"Black Women Stop Wearing Weave!"
This is the rallying cry of many people. They may be a bit narrow minded but nevertheless this is the message that they send. There are many myths about weaves and black women, and many of them are sadly perpetrated by women of color themselves because there is a lack of knowledge about hair care in the black community.
Why do we get picked on so much for wearing weave when many cultures wear extensions? It seems to be a big secret with them but not so much a secret with black women. A lot of black women wear weaves but when a white woman does it, it's hush hush. People ASSUME that because she is white then the hair on her head is all hers.
We've all seen those commercials with the extensions on nothing more than a rubber band that you can purchase for an absurdly low price. But weave wearers know the truth that this is not human hair and that it is synthetic garbage that won't last a week. But people are buying into this craze and looking like fools by the head with this crap.
But why when these girls are wearing weaves, do we assume that they hate themselves? Do we assume that these white women have low self esteem? Why do we attribute that only to Black women? Some people foolishly think that black hair won't grow when ALL HAIR GROWS.
I read on Yahoo Answers once where a white person pointed out that black girls must hate themselves because they straighten their hair to look like white people. It didn't dawn on their precious minds that black women mostly straighten their hair for a variety of reasons. One is manageability. Anyone with curly hair knows how difficult it can be to manage and maintain. Many women felt like their kinky curls were not "professional" and wanted to do something to fit in more with their colleagues. Enter the 80's and the box perm. Now within hours, your kinky curly hair can be as straight as an arrow. Those curls melted away with long straight hair down your back.
But did that mean that they hated themselves and wished to be someone different?
If a black woman wears blue contacts, is she trying to be white? Even though white people don't have a monopoly on blue eyes no more than black people have a monopoly on dark skin. Yes, reread that. It all boils down to genetics anyway.The Aborigine people of Australia have dark skin and blue eyes but are genetically closer to their white counterparts.
So what does this really mean?
It means that black women are sick and tired at the finger being pointed at us. We don't hate ourselves. We just want to be ourselves without someone misattributing our actions to mean something else. If I have straight hair, then that's the look I was going for. No need to call Dr. Phil. My hair will be curly again in a month. Maybe. If I want red hair it does not mean that I live in Section 8 housing, can't pronounce the word 'ask' properly, and have more than one child.
But if a white girl wears different color hair, she's edgy. Cool. Hip. WTF?
It goes on and on and on. Most people of color feel judged the minute they walk outside their homes. It's something that some white people don't understand....unless they are transported to an all BLACK environment...which is something that would rarely happen. They don't notice it because it's not happening to them. By being a majority, they will rarely be put in situations where they are in the minority. When they are, they then know what it feels like to be in that situation. Being judged for everything you do, what you are wearing, etc.
I don't want to go on forever, but I feel as if I can talk about this forever because its something that all the pundits on television say, "That we should have a discussion about race!" But once the subject comes up, someone wants to say, "Don't bring race into this" or "Black people bring out that race card all the time." Its a discussion that NO ONE wants to have ever! They are just empty platitudes. Ignoring racism doesn't work either. Morgan Freeman stated that once and some white people jump on that as if he speaks for all Black people. Ignoring race never did anything to help anyone. EVER. I don't see how ignoring something will make it go away. And it's a dumb statement and I don't care who said it.
No Black women wear extensions for the same reasons why white women wear them. There are numerous ones. But when you see a woman of color wearing them, you'll do yourself a disservice if you assume she's doing it because she hates herself. Or can't grow her own hair. Or wants to be white.
Because no one ever blamed a white person for wanting to be black by sitting in a tanning salon. That would be ridiculous, right?
Why do we get picked on so much for wearing weave when many cultures wear extensions? It seems to be a big secret with them but not so much a secret with black women. A lot of black women wear weaves but when a white woman does it, it's hush hush. People ASSUME that because she is white then the hair on her head is all hers.
 |
| Shh! Girl I'm wearing a weave!!!!! |
We've all seen those commercials with the extensions on nothing more than a rubber band that you can purchase for an absurdly low price. But weave wearers know the truth that this is not human hair and that it is synthetic garbage that won't last a week. But people are buying into this craze and looking like fools by the head with this crap.
But why when these girls are wearing weaves, do we assume that they hate themselves? Do we assume that these white women have low self esteem? Why do we attribute that only to Black women? Some people foolishly think that black hair won't grow when ALL HAIR GROWS.
I read on Yahoo Answers once where a white person pointed out that black girls must hate themselves because they straighten their hair to look like white people. It didn't dawn on their precious minds that black women mostly straighten their hair for a variety of reasons. One is manageability. Anyone with curly hair knows how difficult it can be to manage and maintain. Many women felt like their kinky curls were not "professional" and wanted to do something to fit in more with their colleagues. Enter the 80's and the box perm. Now within hours, your kinky curly hair can be as straight as an arrow. Those curls melted away with long straight hair down your back.
But did that mean that they hated themselves and wished to be someone different?
If a black woman wears blue contacts, is she trying to be white? Even though white people don't have a monopoly on blue eyes no more than black people have a monopoly on dark skin. Yes, reread that. It all boils down to genetics anyway.The Aborigine people of Australia have dark skin and blue eyes but are genetically closer to their white counterparts.
So what does this really mean?
It means that black women are sick and tired at the finger being pointed at us. We don't hate ourselves. We just want to be ourselves without someone misattributing our actions to mean something else. If I have straight hair, then that's the look I was going for. No need to call Dr. Phil. My hair will be curly again in a month. Maybe. If I want red hair it does not mean that I live in Section 8 housing, can't pronounce the word 'ask' properly, and have more than one child.
But if a white girl wears different color hair, she's edgy. Cool. Hip. WTF?
It goes on and on and on. Most people of color feel judged the minute they walk outside their homes. It's something that some white people don't understand....unless they are transported to an all BLACK environment...which is something that would rarely happen. They don't notice it because it's not happening to them. By being a majority, they will rarely be put in situations where they are in the minority. When they are, they then know what it feels like to be in that situation. Being judged for everything you do, what you are wearing, etc.
I don't want to go on forever, but I feel as if I can talk about this forever because its something that all the pundits on television say, "That we should have a discussion about race!" But once the subject comes up, someone wants to say, "Don't bring race into this" or "Black people bring out that race card all the time." Its a discussion that NO ONE wants to have ever! They are just empty platitudes. Ignoring racism doesn't work either. Morgan Freeman stated that once and some white people jump on that as if he speaks for all Black people. Ignoring race never did anything to help anyone. EVER. I don't see how ignoring something will make it go away. And it's a dumb statement and I don't care who said it.
No Black women wear extensions for the same reasons why white women wear them. There are numerous ones. But when you see a woman of color wearing them, you'll do yourself a disservice if you assume she's doing it because she hates herself. Or can't grow her own hair. Or wants to be white.
Because no one ever blamed a white person for wanting to be black by sitting in a tanning salon. That would be ridiculous, right?
What do you think?
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