Your Hair is NAPPY!?

Question

Why does the word "nappy" offend you?" I hear some say "Our hair isn't NAPPY, it's curly!" Well, nappy IS a word to describe tightly coiled and or kinky hair. It wasn't a term created by white people to bring us down like the word '******'. It was simply a term to describe a TEXTURE. No offense, but we black women are more of an enemy to us than whites. WE made it derogatory the moment we believed our hair was undesirable and began to create ways to straighten it to make it look more like the "standard beauty." For what? Just so that we could say "My hair isn't nappy. I have that 'good' hair." Being that the majority of black women in the United States has relaxed hair, it's only natural for us to think as a whole that the word "NAPPY" is offensive because most of us don't like our natural hair! And in turn, it makes it hard on the naturals because outsiders look at realxed-heads and think that we are supposed to relax ours too. Here's a website for nappy heads www.nappystar.com .

TO The Gambit: You might want to look it up in the dictionary.

My hair is nappy and I love it. I moisturize it daily, and wash it anywhere from once to twice a week. However, it's still nappy.

Nappy hair does not simply mean "unkempt" hair. See, you're feeding into what some of our own people made us believe. That something's wrong with it. That's another way of saying that nappy is unhealthy and undesirable which is totally not true. One can have healthy NAPPY hair.

Answer 1

Well I don't take offense. When it grows out, yes it gets thick, but not to the point where it drives me up a wall. I did go about a year without doing a relaxer, but my hair is funny. It doesn't get nappy, nappy. Just tangled when I wash it. My dad has gorgeous hair when he lets it grow and when mine grows out, its doesn't look knotty, just wavy, but I do relaxer my hair depending how I like to where it. I think natural styles are pretty if you take care of your hair. We are all beautiful as black woman, whether our hair is coarse or extra fine. One think I can admit. My hair isn't thick when it grows out at all. So I wish it was a little thicker or nappier at times. And for the first guy that responded negatively about black women,You can keep your personal opinions about black women to your self. because when it comes down to it, black women have been known to be the most smartest creatures in this world. We can take alot and give alot at the same time, and still manage to maintain. We are known to be strong. And we look t people like you and laugh, because what you say doesnt even matter. Look at Condeleeza Rice and Oprah Winfrey. Successful and black. So you saying what you did was stupid. I laugh at people like you because you sound ignorant. And for Bronson, black women dont have to try hard to be beautiful. Who do you hear about going to get nose jobs, boob jobs, *** lift, tummy tuck, face lift, and other mess? WHITE WOMEN. They are beautiful, white women, but they are no better. We dont have to go through that extreme. See we have natural beauty and we age so gracefully. My mother is 48 and she looks like she is about 28, my grandmother is the same way. And they dont have to get injections for this, and surgery for that. Its all natural. People can put black women down, but we have made a name for ourselves. And I am very proud to be a black woman. I have everything that most people and more, but most of all, I am happy

Answer 2

I love nappy hair. Using all of those chemicals to straighten the hair can't be good for anyone's health or the environment. I wonder if anyone has looked into that?

Anyway, I know what you're talking about. There are very few black women at my job who have natural nappy hair - although it does seem to becoming more of a trend with younger black women.

There are very few women in the lime-light who have natural hair. I think this could be a big influence on other black women. If there were news anchors, talk show hosts, hollywood stars, or other celebs with nappy hair, we'd see more nappy headed black women...and men.

Answer 3

I agree with Lottalady regarding finding the proper forum to post this, however I went a little over a year without any chemicals but I didn't know what to do with it, all I would do is wet it and put gel (Let's Jam) on it because it has alot of wave patterns and is curly at the ends so that's how I wore it. and couldn't afford to go to anyone that could. When I was able to go to someone they didn't know what to really do with natural hair and by this time by hair was breaking off and very damaged. Honestly, I wish I could wear it totally natural but don't want to take that chance of having my hair go back to that damaged state and having the wrong hands in it again. So I've been putting in a product for manageability it is made from egg and soy.

Answer 4

Now, how did I know that your post would bring racist idiots like OMGZ! Elite Asian and Bronson out of the woodwork? But, thank you for your post anyway.

As a black woman, the saga of black women and our hair is a complicated issue. I believe all women are beautiful, with the beauty of black women being another dimension of our power and strength. I think some black women feel guilty about the choices they make related to their hair, which they shouldn't. In my case, my mother's hair is naturally straight. My father's hair is very kinky. The texture of my hair landed somewhere in between that, such that putting a relaxer on my hair has resulted in near hair suicide, but my hair texture doesn't have nearly enough body to wear it natural. These days, I either wear it braided or give it a light press and I'm happy with the results.

I agree with your add'l comments to Gambit. Nappy is a texture, it has nothing to do with the condition of the hair. But, Gambits viewpoint on nappy hair (and the thumbs ups his post received), shows how prevalent the misconceptions surrounding nappy hair are. I disagree with you though on how those misconceptions came to be.

Whatever we decide to do (or not to do) with our hair, I think the bottom line is acceptance within ourselves as to our own unique beauty.

Good, thought-provoking question though!

Answer 5

I am a white girl with very curly hair i call it nappy all the time.That doesn't mean it looks bad.Its just nappy,and good for you girl tell them whats up! I think there is lots of comments taken the wrong way not because of what is said.Only because the person on the receiving end is not opened minded!Or just not educated.Some people are not proud of who they are.

Answer 6

I agree, I am transitioning to nappy right now. I can't wait to be nappy and happy :)

Answer 7

why are you judging those who straighten their hair...
I straighten mine b/c it's easier to manage...every now and then I curl it...and i use the word nappy to describe uncombed curly hair =\ so when i describe my hair I say it is kinky and nappy most of the time lol b/c i hated combing it out but of course my mother wouldn't let me go anywhere unless she combed out every nap and neatly braided my hair....I had tight curls so you couldn't see the length which i didn't like... so I started straitening it...and i had less breakage and it grew faster...lol you should see my hair when i was in kindergarten...it was like an inch XD...

Answer 8

My dear, the word nappy does not offend me, however this is NOT the forum for this discussion /question.

Look at some of the racist responses that you got. Those jerks should not even have the honor/privilege of discussing such a personal topic about us. It is none of their business, and it just gave them an opportunity to be disrespectful. We both know they wouldn't say this to your face, so they sit cowardly behind their keyboards and type their vile remarks.

You are so right in all that you said, I totally AGREE with you, but this is something that should be discussed in a controlled environment, when only women that LOOK like US are present, or can respond.

Answer 9

To me, there is a difference between "nappy" and "natural"....nappy is uncombed and unkempt black hair...."natural" is when it's combed and washed and taken care of.

Answer 10

I totally agree with you