Natural Hair Pet Peeves

Natural Hair Pet Peeves

 

 

We all have them!

So let’s talk about them!

There are so many stigmas that come with natural hair, twice as much curiosity, and three times as much work, lol!

Here is a list of my "Natural Hair Pet Peeves".

1. First of all, anyone that knows me (or has read any of my past posts) knows that the one thing that irks me most is other women saying:

"I can’t go natural, my hair too nappy!"

I just want to scream:

"Do you think this afro on my head is made of clouds?":

I mean its soft, don’t get me wrong. But, please don’t confuse my light skin for some sort of pass into nap free hair. I don’t have good hair because I’m mixed and I still have to straddle with the monster I like to call Dandelion every day. What I do have is patience and love for my natural hair, which allows me to work through the naps to find the curls.

2. Secondly, and almost equally annoying, are people who think that they took a trip to the petting zoo whenever they come in my presence. NO! YOU CANNOT TOUCH MY HAIR! It’s like people lose their entire home training when they see an afro. As stated previously, it takes a lot of work to achieve any sort of hair do with my natural hair and what I don’t need is a lot of strange hands ripping my hair do apart or smashing my fro into my scalp. But, there is one exception to this rule, the only people who can ask this question without receiving side looks are naturals.

3. People who question my or any other curl head’s "naturalness" because of weaves or dying. That’s it!

The rest of these pet peeves will be in no particular order.

·         I cannot stand when people act as if I must "tame" my hair in order to make it presentable. Afros are obviously not a "tame" beast and if I desired a tame look, then I would relax my hair.

·         Also, I hate the way my hair never wants to participate in an amazing hairdo more than once. There are at least 3 hairdos that I have tried to remake time and time again and only end up with a tolerable generic version.

·         Also, I hate when only half of my head decides to participate in a hairdo. So then I have half a head of curls and half a head of fro.

·         I think this next one goes for all naturals, as much as I love Marsha Ambrosius and Erykah Badu, I get tired of being compared to them in both looks and style just because I have natural hair.

·         Another natural hair burden is the achy arm/crampy hand syndrome. You know, from when you have your hands stuck in the up position for about an hour twisting up your hair before you go to bed? I don’t even have to work my arms at the gym anymore, lol.

·         On the same note, I hate when my shirts become spotty from spritzing my hair with oils.

·         I have no appreciation for people who are misleading about being natural; people who pretend that it is easy in order to convince others to be natural as well. It is true, that some people like to be more involved than others in their natural journey (i.e.: homemade d.c.s and researching the contents of every product before use) and their process may make it seem harder. But, it is not easy for anyone, unless you do nothing to your own hair and only allow your hair stylist to maintain it for you, which could then lead to unhealthy hair if it is not being taken care of properly in between visits.

·         I can’t stand a "church natural"! You know the ones who stop getting relaxers and still walk around with their new growth smell on, preaching to others about the evils of the creamy crack and how we were brain washed into hating ourselves, while they still got lye residue on their scalps? Not saying that we do not need to educate each other, but it is also not our job to judge each other. We all go on our natural hair journeys for different reasons and while we should support each other through them, we also must keep in mind that it is not our job to force our views on any person. Wearing a relaxer does not mean that one hates themselves or that they are ignorant, sometimes it just means that they prefer themselves relaxed!
                 What are you natural hair pet peeves?