diadem

Please check out my op ed: Cassandra Jackson: Is Natural Hair the End of Black Beauty Culture?

Would love to hear feedback from naturals in the comments on HuffPo.

Thanks,
Diadem

Wumi

Completely disagree that a lack of relaxers or salons would somehow discount MY beauty as a black woman, or somehow hinder our ability communicate somehow, like black women don't relate to each other anymore once they go natural. And most women with a relaxer are doing it themselves and never go to a salon. Most black women with relaxers have damaged hair, and many cover it with wigs and weaves, so if the end of that could mean the end of our beauty, I'm happy to signify the beginning of ugliness with this natural hair that hates salons.

By the way I talk more about hair and other things to my black friends now than I ever did relaxed. I don't have to pretend my scalp isn't burned because I'm too embarrassed, or relate abut how my hair fills up the sink when I comb it. Before everyone just wanted stick straight hair with the thinned out edges, same for everyone, no bumps curls waves kink or frizzy desired was a commonality. Now we can relate because we celebrate the variation of curls and stuff. Now I can relate to my black friends about how healthy our hair is (or in my current case getting it back healthy). I can actually relate to other races about hair too! And society is more accepting of black women as beautiful now That we are starting to come out and be Proud of our features. Thats progression... Where is the losing again?? Edited for spelling and I was missing some of a sentence, sorry

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CuteKinks

Hello Diadem,

First off I would like to say I loved your article. I can completely understand where you are coming from. While I HATED going to the salon, it was still a place where I felt comfortable and I understood the the overall culture of the 'shop" (that's what we call it where I'm from lol) and what it meant to so many woman.

With that said, I think that Black Beauty culture is not lost with the 'natural hair movement'. If anything, I would say that it is just different. You are right, natural hair isn't salon centered but rather "everywhere centered" in my opinion. When I see another woman with natural hair on the street, at the supermarket, post office, etc. if only it's eye contact, we send a message to each other that says, "You look beautiful" or "Girl, work it!". That never happened to me when I was relaxed. Compliments, hair talk and the like rarely left the salon walls. You spoke of your daughter and how she will not know of the hot comb, but do you know what she will know? The detangling sessions, braid-outs, cornrows, or how ever you choose to style it and if that's not black beauty culture, I don't know what is lol. As I said before it may not be exactly how you remembered, but it's still there just in different form and you guys will still bond over it.

I know this was probably very long winded but I just had to speak on the subject because it was something that I never thought about. Great job and thanks for sharing! Best of luck to you!

CuteKinks

Kilajo

Um, I think the salon experience must have been more meaningful for you than me. I've always done my own hair; well after the age of 10 since my mom did it before that. I never understood the need for a salon although I've been maybe 5 times in the last 15 years to support a friend's shop. I definitely don't miss spending 4-5 hours there that I could never get back, being over booked, the smell of stinking, burning hair whether by heat or chemicals or all of the ignorant gossip. **By the way I've been natural for 20 years at least since the few times I used a relaxer (self relaxed).** Going to the salon each of those times caused heat damage and breakage that I'd have to cut out. The last time in 2008 I could get none of my waves and curls back. So I finally chopped all of my long hair off last year and have decided never to go back to the "shop".

My childhood was full of memories of hair grease and my mom braiding my super thick curly hair, not hair salons, straightening (hot combs) and relaxers. Salons and burning one's hair in the kitchen is just not how we got down. Nothing has changed with my own daughter except the products.

Sorry but your article really generalizes and to me assumes nearly everyone's experience was similar. The only nostalgia I feel and that my daughter will not experience is when I walk past hair grease like dax or blue magic in the grocery.

I didn't like the article because it didn't resonate with me but perhaps it will with someone that had your experiences.

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Shellye

Like Kilajo said, many women self-relax. I have far more memories of yelling at my mom that the relaxer was burning my scalp and was ready to get washed out than of her burning my ears with a hot comb. (I still avert my eyes when I see a box of Just for Me.) And because I'm not accustomed to going to the beauty shop, I do my own natural hair now.

That being said, I think the owners of beauty shops are just as entrepreneurial as anyone else. I think they will realize the demographic has slightly changed and adjust to include natural styling to take advantage of the women who say they just can't do their own twists, twist outs, etc. (Example: Miss Jessie's is charging $200+ for a session and people are gladly paying.)

I think there is another issue at hand: Time is money. Black hairdressers will have to change the dynamic of clients waiting around ten hours for them to do the five other heads of hair they booked at the same time, run to the bank, and go to lunch - all while fuming clients wait under a hairdryer that was done hours ago. It's just a bad business model and bad customer service. Black women are moving up the economic ladder can't be bothered to wait around unnecessarily. Time is money! If beauty shops are losing business, I bet this is more of an issue than more women becoming natural. (And perhaps the economy.)

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frau

there are natural salons...

eta,
in the 60's and 70's my grandmother used to work at la vogue beauty salon in newark nj and even it was different than the salons of the 90's or today.
back then there was a bit more professionalism. i still feel a sense of community where i go to get my hair cut here in atlanta. there is a barber and some locticians. i think the hair salon experience is evolving not going extinct.

kikisf

Very nice professor. It reminds me a bit of the Atlantic piece on the passing of Marable. The Legacy of Malcolm X - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

I believe you extrapolate too much from your personal experience. For some naturals the lack of a perm or heat trained hair means increased dependence on salons or maybe just a girlfriend on the back porch cornrowing you up for a vacation week of daily swimming. The hour of deep conditioning that ended up being two hours because your stylist fit another head in might be replaced by a henna party, where us girls help slap greenish goop on each other and take turns under the heating cap or spell shares under the hooded dryer. The ritual has changed but remains in place.

For those of us with extra thick tangly hair going natural may mean an increased amount of time thinking about, learning about and coiffing our hair.The arena of African-American beauty culture has expanded. We spend hours lurking forums. Instead of using the salons and barbershops to disseminate health information via flyers we create our own awareness via internet posts.

In San Francisco-Bay Area there are several salons catering to naturals. It is possible to get a twist out as easily as a roller set used to be. Some women come to be pampered, others like the uniformity of having a professional (especially in the hard to reach kitchen area) others are hampered by arthritis or the carpal tunnel of pregnancy. Women catch up with the news, gossip and debate while getting a twist out the same way they do with a relaxed roller set.

To be sure in certain places in which a small Black girl would not be allowed to chemically straighten their hair until womanhood but that is by in no means an across the board rite of age. I have extremely kinky hair and my mother straightened it as far back as I can remember. For me being allowed to hair my hair "out" was a more significant sign of Black womanhood.

The Culture of Beauty that Black women share stems not just from how we choose to alter alter our features but from our shared features and our journey in embracing the features that often are not congruous with the colonizer's archetype of beauty. That is the heart of the matter.