More Good Hair

In this post, I want to talk about the perception of good vs bad hair.  The African American community typically defines "good hair" as wavy or straight, easy to comb, and long.  But what people don't realize is:

1. just because your hair is wavy or straight, it doesn't mean it's more manageable
2. easy to comb may also mean potential problems holding a style
3. long does not equal "good

Here's a clip from Spike Lee's movie School Daze that summarizes the struggle between good and bad hair.

Good Hair

There's been a lot of talk about natural hair.  One disturbing trend I've seen is people saying they can't go natural (hair sans chemicals) because they don't have "good hair".  So, like Chris Rock, I decided to investigate the myth of good vs bad hair.  Instead of making a movie about it (because we all know that's an option), I opted to dedicate a blog or two to the topic.  Let's start by defining Good or Bad hair for those who don't know anything about the controversy.

Bad Hair:  Bald.  Not there.  Missing.

Good hair:  Hair that grows freely out of your head; in more than spots or sections sparsely spread across your scalp.  If you have any question about if your hair is "good", talk to a chemo patient, or someone with alopecia, or someone who is involuntarily rocking the Sherman Helmsley.

Now that we've defined good vs bad hair, let's delve into hair psychology.  Unfortunately, many people who use relaxer or other chemicals to tame their hair are used to seeing themselves a certain way.  And most of the time, if they are using relaxer or other chemicals, it's because their hair doesn't grow out of their scalp like that.  So what we're left with is this inability to imagine ourselves without processed hair, thinking somehow our original texture is now "bad" because it's not bone straight and manageable.  It's all mental.  People always want what they don't have.  If your hair is curly, you want straight; if it's straight, you admire a body of curls.  We're always going to critique our God-given appearance, pick it apart, and find all the flaws.  Once you appreciate your natural look, it will be a lot easier to stop living in the relaxer past.

We'll get into perceptions in the next post.