Natural women of influence: (Clockwise from left) Phumzile Ngcuka, former deputy president of South Africa; Asha Rose, UN deputy S-G; Janelle Monae, US singer


now, natural hair is one of many options open to black women. Te online natural hair community is vibrant, and businesses have sprung up which provide product information and care and maintenance resources. Natural hair-care companies are capable of making a lot of bank – think ‘Carol’s Daughter’. Tey also do not have to rest their laurels on only catering to the black women’s market, but can go international and appeal to a wide range of people because of the demand for qual- ity natural products. So there is scope for so much more emancipation when we look to loving ourselves and our natural giſts. I once read a lovely and inspiring book


called Nappy Hair, by Carolivia Herron, about a young black girl contemplating the beauty of her own spirally curled hair. Te conclusion she comes to at the end of the book is that one nap of her hair is “the only perfect circle in nature”. Indeed, when I look at my hair at its tightest, most untouched state – it is a perfect circle. I have not seen anything in nature achieve such a perfect 360 degrees. It shows completeness, fullness and the round- ness of the human experience. So why, therefore, is it so hated? Te answers are obvious in our history, but not so obvious in our present. Talking to my sister, Naomi, who has had dreadlocks for the past 10 years,


as it was intended to be T


erms like the ‘big chop’ and ‘transitioning’ are common in the natural hair community. Women are using ‘big chop’ to describe the time they cut off


all their relaxed hair so that new, natural and untreated growth can start. ‘Tran- sitioning’ refers to the time they await the new growth, before they have a new, full and thick head of curls – the way na- ture intended. Tere is now a plethora of easily-available information about the natural black/African hair type. From


blogs, websites, vlogs (mainly Youtube how-to videos) and product sites and sponsors, there really is a supportive com- munity out there for those who go the natural route. Te fact that relaxing can cause scalp


and hair damage, can be painful, expen- sive and inconvenient (long hours spent in hair salons getting touch-ups) has made more and more women seek alternatives. Tat our own natural hair is an ‘alterna- tive’ is something that historians in the future will be keen on assessing. Right


made me realise some important factors. She asked me why natural hair is a phe- nomenon among black women. We are the only ones in the world with the func- tional Twitter hash-tag #naturalhair where we find information and community. In fact, other women, whether they are Euro- pean, white or Mexican-American, South American or Asian will never fully know nor comprehend what our hair woes are all about. I once had an Asian man tell me that all women have hair woes, it’s not a black thing it’s just a woman


WINTER 2011 | NEW AFRICAN WOMAN | 59


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