I've been hearing for years that there's 'GOOD natural hair' and there's 'BAD natural hair'. You would see this in the media and hear it from different social groups.
I find it appalling that people think that this makes sense but I'm far from one to see things in black and white.
You know what's even more appalling? I heard it from people who had naturally curly hair like me or they were a POC like me!
How on Earth was I supposed to embrace my own natural curls when older women of color around taught me that my natural hair was something to be ashamed of?
I had to teach myself how to embrace my own curl pattern. I've never really put a lot of thought or paid a ton of attention to my hair growing up until I started I seeing different styles that stood out to me. I loved shortcuts so doing a big chop didn't scare me.
After I did my big chop and had my hair in protective styles for a while, I learned that not spending time learning my hair and natural curl pattern made me intimidated by my hair. I literally started getting intimidated by my own hair because I hadn't seen it for a while. Is that not crazy?
After a process of spending time with my hair and choosing every day to accept all states of my hair even when certain products didn't work and I had to try new brands or even when my curl definition wouldn't withstand humidity, I fell in love with it.
You know what that means? This means that you don't have 'bad' hair until you start saying that to yourself because there's no such thing.
I don't believe that God would create a "good" or "bad" breed of us considering after he made man he said, "and it was good". This entire "good/bad" debate was something that people created and the words of other people are not scripture.
The debate is typical that people with looser curl patterns have 'better' hair compared to people with tighter curl patterns. I understand that people have their right to their different perceptions of beauty but just because you don't see something as beautiful doesn't mean it isn't.
