250 girls). Both girls had waistlength hair. We always attributed it to past Indian relatives (of which they had none lol).
I agree, natural hair is not popular among urban women. In rural areas, natural hair is the norm and it is usually cut into a short style. A huge afro or bantu knots/knot out would stand out.
Interestingly, I think the reason for this is actually black people in USA (and I mean USA, not any other Western nation). Black magazines like Ebony and Essence are present at salons. The styles in those magazines dictate what the women want to have done to their hair.