If black women were taught to do their natural hair, would they still wear perms?

Question

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I'm a black female with naturally curly hair. I notice how a lot of black women used the same excuses for NOT wearing their hair natural.

Excuse# 1: Natural hair is hard to manage.
With the right tools, you can "manage" natural hair. You can't expect to treat black hair as any other hair. It needs different tools. Skinny combs, and hard brushes are things that break black hair.

Excuse #2: "managing" natural hair is EXPENSIVE.
The Average perms costs $ 65 dollars and up. Buying products for natural hair costs between $20- 40 dollars. You decide what's more COSTLY.

Excuse # 3: Natural Hair doesn't have "MANY" styles.
Excuse, me? There are cornrows, twists, bantu knots, afros, dreads, falls, two-strands, comb-coils, finger coils, wet sets, Yarn locks, braids, flat twists.

Excuse# 4 Straight hair is 'much" easier than natural hair.
APPARENTLY NOT! Most(75%) that wear perms have hair breakage, thinning, alopecia, hair allergies and low paychecks.

MY QUESTION: If black women were taught hot to "manage" Natural hair, would they wear it natural or cop out for the easy way out?

Considering the median for Black women's salary, We spend 3 times more than our paychecks can afford. We are wasting our paychecks on damaging hair things. We could use it for more important stuff.

Answer 1

I gave you a star because I completely agree with you, especially on #1. I think that most black females get perms in their hair before they can really understand what they are doing to their hair and how to properly take care of their natural hair so by the time they have a daughter of their own they don't know how to take care of their natural hair so they want to perm it. And the cycle continues on with their daughter's daughter (did I make any sense, lol)

lol, that's what I think

It's all excuse. I'm transitioning towards natural and I can't expect to automatically grasp how to take care of it and then claim that it is harder.

Answer 2

Yes..I believe they would because it all depends on the person. There are many black women who wear their hair natural. You must realize that not every black woman may thing SHE looks good with natural hair and thus, perfers getting her hair permed. My hair isn't as thick and is frizzy so I get it permed. It's true that SOME people experience breakage, but getting it clipped at the end will help prevent it and it will still grow. If wearing you hair natural works for you, that's great because not all black women can pull it off, but it shouldn't be a problem for you if other's perfer going straight. It's probably has more to do with their appearance then some of the excuses they make up........but I could be wrong.

Answer 3

Before my first day in college, I wanted a new look.I wanted the ends trimmed off and a new hairstyle. The guy cut my beneath shoulder length hair to 2 inches. I was upset and got extensions for the first time. When I took them out, I decided not to perm my hair since I hated the cuts/ burns and did not know how to do it myself--I kept putting the perm off. I kept wearing extensions until I felt comfortable wearing my own hair.

I learned that there were other people who wore natural hair on the nappturality forum and saw different styles on hair albums. Online I learned to take care of my hair--I do not know how to do cornrows or flattwists but that is why I have a little sister.My hair has been natural for years now.
Edited:
I think many more black women would be more likely to choose natural--if you gave them the knowledge and the confidence.
(After the confidence is present then people who like to have "different" or unusual (ie blue weave) would still venture out, which is fine.)

I hear people saying that I look cute with kinky natural hair, but they would not b/c their hair is brillo/nasty/not good--
#1 they do not actually know much about their hair--some have been straightening from VERY young.
#2 it is not just about "how" to do natural hair--it is about accepting your own beauty--that is the harder part.

Some people would say natural is just a style like any other. For many people of other backgrounds it might be. With African americans, it is less so. Would you truly feel comfortable with others seeing what your hair really looks like?Do you deep down think that other people's hair is better than yours?for which reasons?

It is important to know how to care for hair and to understand what your hair will/will not do but the battle is more about feeling accepted/acceptable/lovable. Knowledge is an important FIRST step.

Answer 4

Black women are being taught how to do their natural hair in record numbers, via the internet, books and magazines.

Many are choosing not to wear perms as a result.

Some will wear perms regardless of what they know about natural hair, for a multitude of reasons.

Kaya
http://www.naturallyyoumagazine.com

Answer 5

I think a woman will do what she prefers with her hair. I relaxed my hair when I was 18. I'm now 30. I get a touch up every 3 months at $45 a pop. All other maintenence I do on my own. I have a number of girlfriends who have made the move from relaxers to natural and I think they look great and more power to them. But that's not for me. My natural hair is fine and frizzy, which makes holding a style pretty difficult. I would press my hair only to have it sweated out by time I got to the last section. So for me personally, natural hair was hard to manage. I hated not being able to go in the water to swim on vacation because there wasn't a hot comb around (before they had the plug in ones). I hated it when it rained. Washing and pressing my hair was an all day event. I personally am not a fan of braids, twists, or anything of that sort on myself, so while there are beautiful styles for natural hair, they are not for me. Did my hair break when I relaxed my hair? Yes it did, but grew back and is healthy and a nice length, but I nor any of my girlfriends (including the ones who went back natural) had any of the issues you listed. So while my mom did teach me how to manage my natural hair texture as best I could (she has the same type, thin and frizzy) she eventually made the choice to relax her hair and eventually I did the same. I don't think you should knock anyone for the choice that they made. Just like you opted to go natural doesn't make you any better or less than anyone who decides to relax their hair. Both can look good either way, but I'm glad your choice works for you, but please don't knock those of us that decided not to go that route. :-)

Answer 6

Of course they would still wear perms simply because people enjoy versatility. White women still dye, perm, straighten and curl their hair too. Not everyone likes the same look.

Answer 7

Yes they would. Some of the "excuses" for not wearing natural hair is true for some. #1 Natural hair is harder to manage than permed hair. My hair needs a perm NOW! and I can't do anything with it. Exucuse #3 Natural hair doesn't have many styles. Just those few you named and society doesn't deem many of them acceptable in beauty standards. Excuse #4 Straight hair is much easier than natural hair! Some people experience breakage and thinning, not all. For me it seems like my hair broke off when I was natural 5 years ago.

Answer 8

I think that a lot of us would still wear perms because we've been conditioned that "nappy" hair is ugly. I can't count how many times black kids would taunt black girls in school from 1-12 grade with lines like, "You nappy headed this" or "you need a perm." Even though you've just proven that straightening our hair is more expensive and harmful, we've already been told that straight hair is prettier.
You can see that I'm fighting that notion:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmVVnk8jtBXFRzb.rBLX96fty6IX?qid=20070505164856AA7gcjN

Answer 9

well i am black but my hair will not go into a Afro, i wear my hair in braids sometimes. my mom has always were her hair natural, she loves her hair. i wish i could wear my hair like that, put i have my fathers hair, (he is white). but i think other black women would wear there hair natural most of the time, but only sometimes wear their hair in a perm, only to be different some days. but it does depend on the person, cause i have yet to see my mom wear her hair straight and her hair is really long now.

Answer 10

Plenty of women wear natural hair like Isaiah Washington and Anthony Hamiltons wives. Some wear dreads. I fell in love with Shari Belafonte as a kid in the 80's when she did her "Calvin" ad with her little fro.