At eight years old I saw my hair for the first time in its entirety after I pulled out my twists. I stood in front of the mirror and observed myself, more so my hair. It didn’t look like pretty hair, I wanted pretty hair please. I did not cry because I was certain that the nappy hair that appeared to be growing from my head was simply a product of the water in my home country, Jamaica, and if I were to go to another I would have pretty hair. 

The Black community views tighter coiled hair as messy and looser curls as pretty, which may lead to insecurities in kinky haired Black people. Black people should be accepting of all hair textures so that everyone can learn to love all of themselves from a young age.

Patrice Yursik, founder of AfroBella, a leading natural-hair care blog, revealed to Tracey Wallace, a writer from Refinery29, that, "The fact that hair typing begins with straight hair being number one and kinky hair being number four, A, B, or C — it just automatically stratifies things in a way that speaks to preference." When viewing the hair pattern chart, many 4c hair owners may realize that their hair appears to be the worst type of hair, resulting in an issue not at all shocking, low self-esteem.The Hair Typing System began with Oprah’s hair guru, Andre Walker. It is now the primary way that Black people describe their hair. 

Many kinky-haired girls are coerced into comparing their hair to curly hair and left with no other choice when it comes to hairstyles. From YouTube videos detailing how easy it is to do a slick back bun, observing that their twists outs look so fuzzy and wondering why their edges don’t lay as well as people with softer hair? - 

Their parents are also of this opinion and many of them feel as though they have no other option but to relax their hair from a very young age so that it can be straight and manageable. 

When I was younger I begged my mom to cream (the Jamaican term for relax)  my hair. She told me I had to wait until I was twelve. However, when that time came, I decided to give my natural hair a chance, which was a challenge.

Kayla Greaves, a writer from Bustle, interviewed Charlene Akuamoah, a stylist and one of the founders of fashion label broke & living, who has 4C hair, who revealed that, “I thought it was so difficult to manage: It was rough, the curls were too tight, it didn't look 'presentable,' it was always dry.” Numerous Black women believe this and choose to keep their hair straight or feel extremely depressed as they struggle to tame it.

I understand this view very well especially when I canerow, the Jamaican term for braid, which I thought paid homage to the rows of canes that the slaves had to work with, my hair. My hands parted and toiled fields of black cane that coated my scalp. Every grip and pull resulted in lashes reminding me that no matter how hard I tried society would still view my hard work as a mess. These wounds weren’t just emotional, there were also physical cuts from simply styling my hair which always made me feel like the process was a waste of time since it was going to look messy anyways and pained me.

This kinky hair is ugly hair mentality needs to change.We should teach and support other black people so they can learn how to properly care for and appreciate their hair. Anytime we find ourselves being prejudiced we should demolish that thought. Everyone should be educated about hair patterns and love. I want everyone to view all hair textures as pretty hair please. 

Works Consulted

Greaves, Kayla. “How Black People Came To Believe 4C Was A "Bad Hair" Texture.” Bustle, 4 March 2019, bustle.com/style/how-black-people-came-to-believe-4c-was-a-bad-hair-texture-16265631 . Accessed 7 May 2022.

Wallace, Tracey. “Loose Curls Vs Tight Spirals - Hair Preference.” Refinery29, 24 October 2013, refinery29.com/en-us/2013/10/55899/loose-curls-preference . Accessed 7 May 2022.