What Lies Beneath the Weave? Am I Not My Hair? A Question for Black Women

Pamela Anderson is a blonde bombshell, Tyra Banks a beauty too. Beyonce is rather flawless but are these illusions really true? One thing these women have in common is weave. We live in a society now where everything is about projected beauty and sexuality. A product as simple as hair shampoo is presented on a commercial to the sounds of an adult woman having an orgasm. Although the orgasmic experience is likened with the woman washing her hair, the undertone is that something sexual was happening in that bathroom behind the shower door. Just as these products are sold to us sexually, they are also sold to us with their interpretations of beauty, particularly using women with European-like hair as a standard and hardly ever including many women of color, particularly African-American women.

Before I begin this article, let me just add that this is my interpretation of the things around me I have noticed as it relates to how important weave has become to the African-American woman to express what’s defined as “beauty.”

Hair has long been known to accentuate one’s outer beauty. From long flowing locks to deep wavy curls, hair has always given women a sense of femininity. Beyond the obvious genital differences, hair separates to a degree men from women, especially in the African American community. Whereas men of the European persuasion are accustomed to wearing long hair as well, most African American men wear their hair short or even bald. I often wonder why it’s considered or viewed as feminine if a black guy wears his hair long outside of dreadlocks? Anyway, let’s get back to the purpose of this article specifically and how the need to wear weave scratches against the surface of young African American girls and their perception of natural hair as not a standard of beauty.

If you go into a retail store many of the dolls you will see have long flowing european like hair. You will see few dolls with kinky hair unless they are in a specialty African American section. If you go into a beauty supply store, you will see countless descriptions of the types of hair available. There will be Peruvian, yaki, Indonesian and brazilian to name a few, but you won’t see African American. What does that say about African American hair? What does that say to a young african american girl who wants to believe that she too is beautiful? Why can’t we see pictures of black women rocking their own hair to a majority of the styles? It seems as if today, to emulate beauty, women of color must mask those images projected by White women. Look at the black women on reality tv and try to name one who rocks her own hair? Look at the women in entertainment and name one who does the same? Sure there are many that do but they can probably be counted on your two hands.

It seems today when one thinks of natural, it’s the chick who rocks the black power afro or really low Lil boosie type fade. I recall a time back in the day when natural just meant your own hair, free of weave and perms. Women use to get their hair straightened with a hot comb wrapped with mouse or curled with rollers to create any style they wanted to rock. They didn’t wear all these weaves or wigs like they do today. The sad part is that our children now rock these styles at a very young age and do not realize the subconscious impact it has on their view of beauty. Without knowing it, these young girls will likely grow up feeling the need to always need weave to accentuate beauty.

Am I condoning the wearing of weave? Absolutely not. I am; however, implying that we need to get back to the root of what we have and make sure we are not losing our own identities under these $200 bundles of hair and dabs of glue. It is my hope that this article will open up some of these dialogues among women. Do I expect Black women to stop wearing weaves? Absolutely not. I do expect that we go back and use what we have because so many would love to have hair that can be manipulated in so many styles.

I also understand that there are some women with conditions that affect their hair growth, such as Alopecia and Cancer to name a few, where weaves are necessary in order the person to feel normal and beautiful if you will.

madamenoir.com found that African Americans spent $507 billion (out of our total estimated buying power of $836 billion) in 2009 on hair care and personal grooming items, according to an annual report published by Target Market News. This figure is up 16.6% from the $435 billion spent the previous year. I am sure that number has grown since then.  It is a booming market. Look a this commercial below on YouTube from She’s Happy Hair.

What does your weave say about you? India Aire wrote a song proclaiming I am not my hair. In it she talked about some of the very things I mention. Its important to understand the impact they try and sell hair as beauty. We need to become wiser and rise up. Are you defined by your hair?