I was recently talking to my sister about all the crazy things that my preschoolers say. I was reminded of a conversation that I had with one of the kids. She was playing with her dolls, like she usually does during playtime, and she let out a big sigh will brushing one of the doll's hair. I noticed and approached to ask her what's the matter. She told me how she wished she had the hair on her doll. Which was straight and silky hair, in contrast to her kinky hair.
In that moment I felt like Chris Rock. I know that sounds odd, but it reminded me of when Chris Rock's daughter asked him basically the question: "Why don't I have good hair?" This prompted Rock to come out with the 2009 documentary titled "Good Hair," where he traveled all around the world to find out what is good hair, and how people achieve it.
When typing in the question "What defines good hair," the first thing that pops up is a definition of "good hair." Good hair, according to Wikipedia, is "a phrase used within the African American community to generally describe African American hair (or the hair texture belonging to those of other ethnicities who fit the same description) that most closely resembles the hair of non-Black people (straight or curly), especially those images of hair popularly presented in society..."
How do people try to achieve nice hair? Through flat irons, hair relaxers, dyes etc. Don't get me wrong I am all for people doing whatever they want to their hair. If you want to wear a weave, wear a weave. You want to dye your hair green, dye it green. You want your hair a little longer, put on those hair extensions. Hey, maybe you want to shave you all your hair off, rock that short hair. Do you! Feel good in whatever is on top of your head. But what gets me really mad is when hair becomes the determining factor on if you get a job or not.
Earlier this year, there was a picture that surfaced around social media. The picture was a woman with a kinky afro vs a woman with straight hair. The caption on the photo was " I saw a Tweet saying 'Google unprofessional hairstyles for work' I did then checked the 'professional ones'". If you type "professional hairstyles" into the Google search bar what pops up is silky straight hair, while the unprofessional hairstyle was the kinky hair.
There was a very public case about this with a Zara employee, Cree Ballah, who claimed that her manager told her to leave the store because her hair was in braids. Ballah said the whole event was "very unprofessional" also stating "My hair type is also linked to my race, so to me, I felt like it was a direct discrimination against my ethnicity in the sense of what comes along with it." She continued to say "My hair type is out of my control and I try to control it to the best of my ability," which wasn't up to standard for Zara.
I totally agree with Ballah's statement. Why is the natural state of my hair unprofessional? I can't control how my hair grows on my head. Hair should not be the determining factor of if i'll be good at the job or not. It's straight up discrimination. There is such a level of ignorance that people have with hair, and the stereotypes that people have on hair. You might remember last year when Giuliana Rancic of Fashion Police, said rude comments about actress Zendaya's hair she rocked on the Oscars red carpet. Saying that she "smells like patchouli oil, or weed." Zendaya made a staement saying: "There is already harsh criticism of African-American hair in society without the help of ignorant people who choose to judge others based on the curl of their hair. My wearing my hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough." Also stating,"There is a fine line between what is funny and disrespectful,"
At the end of the day my hair is my hair. I should not be condemned for something that I can't help. "The hair isn't the problem, it's the perception of it, and that's what has to change." -Bria Howard
