One of Essence.com's Top Beauty Bloggers Loves Your Hair
Hey y'all,
Two things:
One, Essence.com named me one of the top four beauty bloggers in all of online-dom! Happy birthday to me!!
Two, did anyone see the NY Times article called "Skin Deep: Black Hair, Still Tangled in Politics? (I mean, zzzz, are we still talking about this?). Dying to know your thoughts! Do you think this story a non-story in this day and age, or do you land heavily on one side of the permed/natural debate? And here's the deep question: Since the good/bad hair convo and all it's sinister implications are still so unresolved within our culture, do you kind of feel like maybe it should remain ours (ie, not be called out in the NY Times, inviting all kinds of speculation from folks who didn't even know it was an issue?). And what did you think of Malia's twists in Rome?
Drop me a line,
Tia Pet
posted by Tia Williams at 1:40 PM
12 Comments:
I'm over the hair issue. I've had my hair relaxed since I was 3 - it grows like a weed and is thick and that's how I've been able to manage it best. If I want to go natural I will, if I want a relaxer I can have a relaxer. And I think the Obama girls hair shouldn't even be an issue, they're children! Let their Mom decide what's best for them. Sigh...
As a matter of fact I did see this article (and subsequently posted it on my facebook page). It's one of those issues that will never completely go away. At the end of the article there are some wonderful commentors that the editor selected, they are worth reading as well. I have always gotten comments because of my mixed background (black/asian)that I had "good hair". To which I would respond good hair is hair that holds a style which certainly wasn't my frizzy mop. When I recently decided to chop all my hair off (chalk it up to years of damage and this humidity!)I got so much flack from my friends. Never cut your hair or as my brother would say cutting a woman's hair is bad luck. Mind you these aren't the people who have to clear my bathtub drain or sweep my floor.
Congrats on the Essence Honor & Happy Birthday!
She is a little girl, I think we should leave Malia and her twists alone.
I think people should wear their hair in a way that works best for them. It's a personal choice.
I love Malia's twists and Sasha's little top knots. And I love that Mrs. Obama does not let them look too "grown"
Kierah
First-congrats on being recognized by Essence.
While I appreciate that the article doesn't take a particular side, I do think it's wrong that the article presumes that 'natural' black hair is ALWAYS kinky. We (and I especially mean people like the Williams sisters and myself) are part of a diaspora. The vast variance of hair textures in the black community is a testament to our place in history. Some hair is kinky, some is curly, some is wavy, and-gasp!-some people's hair is actually straight...and it's all good to me. I didn't like that the article automatically assumes that our hair is always one texture unless we straighten it-OR that we are the only race that has a complicated relationship with our hair. I think India.Arie puts it best when she sings "I am not my hair".
I honestly like the way Malia's hair looked before, Sasha's as well.(fuzzy dry knob on top of her head) I'm sorry, looks like Mrs. Obama is slacking and having her kids' hair looking all dry and nappy is just embarrassing! Ain't got nothin to do with being natural, just unkept! Especially the fact that they are always in the spotlight, and they're children of the President!I'm Black, but i'm not proud of dry naps!
I thought Malia had dreadlocks. Some people say twists, others say just untangled hair. I'll have to investigate
I'm so sick of this issue being dissected, revived and dissected again. And truthfully, WOMEN, have issues with their hair. Please don't put this on me because I'm a black woman. It's played out, there is no answer to it and the commentary isn't bringing anything new to the table. My hair is my hair, point blank period. It's been pressed, relaxed and now it's natural, but I'm still me. And the negative speak about Malia's hair is out of order, she's a little girl and she's just living, why the spectacle?
That our hair is such a point of political fodder remains a mystery to me. Hair is hair and how one wears it is entirely up to them. Why does our hair have to be political and everyone else get to just have hair?!
The hair issue has been discussed to death. I'm so tired of it and definitely won't be seeing Chris Rock's movie about it. Couldn't his wife have just had a talk with his daughters? Did we really need a movie? It's like black women are the butt of every hair joke...not interested.
I haven't read that article of the NYT yet but I find the issue of hair - both personal embracement and societal acceptance - still relevant. I think it's healthy for it to be part of the broader discussion, though as a black woman I do feel like my hair is overly-dissected sometimes.
As for the Obama girls. Malia's hair is absolutely beautiful in twists. It exemplifies courage on the part of Michelle to continue letting her wear the natural styles that she wore before the White House despite pressures to straighten it. Their presence and confidence in showcasing their natural hair will go further in muting the debate than even the most well meaning of articles.
How great for a generation of children to see themselves in the White House - hair and all.
It makes sense to focus on black women. They're the ones burning their scalps with lye, not white women. Your comments aren't matching up with reality, most of you.
And Malia's hair looked beautiful. It wasn't dry, it was thick and had sheen. She looked real cute :)
But I do agree that her wearing twists is not something to be made news. Seriously, more important things are happening.
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