Dianne is the co-founder of Natural Haircare News and Coils To Locs.com. She's been blogging about natural hair ever since she made the decision to break free of the creamy crack in 2012.
Latest posts by Dianne Austin (see all)
I decided to do some informal research within the natural hair community in order to get a sense of which topics make the hair on the back of a Naturalistas’ neck stand up.
What are those touchy topics that irk women who choose to wear their hair natural? My informal research consisted of reading natural hair forum chatter and reviewing commentary from women from all over the United States and in some cases the world. I checked out YouTube, natural hair blogs and other forms of social media.
The natural hair topics that generated the most commentary are:
1. Curl Patterns: There seems to be a real curl pattern divide within the natural hair community. No surprise there. Women expressed frustration with the perception that some women may feel that their hair texture is better than hair with a kinkier texture. You know, the whole wavy, curly 3 curl pattern versus the tighter and kinkier 4 curl pattern.
2. Length Obsession: I found that there was some buzz about some women’s infatuation with focusing on hair length and how fast their hair is, or is not growing.
3. Hair Shrinkage: This dove tails with the curl pattern debate. Women are sharing frustration with hair shrinkage; and there are those in the natural hair community who feel that to “hate” shrinkage is to admit to hating our hair texture and how our hair naturally reacts when the humidity is high, or it rains, or… well you get the idea.
4. Texturizing, (texlaxing): Any discussion in the natural hair sphere that focuses on adding chemicals to the hair is taboo in some circles. Women choose to texturize for different reasons. Whether it is to control frizz, make hair “more manageable” or loosening the curl pattern, women opposed to chemicals feel that those who choose to texturize do so because they hate their hair.
We all have a position on natural hair: how we should or should not style it, wear it, wash and dry it. If you’re familiar with our hair philosophy, you know that we feel that Naturalista’s need to make the hair choices that work best for their hair and not be concerned about what other people think when it comes to how they choose to take care of their hair. And trust me, even that position is an unpopular one.
What are your pet peeves?
Author: Dianne
 “Changing attitudes about natural hair” is what we do at Natural Haircare News. Through informative articles, podcasts and videos, we go beyond just sharing the latest advice and tips on kinky, curly, wavy haircare – We shake things up and focus on the realities of wearing our hair natural. |
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