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Nappturality has been online since 2002. Dedicated to all the women in the diaspora who proudly wear their highly textured hair naturally. Nappturality.com is the place to find photographs,, forums, information and links about the care, maintenance and politics of natural hair. Natural napptural hair. Here you will find photos of all natural styles, comb coils, two-strand twists, afro puffs, afros dredlocks (dreadlocks), locs and many other natural styles. Styled by natural napptural haired women on their own hair.
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Facing Our Demons - The Shaming of Black Hair
I have written, spoken and posted about this for over 20 years now. About how we Black women are taught to hate our natural hair. But not only hate for OUR OWN natural hair, but other women and girls' natural hair. We can't seem to stop looking at our sisters' hair and reacting negatively. It's like when we see natural hair, we are exposing a dirty little secret that needs to remain hidden.
It's about facing some hard truths. It is something not spoken about enough. Not admitted enough. But it was on FULL DISPLAY during the Paris Olympics and I cannot say I am surprised. The nastiness, the criticism, the outright cruelty I have seen coming from certain factions of our own people about the hair of our elite athletes including Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast in history... seriously, we need to sit back and take a look at ourselves and learn about where this self-hate is coming from, who is amplifying it and why.
If you choose to wear YOUR hair straight and YOUR edges laid because whatever - I'm not coming for you for that. I'm coming for you if you are insulting those sisters who choose to keep it natural or who don't but whose edges or hair reverts due to whatever.
Time to get real about it.
Self-hate and loathing is baked in to our collective Black psyche.
Our African ancestors (for the most part) were kidnapped and relocated transnationally in literal iron shackles and were treated worse than animals by their oppressors for generations - mostly these oppressors had very different physical features from them. To break the spirits of the proud Africans they had stolen, these enslavers embarked on their dehumanizing mission to convince their "enslaved property" they were not equal to them, that they were inferior in every way. Their White supremacy quest was absolute; it was crushing to the spirits of the African people they enslaved and has persisted through generational descendants all the way to us today.
For hundreds of years we Black Americans have been told we are inferior to all other races and due to our state of inferiority, unworthy. Our skin color, our physical features, our natural afro hair is all inferior and unacceptable and we have internalized these beliefs. We need fixing to be acceptable. So we aspire to the beauty of the straighter hair types, lighter skin tones and thinner noses of those we have been conditioned to believe are superior.
Growing up, we see our own people complain about nappy edges, beady kitchens and the curse of bad nappy hair until it's scarified into our minds.
So we endure burning heat appliances, toxic chemicals and scalp smothering waxes to create the illusion of having that "good hair" that's closer to the massa (yeah I said it). Don't get it twisted with grooming (which is a common out to avoid facing the truth). What I am talking about is a deep seated fear and hatred of something we have been conditioned to believe is a FAULT that needs to be corrected.
Women in the public eye like Simone Biles, busy doing her Black job so well she has become an international athletic superstar --- ends up being the brunt of nastiness and jokes from OUR OWN because HER EDGES aren't laid???? Some think she should paste and stiffen her hair and hairline with waterproof hair glue to force her natural edges straight and her hair flat. Truly, the self-hatred behind those criticisms is real and showing out in prime time.
What to do about it.
Shaming one of us SHAMES US ALL. Silence is acquiescence. When you see it, call it out. Expect to get the "I just think it looks better" response. Keep digging and ask why does it look better.... because you think our natural hair should not be worn? You may get hostility in return, but understand that there is a lot of baggage we have been carrying and an angry response to a simple question can be confronting to a mind that has not had to think about how White supremacy has clouded their thinking.
In any case, try not to sit by in silence while sisters are disrespected, maligned and insulted over their choices in wearing their hair. Not only natural haired sisters but those who wear straight hair or extensions but do not have laid edges.
Through it all, with the odds stacked against us, we are here, we are a strong, resilient and forgiving people. As we grow, we still have work to do on ourselves. We must confront what is holding us back.
Facing our fears and honestly working on our inbuilt and generational prejudices we hold against each other will help us and our children be better prepared to bring in a better and fairer future.
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