so, thanks for all your honesty in responding to the recent post on whether black women secretly hate their napps.
i will say this: i think that hatred or disdain or frustration with nappy natural hair (as opposed to curly natural hair or wavy natural hair) stems from a misunderstanding of how to style it, grow it and care for it. i mean, i really feel that nappy natural hair has been severely isolated in society. even in the media, when they do chose a black woman with natural hair, it’s usually wavy or curly, leaving us nappies to feel kind of freakish at times.
but i’m a firm believer that once we learn our nappy natural hair, and begin to take pride in it, we can *finally* see it as just another texture. i mean, it’s so arbitrary anyway. natural women with wavy/curly hair have their own benefits and challenges. and so do us nappies. i mean, i think the rule of thumb is, the nappier the texture, the more versatile. you can straighten/loosen nappy hair, but you can’t really ‘kink up’ wavy/curly/straight hair without looking a mess. also, nappy hair holds styles like fros, twists and braids much better than looser textures.
i think it’s on us to do right by our nappy hair. as we learn it, we will love it.
that’s my two cents. i really hope that this blog, and other natural hair blogs out there, provides education so that we can spend more time caring for our nappy hair, and less time hating it.
what say you?
5 Responses
The first day I washed y hair without pressing it (never had a relaxer) I was like um ok lol But now I love it I can care less what anybody has to say my family looks at me side ways but I dont care my bf loves he says he like it no matter how I wear my hair
lol @ ” they can kiss my ass”..I feel the same way..just went natural a few months ago and since then, I have come across so many black women who wonder why I did it..they feel the relaxer is the way to go..to each their own, but I hear stuff like “oh, u’ve got good hair/ soft hair, that’s why u can go natural”..my take on this is that one can train their hair..when hair is loved and taken care of, it becomes healthy and people will compliment you on your “good hair”!
peace..
I was going to leave a comment in the other post, but I will leave it here.
First, I must say the problem that the girl was facing is one that many black women face, hence the main reason why many of us would rather have a relaxer…we don’t want our “naps” to show.
When I first went natural, I transitioned via braids, and when I finally decided to cut off my relaxed ends, I sat in front of the mirror for 15 min. straight…I hated it, yet I loved it. I loved it because it was all me, yet I hated it because it wasn’t long and the curls looked “nappy.” Why wasn’t my hair curly like the other girls, I thought.
As time went on, and my hair was used to not being treated with relaxers, it came into its own, and I loved it. Even though my hair is multi textured (3c-4a, with a patch of 4b in the middle of my head…yea it’s crazy), I love all of it…even though people may make comments like, “I know you hate that nappy patch.” They can kiss my ass…its my hair. I hope she one days finds that inner love that so many of us natural-haired beauties have for our hair.
i really don’t think it’s the texture. at all.
i think it’s the length.
length really really makes you love your hair for how big it is.
that’s what most naturals want.
that’s what i want. huge flippin long healthy hair.
It is a growing process. It may take some just a day and others just a month and others just a year. Provided people get to the end result of loving (and nurturing) what they were given. I am African ( no mixed heritage for at least the previous 8generations). If I wet my hair completely, I have curls (yes curls – round coily things). Very little ones at the front and fairly large (straw size) at the back. I do however wear my hair much drier to avoid the shrinkage that brings on the curls (from 14 inches down to 2-3 inches). I like the fact that my dry stretched out hair reaches past my shoulders and would appear as ‘napps’. Its just the texture I currently like. I also disagree that natural hair is more versatile. I think all hair is beautiful and each lends itself to compliments when taken care of well.