Representation is important to me. My whole life I’ve always felt like an outsider and I grew up seeing myself as the black sheep in my family (this was the first place I heard the term coconut but that’s a blog topic for another day). The point is, not only did I grow up wanting to see people that looked like me, but I also needed to see people that felt what I felt and acted how I acted.
Thankfully shows like Girlfriends, Insecure and Chewing Gum came out and served to represent all the awkward black girls out there, and I’ve never been happier to see Issa and Tracy attempt to navigate their lives in the most cringe-worthy way possible. That said, my issue with seeing my reflection in the media was far from over, especially when it pertained to my hair.
The World Has Fallen In Love With Natural Hair
It’s cool to be black. It’s cool to be woke. It’s cool to have natural hair. Brands have realized that there’s a whole world out there beyond their blue-eyed consumerist gaze, and they’re doing their best to capitalize on it. Don’t get me wrong, what Rihanna did with FentyxBeauty and their 50 shades deserves a UN Humanitarian Award. However, other brands are simply capitalizing on the consumer gap that FentyxBeauty highlighted. Furthermore, while these brands claim to offer shades that cater to everyone, their darkest shades seem to only suit the tannest white girl they could find. This fact can also be applied to the growing trend of exclusivity when it comes to natural hair.
While I am elated to see more natural hair in today’s media, it didn’t take me long to notice that not a lot of these afrotastic queens have my hair texture. It seems that the only type of natural hair that the world has fallen in love with is any black hair below type 4C.
Is 4C Hair Bad Hair?
According to a 2015 African-American study thesis, women with looser curl patterns (type 3b hair types) are more likely to receive positive comments and likes on social media, when compared to those who have kinkier hair (type 4 hair).
For those who aren’t up to date with their natural hair lingo, type 4 hair refers to generally coily hair that is either thin and fine, wiry and coarse or densely packed (you can figure out more about your hair type here.). 4C hair (which is the type of hair that I have, although I truly believe I’m moving into 4D territory) is densely packed, has less definition (coils need to be defined through twisting or braiding) and it battles the most with shrinkage.
I’ve always battled with my hair. At first, it was pure confusion as to why my hair couldn’t do what other black girl’s hairs did, even with a relaxer. Eventually, I soon came to realize that my hair had different needs and all I needed to do was cater to those needs, especially if I wanted my locks to be healthy. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, not exactly. You see, in my journey to research and unearth the various ways in which I could cater to my hair, I realized that the information provided wasn’t intended for me. Yes, the information the natural hair community provided was useful for natural hair, but it just wasn’t useful for my natural hair. Whilst typing natural hair tips into google led to plenty of results, adding 4C to that search item made me almost feel like the results were dwindling. I just couldn’t understand why there just seemed to be less focus on 4C hair, especially in my community.
Is Hair-Texture Hierarchy A Thing?
Natural hair is a journey and natural 4c hair is an odyssey, and part of that journey is dealing with the discrimination that comes with the hair type. Unfortunately, 4C hair is regularly seen as ugly, dirty, unkempt, unmanageable, and the perfect definition of bad hair. I can bet on my life that a girl with 4C hair will hear “why don’t you just relax your hair” in a week that a girl with another hair texture could hear in her entire lifetime. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but the fact remains that hair-texture hierarchy continues to exist and grow bigger in our communities. I never would have thought that defending my choice to not relax my hair to other black people would hurt more than dodging and weaving away from an eager white woman who, for some odd reason, just needed to touch my hair.
Not to mention how much it stung to hear that a specific hairstyle wouldn’t look good on me, simply because I had natural hair. The reality was even more disappointing – the stylist wasn’t qualified enough to work with natural hair because I had done the same hairstyle at least three times prior. Unfortunately, a lot of black stylists out there are simply refusing to educate themselves and learn how to work with natural hair. Taking such an ignorant stance can be incredibly harmful to one’s self-esteem and self-worth because the salon is another place whereby black women come together to laugh, cry, and bond over every aspect of their lives. Being excluded from this, simply because of one’s specific hair type, can be incredibly traumatic.
My 4C is My Superpower
I can go from having my hair in a big Afro to rocking short curls the next day without visiting the hair salon or spending a dime. In combating the negative stereotypes that come with 4C hair, as well as the lack of representation, the first thing to do is to embrace all the interesting quirks that come with my hair, such as shrinkage. The black community must begin to learn to celebrate all hair textures – relaxed, permed, natural, 3b, 4D, weaved, plaited, or simply balded. It’s also important to ask ourselves why we are so quick to divide another woman’s hair into good and bad categories (it seems that the English language is not the only colonial legacy lingering around).
For those who have natural hair and are battling to find advice on how to live in the 4c hair world, here are a few of my favorite girls who are doing their best to make 4C hair more mainstream.
Pastry Playdates 
Great article! Very informative. Well done indeed!! 😀
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Black women as well as the rest of the world, just recently, have embraced the natural hair culture and movement. It goes without saying that the desire to ‘fit in’ is a human trait, and black women for centuries have been made to feel just the opposite of that, instead being marginalised on the beauty front, where black and beautiful could never be found in the same sentence.
My advice to my fellow black women, let’s indeed quit trying to fit in, because it’s only when we’ve fully embraced ourselves in all aspects , and stand as a united front will the world take note and accept us for the QUEENS that we are. Let’s embrace ourselves, from the darkest shade of skin tone to the palest shade of light skin tone found in African women. From the curviest body type to the skinniest, from the waviest 3b type hair to the kinkiest 4c type hair.
We need to stand in unison as black women and take note of as well as celebrate and uplift our different types of beauty. Only then will the rest of the world recognise that we are indeed the Goddess’ that we are, so instead of thinking it to ourselves, let us overtly praise ourselves. It’s not up to the world to make us feel like we fit in, the key lies in assured self acceptance of ourselves, which will make the world change their preconceived views towards us!
Let us continue to spread the love, good article, great read!
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Pie! Girl. Yes. Issa? Yes! Tracy! Yes! OMG. Yes!
I have struggled with my kinks for as long as I can remember! I used to hate getting it combed out for school so much my mom knew to style it in a way that it would last all week because I was NOT having it! Honestly, the thought of my head bent over my mom lap still makes my tummy wobble in fear. I used to think my hair was prettier when it was braided, blown out or relaxed. Mind you; the relaxer never lasted in my hair and it was such a complete waste of time and money. The smell? I loathed it haha, still do.
I only grew to fall in love with my kinks much later in high school. It’s a pretty challenging journey at times. I find myself wondering is my hair unprofessional, too informal for this occasion? Too political? Too “Sisi” (Sister) for this relationship (long story babe)? Ha! I know, crazy right? But true, which honestly is so strange considering I am a African woman living in Africa. Weaves, wigs and chemical products in my hair should be what I question, not my own hair! I shouldn’t have to search high and low for what represents me and what is good for my good hair, but that just not how the system is rigged huh?
I know I’m late to the party but this was a lovely read.
xx
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Oh my soul. Thank you so much Sindi! I’m glad you enjoyed the article. We’re all in this together!
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