Don’t Touch My Hair…Seriously Don’t
The topic of hair comes up a lot in Brown Girl communities. Discussions are held everywhere from social media to our jobs and even the airport. My hair has been searched in airports all over the country and TSA agents have rolled their eyes at my asking them to change their gloves before putting their hands in my fresh wash and go.
Recently, I came out of the restroom at work to a conversation between the Caucasian man who owns the business and one of my coworkers. I caught the middle of the conversation, so I am not sure how it began but I heard my coworker state that her hair was in its current state a sew-in because she works out every day and is trying to protect her natural hair and the owner responds, “so it’s not a weave” and she says “yes, it is”. As I’m walking past he looks at my sky-high pineapple and appears to want to say something but must’ve read my “I’m not the one” look because he refrained. In the room during this conversation is the Caucasian women who works the front desk who wears a wig, that I have seen her adjust multiple times which makes it quite obvious. I would like to know if the man had engaged in the same conversation with her.
I’m always taken aback by what people think are appropriate questions to ask referring to my hair. I have even changed my mind about certain hairstyles like protective styles or straightening my hair because I don’t feel like engaging in these awkward conversations. As a classroom teacher my female students would ask to touch my hair I felt like letting them touch it was a learning experience for them, so I would allow them to touch it once after washing their hands. Maybe by allowing them to touch my hair now they wouldn’t grow up to be adults that feel it’s okay to ask someone to touch their hair or even worse just start trying to do it without asking and thus receiving my strong neck curve.
Last year, “Evening Standard Magazine” received backlash after altering a picture of the braid crown my best friend Solange Knowles was wearing. The fact that they felt it was okay to alter something so precious to so many people is first of all disheartening, but also the fact that they altered the hair of the author of the song “Don’t Touch My Hair” … really people really. The woman said don’t touch her hair that means don’t crop it out of a photograph either.
It is amazing to think of all the many companies creating hair care products specifically for women of color who choose to wear their hair in so many different states. There has also been an influx of companies created by women of color creating products for us. Even with all of this new development we still have to deal with our hair being treated as some sort of anomaly.
Dealing with all of this as an adult is difficult but I know that our girls are dealing with the same things in their schools daily. We see headlines of teachers cutting the hair of our Brown Girls and certain hair styles being banned as a part of dress codes. Hair is a large part of our identity as Brown Girls and it is crucial that our girls understand that they have the right to choose to wear their hair however they are comfortable. Now that I have finished my hair rant please check back this week for a resources directly related to educating Brown Girls on the beauty of their hair.
