The Natural Movement vs. The Natural Movement: The Battle Within

The natural hair movement isn’t a new phenomenon.  For those of us born in the ‘60s and ‘70s we can remember living in the times of the black cultural revolution where black hair infiltrated the mainstream media with powerful images of activist Angela Davis and actress Pam Grier rockin’ their natural afros everywhere. In those times wearing your natural hair was based on a resistance to the racist Euro-centric “idealistic” beauty standards and a proclamation of black self-love.  

 

 

The Hair “Type-Caste System

The politically motivated natural hair movement of the 1960’s did not last for very long.  Black women went back to using chemicals to relax their natural hair. In the early 1990’s a black man, yes, a black man created a Hair Typing System as part of a marketing campaign.  Andre Walker, former stylist to Oprah Winfrey, decided it would be a great idea to create a visual hair hierarchy for women.  Though some may argue that it helped women to better understand their hair and how to care for it, the Hair Typing System only served to further divide Black women and their hair types in the beauty community.  This so-called system put straight hair (European type hair) at the top of the hierarchy and labeled it Type 1; wavy hair is Type 2; curly hair is Type 3, and of course kinky/coily hair is ranked at Type 4, which happens to be where most Black women fall in the hierarchy—at the end of the chart. The system has since been amended to include subcategories where for example an A subcategory meant finer hair type whereas the more definition and curl in your hair the lower the grade; which left Black women with kinky/coily type hair at the bottom once again.

The narrative regarding Black hair care experienced another shift in the early 2000s. Studies began to come out linking the use of chemicals on Black hair to health risks associated with hair loss, scalp damage, uterine fibroids and other more serious illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.  As such, Black women began to focus more on the negative impact of relaxers on their health than the implications of a socio-political or cultural movement. However, despite the research and countless anecdotal evidence to back up the science, many in the Black community ignored the research or believed that they could continue to use chemicals if they exercised caution.

 

A New Resurgence in #blackbeautymagic

By 2010, the natural hair movement began its comeback and continues to experience a defiant resurgence.  The new natural hair movement is marked by a redefinition of the distorted European beauty metrics that Black women ascribed themselves to in the past. The boom in the natural hair movement is based more on taking a stand and finding a place in the beauty world.  Today’s Black woman demand that their hair care and overall beauty needs get the just attention it deserves. Black women are “reclaiming their time,” in the beauty industry and brands are finally starting to pay attention. Beauty stores are now filled with a plethora of choices for black hair care.  In addition, social media has been at the for front of this discourse with the Internet comprised of all sorts of YouTube and Instagram hair tutorials on how to get that perfect natural hairstyle. Beauty influencers have infiltrated social media and redefined the position of Black hair within the hegemony of the Euro-centric beauty standards through self-empowerment and acceptance of a Black woman’s God-given natural coils.

 

Has the Movement Come Far Enough?

The natural hair care movement has indeed been an inspiration to reclaiming Black beauty, but it has fallen short of actually fully redefining the distorted beauty metrics through which Black women have assessed themselves in the past.  Colorism has reared its ugly head to plague the movement by limiting its progress. The gains within this cultural beauty movement are marred by the battle that lies within the movement itself. Black women, some may argue, are subscribing to another beauty standard; that of an idealized image of what natural hair should look like.  Yes, curls are the new trend, but what type of curls? Search results on YouTube and Instagram for natural hair tutorials yields hundreds if not thousands of videos on how to get loose, curly, bouncy and shiny curls. Judging from the comments, Black women admired the end results and want to achieve the same look for their natural hair.

 

 

The packaging and commercialization of emerging new brands—and old brands alike, have also influenced the new natural beauty standard by further exemplifying that all natural hair wasn’t created equally.  These products claim to be made for all multi-ethnic hair types yet a quick glance at marketing campaigns and one can see that the face of the brand is typically monopolized by women with hair more akin to Tracee Ellis Ross or Jordan Sparks, than to the Lupita Nyong’o or Viola Davis. The socially coveted natural curly hair texture that many women now aspire to achieve is on a new level in the hair hierarchy spectrum. Many Black women that have given up that “creamy-crack” as many call it, now strive to attain those beautiful bouncy ringlets that get all the attention and praise from admirers all over the world. This has lead Black women to spend hundreds of dollars experimenting with the “right” products in hopes of achieving that highly coveted loose curly look. But the natural hair industry is in a battle with itself.  The re-emerging movement is thriving due to Black women’s dissatisfaction with our natural hair. Black women are even turning to wigs and natural hair weaves to try to attain that curly/wavy hairstyle. But is that so bad?

Where Do Black Women Go From Here

The natural hair movement, both the present one and in past eras, at its core, has always been about embracing your natural Black hair, based on your own standards, not those ascribed to Black women by a society that did not—and still does not fully recognize and value the essence of black beauty. At the heart of M.A.N.E. Movement’s vision is the philosophy that Black women must celebrate, embrace and encourage each other no matter which road down the hair care journey you take. If you want to rock a ‘fro, go right ahead; if you want to wear a wig or weave as a protective style—you do you; or even if you choose to still relax your tresses for ease of care, you should do so without fear of judgment.  This is where the natural hair movement has fallen short. The movement has essentially caused a shift of one beauty ideal for another. Black women are still criticizing each other for how we wear our hair. And to make matters worse we still value less kinky hair over tighter coils striving instead to reach hair care goals that may not necessarily be achievable for everyone.

Black women are blessed to be living in a time where there is an abundance of sites filled with information to help understand natural hair care.  That is certainly a step toward the right direction; however, there is still the notion that our hair is not enough. In other words there is still pressure to adhere to a specific and narrow ideal of beautiful Black hair. Black women should be able to wear their hair however Black women want without criticism from within the community or idealized standards from the beauty industry. No one should be beholden to a beauty standard that values certain coils or hairstyle choices over another.  It’s time to re-shift the narrative once again and accept and respect the choices a Black woman makes regarding their hair care journey. It’s a personal choice to make—without judgment.

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