I May Never Be Ready to Fully Embrace My Natural Hair
I’m also officially done feeling guilty about it.
“I’m actually surprised you never decided to get on board with the natural hair movement. You’re one of the strongest, most authentic women I know, so I would have thought you’d be one of the first.” That’s something a female friend of color said to me not all that long ago.
We were having a casual discussion over Facebook about hairstyles and why people (especially black women like my friend or biracial women like me) might choose one option over another. She has stunning, all-natural afro-textured hair that she cares for meticulously and chooses to wear in a variety of different styles. She is also one of the most enviably beautiful women I know.
Yet, as beautiful and inspiring as I find my friend for choosing to celebrate her hair exactly as it grows out of her head, I’ve never seriously considered doing the same.
I’ve asked myself why quite a few times since that conversation and thought long and hard about the reasons I came up with. And, while I’ve realized I no longer see my bushy, curly biracial hair as “bad hair” the way I did when I was still just a kid, I can’t say with any honesty that I’ve learned to love it exactly the way it is, either.
