So the natural hair movement is on fire lately and can I just say -- finally! It’s so refreshing to see women (and men) of all tones and textures embracing their natural hair. There have even been recent declines in hair relaxer sales as reported by Mintel, a market intelligence agency for consumer and product research. Social media is flooded with natural hair care pages, hashtags, tutorials and overall love and encouragement for our naturalistas out there. It is well deserved, as natural hair wearing was way on the lesser end of things years ago.
For many the natural hair journey is emotional, challenging and demanding but also highly rewarding. It’s no surprise that both longtime and newborn naturals wouldn’t want others to have the same experience. On the flip side, however, for those who aren’t natural the persuasion to switch over can become a little overbearing. After pressure from our curly, kinky- haired friends, coworkers and relatives, it can get straight up annoying to tell the truth. Instead of sounding like kind words, encouragement and harmless attempts to persuade, after some time it starts to sound more like nagging. Sometimes it can even come off as gloating, as if not having natural locks somehow makes our lives a miserable, enslaving realm of horror and misfortune.
Much of the persuasion from naturals to get others to go natural comes from a series of circumstances. The first, as was mentioned earlier is the liberation factor. When you experience something good, you want others to join you and have that same experience. Another factor -- probably the most common one -- is the “no self love” factor. For a long time, there’s been a poisonous stigma out there that natural hair is ugly. Many girls have grown up with the belief that when it comes to hair, longer and straighter is better, causing them to feel from a young age that they must alter their hair to conform to what someone else deems acceptable. While it might be true that some use hair relaxers, wigs and weaves to cover up or avoid being seen in their natural hair, that is not always the case. Just because you relax your hair or wear extensions, weaves or wigs does not mean that you are trying to hide your hair in its natural state. Natural hair is a lot of work! For some, relaxing and weaving is convenient, for some it is more versatile and for many, it’s just their preference! So before you try to persuade someone to go natural, think about why you’re trying to persuade them. Don’t automatically assume it’s because they’re embarrassed of their hair. Don’t give off the impression that there’s something wrong with not being natural, because there isn’t!
