neonatural

Personally I don't like it and I go into a good amount of depth as to why in my youtube confession entitled "Exposing My Least Favorite Word"

But I want to get a dialogue going about this word. In my video, I implore the natural hair community to try to find more positive words to utilize and abolish this from our vocab.

I want to hear your thoughts. Both on the opinions I express in my video and how you personally feel about the word.

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AmberBrown

I was raised in a very "pro-natural hair" family. You know the stories some women tell about their families' horrible reactions to their BCs? That's how MY parents would react if I ever came home with a perm.

Coming from that environment, I NEVER heard "nappy" used in a pejorative sense. Or in a positive sense, for that matter. Nappy just WAS, the way curly (or straight) IS. Neither bad nor good, inherently. When my mom had just finished doing my hair and it was fresh, it was "beautiful nappy hair", when I desperately needed a refresh, it was "get that nappy head over here" lol. In my experience, black natural hair often isn't the same as "curly" hair. Considering that, doesn't it make sense to have a unique name?

It's kind of narrow-minded to assume that, because you have negative associations with the word, everyone does.

And no, I don't put the word on par with the "n" word and that reclamation nonsense. I've yet to see evidence that "nappy" was originally used by oppressors the way the "n" word was. Growing up, it was always ignorant black folks calling my hair bad because it was nappy. We'd be "reclaiming" it from self-hating black people...not quite the same.

That said, there are a few older threads on this topic. You should try a search if you're interested

neonatural

I like your point. I'm not assuming that everyone automatically has adverse feeling about this word. Quite the contrary. But this discussion isn't just about my views. That's why it asks "How you feel" about the subject. My point is to evoke an individualistic response from people, not necessarily get others on board with me just to have a say so. I'm really interested in the feedback. Unlike the other threads that ask a blunt, and bare question. I'm trying to understand how this word effects people so that I can have a better understanding of its overall effect as well as how it adapts to my feelings of displeasure.

My sentiments are known. And in no way am I equating it to the "N" word. The definition given in the video is from the Etymology Dictionary. Other definitions I researched from several other reputable dictionaries had definitions that more-so enforced the animistic nature of the word.

In bringing up this point (the overall topic of the thread) I'm hoping to get ideas flowing.

Its a word that I feel gets misused, and because of that I want people to examine how they feel about it. Whether or not those feelings are positive.
Perhaps understanding what it really means to individuals can help release the negativity some (myself included) feel about it.

I really do appreciate your comments.

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SaraNoH

Hmmm... "I'm feeling it particularly nappy today. I think I'll take a snooze."
Eh, it's not so bad

But in the sense of hair it does sound a bit.... harsh. Though I think it depends on who (your mom vs a stranger) is using the word and how (joking vs being mean) they're saying it. If a friend told me my hair was being nappy then we'd laugh; if a random dude on the street said that I'd want to punch them.

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ninja dog

I have a friend who uses it about her own hair. When I ask her to define it, she can't. She routinely presses her hair.