Black Hair: Playing the white card? Gimme a break. It’s not that deep.

The point is not to seperate the Black North-American community in two: Naturals VS Relaxed. And as a natural sister, my point is NOT to consider natural black hair as the only correct way to wear your hair. But there is a couple of arguments from the relaxed side (thought it is not really a side) that I just can’t stand.

We are in America.Right. And…?? I mean, seriously. Especially american women. You have been in that country for so long, you have helped builting it. You guys have been there for centuries. Stop acting like you were newly arrived people who have to adapt to ‘mainstream’ society. You ARE part of ‘mainstream society’. I mean, isn’t it what America is all about? Many cultures living together. I don’t know if it because it is always more difficult to see yourself from the inside. As a not-american women, I see America as a country that was moulded both by Europeans and African people. By having your hair relaxed or having a wig on and saying that you do it because ‘we’re in America’ is just ridiculous. The civil war didn’t happen for nothing. It think the African culture is as important in the history of America as the European culture. Why put one culture above the other as if it was something black women have to reach?

It’s about choice (wigs). I completely understand that arguement. I mean who doesn’t like to change style once in a while? But it is a wig. Why do so many wig girls have the same haircut 24/7? I hate the hypocrisy. Why saying it’s about choice when you have only one style? I mean wigs are wigs. It’s just hypocrite to say it’s about choice when you refuse to go out the house without a wig on your head.

It’s more professional/appropriate. I’ll do this short. Why should something natural be inapropriate? All you have to do is to learn how to style your natural hair. And it goes for all types of hair. Just like you don’t wear jeans on a wedding, you don’t just come to, I don’t know, a bussiness meeting with the same hair style that you would wear to go fishing with your dad on sunday afternoon.

It’s more manageable. Myth. Natural black hair is not more difficult to manage or style. You just have to know how to style it and take care of it. There are plenty (especially in America) of good products you can use, tons of ways you can style your hair that is trendy and not too over the top, and oh so many natural hair styles that require little day-to-day care while staying healthy and good-looking.

I find it ironic how there are so much less good products and salons for Black hair in Canada (due to a smaller Black community) but still, it seems like there are more natural people out here than in our US neighbours. I know society isn’t the same, demographics as well, and culture. I know African Americans and Black Canadians do not share the same history. But we’re all North Americans and thus, in a sense, very similar.

Let me end this post like this. For you sisters around the world who are not natural, please be true to yourself. If your hair is the way it is because of self-esteem issues (not to say that it is always the case), please just do something about it, work on loving yourself for who you are. And that doesn’t mean you have to go natural. That just means: be proud of who you are. Not the hair you wear. Instead, use your hair (and everything else about you, from your skin to your clothes) to tell the world that you love yourself.

Once upon a time in the Tyra Banks show…

I have to admit: I enjoy watching the Tyra Show. Yay. 🙂  10 in the morning, eating breakfast… It starts the day well, doesn’t it ? Tyra has a nice personnality, she sweet and all. This is her image, right ? Oprah cares about people; Tyra loves everybody.

Anyway, I was watching today’s show called “Trust your Dating instincts”, it was a social experiment about women who aways date the wrong men. So there was speed dating session and the women had to choose their guy. The first group of girls found out that they were attracted by a gay man. And everything just went with the flow, it was like: “I like tall guys better.” “Oh, really ? Too bad. Your are sweet, though.” He’s gay, no big deal. Tyra let a man from the audience express himself about this, they talked for seconds only but Tyra asked: “And you are  gay or straight ?” he answered he was gay and once again, no big deal.

If life was like the Tyra Show, black, white, gay, straight… no difference. Everyone would love each other. Wouldn’t that be cool ? And plus: everybody looks perfect, have noticed it ? Even in the audience. Nice hair, nice teeth, nice skin, flawlessness at its best. In Canada, it’s not quite the same, even though we tend to copy american shows a lot lol. Just take Steven and Chris Show. They both look perfect, but in the audience, it’s just normal people. It’s good to know, though, that I’m not the only normal girl out there. 😉