The stress placed on young women, especially on those of color, to look presentable, carries more weight than an outsider could imagine. Historically, the female body has been policed by society. “Don’t wear that”, “Don’t you want to do your hair?”. “Why aren’t you wearing makeup?”. “None of the boys are going to like you if you look like that”. “Put some effort in”. The way that we look, has somehow correlated with our worth. Now, imagine having all of the pressures of being a female, and then compounding it with being a minority with an unruly head of ringlets, frizz, and coils.
This is me, I’m that girl. Except, for a very long time, I did not identify with that girl. I straightened that girl out with chemical perms and flat irons and hours spent sitting under the “secadora”. By all means, I did not want to be that girl. I was ashamed, ashamed that my natural hair garnished so much attention. I needed to make myself feel smaller, less visible. I’m sure that anyone who has played the role as the token minority friend can sympathize with me. It is exhausting at times, to be so different, yet so similar to your peers, but having your differences cloud the way that they perceive you.
It was not until the 8th grade when a fellow classmate called me a derogatory term targeting my race, that I realized that my latina heritage was a crucial part of my identity. I wore my race so vividly - from my full lips, to my complexion, to the little curly baby hairs that frame my face - and you know what ? I learned to love all of those qualities. I realized into my adolescence that the greatest form of self love that I could give to myself, was living unapologetically. This was when I dropped the weekly salon visits, the chemical treatments, and the flat iron. My hair began to spring back, and I loved what I saw. Not in the aesthetic sense (although I do love my hair), but in the sense that I loved how accepting I was becoming with myself. The natural hair movement is not a trend, or a fad - it’s a choice, a personal one. Just because you do decide to straighten your hair, doesn’t mean that you’re any less accepting of your true self than someone who refrains from doing so. All it means is that you’re doing what you like and want. Autonomy is crucial, and sometimes societal norms make us forget that.
As a woman, let alone a human being, we have the power to do what we want. If tomorrow I decide that I want to blow out my hair, I will. The point is, I am now more aware of the reasoning behind my desires. This is why the natural hair movement is way more than solely being about hair, it’s about personhood and self awareness. It’s about realizing the adversity against you, and saying “So What ?”.
