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Hair.
It's an issue for all women.
But black
women have a long history of hair-raising issues to comb
through. At the root of things is the tired "good
hair" adage.
Good hair
is allegedly silky straight. It behaves and blows gently
in the wind.
Bad hair
is supposedly kinky and untamed.
Chris Rock
attempts to explore those ideas in his documentary,
"Good Hair." It hit theaters in some cities
this weekend. Oprah endorsed it last week, so women and
stylists across the country are likely to flock to the
film. But I'm not interested.
A funny
movie? Yes.
But it
perpetuates stereotypes.
(Chris, I
like my man to touch my hair, unlike the women you
portray, and
Nia Long
, I love to swim.) Then, there's the emphasis on weaves
and relaxers as big business. I use neither.
Yesha Callahan
, 32, saw it weeks ago. As a writer and the blogger
behind www.fungkeblakchik.com,
she saw a special screening in
Washington, D.C.
Sure, she
thought it was funny and said Rock makes some valid
points, particularly about lye (a chemical in relaxers).
But she also felt he didn't dig as deep as he could
have.
"I
understood the point that he's trying to make with the
movie. There's no such thing as good hair. But I think
where the documentary lost a lot of ground was the
stereotypes that some of the commentators offered. I
wish there would have been more focus on the different
reasons why some women choose to wear weaves and
relaxers as opposed to making fun of them."
Yesha
colors her hair, but she doesn't relax it or sport a
weave. For the most part, she is natural.
Chris Rock's
movie focused so much on weaves and relaxers that he
overlooked the fact that women can spend a ton of money
just going natural.
Carol's
Daughter oils and conditioners,
Miss Jessie's
creme, ceramic flat irons, Moroccan Oil — it's
expensive embracing your natural hair too. I spend about
$500
a year on products and salon visits.
But
what's bigger than the money is the fact that it's OK to
do your hair however you like. It shouldn't be a big
deal for Tyra to shed her lace front wig or Solange to
cut her hair off. Whether it's natural or you rock a
weave, as long as you are happy with your hair, it
shouldn't matter.
LaRon Mott
, 34, owner of Salon LaRon in the
Kansas City
neighborhood of Brookside-Waldo, is excited about the
movie, but he thinks it's important women are
comfortable with who they are, regardless of their hair.
A stylist
for 17 years, Mott has seen it all. And like
Chris Rock
, he has a daughter. Only his little girl has never
asked him about good hair or bad hair.
"Good
hair is healthy hair — let's start there and move
forward," Mott says. "It's adults who give kid
s issues with their hair. I have a client with coarse,
kinky hair that is two inches all over and she loves it.
And I have a client with long, straight hair. Who has
good hair? Both of them. It's all about what they like
and their own self-confidence."
It's
true. We all have or once had issues with our hair. But
at some point, you have to let go. It's just hair. It
doesn't define who you are. It's just an extension of
you. It shouldn't keep you from living and loving your
life.
Yesha
takes a page from
Marcus Garvey
in her outlook on hair.
"He
said remove the kinks from your mind, not your
hair," she says. "If the kinks still remain in
your mind, it's pointless."
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