Woman in Media Going Natural

What if Jennifer Hudson wore her hair naturally curly?

Recently my sister said something to the effect that she wanted to go completely natural. I had to hold back my excitement as I answered her questions about how to style and care for her hair while she transitioned. If you’ve been naturally curly for any length of time, you’ve probably experienced the same kind of excitement when a friend, family member or even a stranger on the street declares to you that they have decided to go natural when they see your own natural curls. It’s no surprise that we love it just as much when we get to see women in the media embracing their natural textures and going natural.

Whether they know it or not, as the women that we see in magazines and on the big screen proudly parade their natural textures, they are telling us, “you too are naturally beautiful just the way you are — you don’t have to straighten your hair just to fit some else’s idea of good hair.” What a beautiful message to send to young girls who are watching them as role models!

Even if we have already gone natural, most of us probably wish that we had had women in the media to look to for naturally glamorous hair-inspiration while we were growing up. Even now, we could still wish for more examples of high-profile women with natural hair. Seeing the media increasingly cover ladies like Oprah, Jill Scott, Nicole Ari Parker and Melissa Harris-Perry with their natural hair is encouraging, but it also makes us want to see it more often.

Thankfully we aren’t waiting for the media to catch up — we are the ones who are constantly sending each other this positive message through YouTube, blogs, forums and meet-ups. Still, the little girl in me wants to glance up from my place in line at the check out counter and see the faces of beautiful famous natural-haired women staring back at me from the magazines and smiling as if to say, “I did it and so can you!”

To the women in the media who have yet to publicly share their natural hair: we would love to see you embracing your natural texture!