I am done with the Natural hair movement
Natural hair has become a hot topic across most if not all social media platforms. It is a movement that was set to empower black women and it has done just that through how to videos, hair tips and the amplitude of instagram/facebook pages promoting women wearing their God given hair. Simply searching #naturalhair yields 12,205,327 posts on instagram. Yet, some hair types have taken priority over other hair textures. The most successful or glorified pages/bloggers possessing looser curls or occasionally the odd kinkier texture has grown a massive following but usually their hair is more susceptible to manipulation and capable of retaining length. Its clear that the more African your hair is the less representation you will find and if you do find a page showcasing kinkier hair it is usually less successful than that of a page presenting loose curls. In short discrimination of hair textures is rampant within the natural hair movement and 4b/4c hair types are not seen as beautiful.
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| Screenshot from a natural hair page on Instagram. |
Of course, a movement such as this has become a profitable trend. Often the lightest skinned women with the most voluminous curls are able to attract lucrative sponsorships and opportunities to work with brands, that darker skinned women with the kinkiest hair types would never be presented with. That's not to say that they haven't earned it or to take away from their success, however, its fair to note the privilege they have been awarded in the industry.
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| Shea moisture advert using a light skinned model with loose curls |
The lack of representation isn't the worst of it. Amongst the black community there is still shaming of women with 4b/4c hair types. Derogatory terms are used freely to describe the coiliest textures.
A movement that was supposed to bring women together has created further division and rejection of coarser hair textures.
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| 4c hair |
Moving forward I hope to see more inclusion of ladies with kinkier hair types and darker skin tones. It would be a dream to for kinkier hair types to be reflected in the natural hair community and brands. The movement isn't just a trend, I believe that natural hair is here to stay and I hope to see a shift in paradigms.
Until next time
Chengetai Victoria
xxx
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