Over a month ago, a friend shared an article that made reference to women with natural hair having lower self-esteem than women with treated hair. Thank goodness the report was a fabrication. What else would it be? The self-esteem of all the women I know with natural hair cannot be measured especially the ones with kinky textures.  These are women that could care less whether they have curls like StylePantry or have gorgeous hair like Jayz’s Becky. Despite the fact that our uncategorized 4zz texture get zero help from YouTubers, we still rock our hair without batting an eye. If I am lying, ask Rashidat of Her Gist on how she feels about her hair. What about Solange Knowles? Tamu McPherson? Or our beautiful Nse Ikpe Etim?

I started on my natural hair journey because my treated edges were falling off. To prevent myself from looking like a bald eagle in the nearest months, I decided to go natural to regrow. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. After a month of rocking my very, very short natural hair style which was a replica of my high school hair style in the 90s, I noticed that I no longer have headaches and dandruff was no longer an issue as well. The feeling of the cool breeze on my scalp was very soothing. I could not believe I had been punishing myself walking around with chemically treated hair. So I made a decision to  stay natural for LIFE. Moreover, it is my God given hair and as a black woman, what is there not to like?

The fact that this is even a point of discussion in the beauty world irks my nerves. There are so many articles on the internet encouraging black women to wear their natural hair with confidence. How do we fix this issue so that younger black girls would have enough self love to embrace their God given hair. How? I met a middle schooler with natural hair last year. The level of confidence she has for her KINKY hair is unbelievable! I was so impressed with her attitude towards her look. Seriously! Who cares if that other person does not like your hair? I tell people all the time that I look like someone uprooted my head from African soil. The only wish I have is for it to grow longer so I could style it in different ways. My goal is for my hair to look like this photo.  It will not bother me a bit if my hair refuses to grow that long. As a matter of fact, I believe I am a walking Chia pet and could care less.

“Wear your afro with confidence. It’s a gift everyone cannot have.” Can you imagine someone actual wrote this? Why is wearing your natural hair with confidence considered a gift. Do we tell other races to wear their natural hair with confidence? A gift indeed! Nonsense! We really need to find a way to re-orientate our minds. Some people have said they worry whether a man would date them with their kinky hair. If he does not want you because of your kinky hair you better forget about that confused fella or work on your confidence. Your hair is not the problem!

It is good to finally see the fashion world featuring natural hair on the runway. I saw more kinky hair girls on the Spring 2017 runway than ever. These girls walked the runway of Valentino, Giambattista Valli, Alexis Mabille and some of them even opened the shows. Now we have images such as the ones below that we can show our younger girls to educate them.

Vanessa Seward

Trussardi

Valentino

Topshop

Naeem Khan

Brandon Maxwell

Hellessy

H&M

Alexis Mabille

Tome

Talbot Runhof

2 Comments
1373