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Ancient Afro Comb

A few nights ago I stumbled upon an episode of Pap and Attitude on the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It was about hair, specifically Black women's hair. Having conducted an entire research project on the representations of Black women with natural hair in South African print media, I was extremely interested in the program. I watched intently in the hope that it would bring to light the subjugation of Black women by the media and multi-billion dollar hair businesses.

I was sorely disappointed. Almost horrified.

They had a focus group of about 10 women talking casually about their hair experiences. The first thing I noticed was  that only one of them had natural hair. According to most of the women, it was perfectly ok for them to sit in the hair salon and endure the burning from chemical straighteners.  Afterall it's a small price to pay to look good...right?

The women also spoke about how weaves allow them to have elaborate hairstyles, diverse colours, and of course various lengths. Many of the ladies described natural Black hair as being unkempt, unprofessional, and even unattractive. One of the women went so far as to say it's ok for Black women to have weaves that look like white hair but white women look stupid when they braid their hair or wear it in dreadlocks.

As I watched on, my jaw dropped more and more, but the worst was still to come. They interviewed the CEO of Black Like Me. First of all, she was encouraging Black women to relax their hair because this makes it more manageable and professional and secondly she had dreadlocks--a style considered by many to be natural!

While I was doing my research project, I learned a lot of new things about Black women and Black hair. When I read literature about Black hair, I found out that black women's ideas about their hair are influenced by the ideas men and white women dictate to them. It is said that Black women are susceptible to both racism and sexism, putting them at a huge disadvantage.

The media perpetuate certain stereotypes of Black women and this further fuels the hair debate.  Hair is seen by many to be a  political statement. While I don't agree that there has to be a political debate about what I do with my hair, I do think that Black women need to embrace their natural hair for what it is. Other women's hair is referred to as just that but mine is referred to as ethnic hair, as if American is not an ethnicity.