Groove Magazine Zimbabwe Issue 2 | Page 46
MPV…..my point of view!
Eish! And sadly, I am like the
many women of colour who
have succumbed to the belief
that 'da kink in my hair',*in a
Jamaican accent*,is not good
enough.
I Am Not My
Hair
Copyright © MPV by Lady E
All Rights Reserved 2014
Imagine going for an interview
with an afro, or cornrows, or
'worse', the thread plaiting
known as 'mabuns'. Who will
hire you? Even take a scenario
of two very attractive
'sistas',well dressed, but one
has the Indian Remy and the
other, au naturel African hair.
Who is the one, who is going to
get the male attention?,(now
guys please don't lie. The one
with Beyoncé's front lace wig,
will obviously take the crown).
So my daughter cut her hair,
which forced me to have it, to
my disappointment, shavedoff. I guess she was fed up with
the fighting whilst combing
her hair. My baby's hair is the
typical African hair, kinky and
hard. And braiding her is not
even a walk in the park, the
child can kick and scream.
So that war, had made me
consider the aid of sodium
hydroxide, to doll up my baby.
I am not a supporter of
children getting their hair
relaxed, but it is a struggle
with my child's hair. What is a
mother to do?
Good hair. The beautifully straight, long
hair, or lovely waved hair that makes one
look like they have just come off a
magazine cover. Perfect!
Hair. It was a while ago that I
watched, (finally), Chris
Rock's documentary,‘ Good
Hair'. I felt so betrayed as a
black woman. How dare he
reveal the black woman's hair
secrets? For many years,
women of colour were
deceiving other races with
extensions, in efforts of them
attempting to be more
Caucasian and less African.
Not that anything was new to me,
however the documentary highlighted
something very interesting; the 'lengths'
women will go to, to achieve a 'crown of
glory'. Black women overseas will spend
up to US$5 000 on extensions. Back
home, a thousand maximum,(for those
who desire to have real, human hair on
their manes). Yep, good hair comes with a
price. And what amazes me is that most
women who spend that much money,
have low income jobs, or no jobs at all.
It is sad really. We as black
people across the board are still
wearing the shackles and fetter
of slavery. We are still
colonised even after many years
of 'freedom'. Even after Michael
Jackson, Nelson Mandela,
Oprah, Destiny's Child and
even Barack Obama, we still do
not feel good enough. We have
defined black beauty with all
hair straight and fake. My hair
as a black woman is not pretty
enough until it is straight. So I
burn my scalp with hair
relaxers, or carry the weight of
having weaves, braids or wigs
on my head. My real hair is not
“But whatever I opt to do, I hope I teach her not to be afraid of her blackness,
that her confidence, her beauty, is not found in her hair, but from deep within.”
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Groove Magazine Zimbabwe