Editor’s Note: The Fresh Xpress has the Tyra article featured. Yay! Visit at thefreshxpress.com.
Before heading to work on Tuesday, I caught Tyra talking on her show about black women and their hair. Here’s my quick commentary after I watched the episode:
The old good hair versus bad hair debate. As tired as I am of reading and talking about this topic, it’s one of those issues that never goesaway in the black community. Just as much as I’d like swagga and “no homo” to go away, I wish “good hair” would go away too.
As “serious” as Tyra likes to make some of her shows, I just knew some foolery was about to take place.
Especially because Tyra’s hair looked like this:
I had to give the TV the side-eye.
Those blonde lace-front weaves are as attached to Tyra’s head as Beyonce’s.
Today she wants to bring out the natural look for this episode. Foolery.
What’s interesting about the whole issue is that it’s two-fold. America’s standard of beauty that often shows skinty white woman as what’s beautiful plays a part. But the black community keeps the good hair versus bad hair issue alive as well.
And it starts from childhood. Tyra showed a black mother giving her young daughter a perm, and the child crying and screaming during the process. But of course the child smiled with glee afterward because her hair looked better. One of the saddest moments during the show was one young girl who likes to wear a blond Hannah Montana wig because she doesn’t like her own hair. “I think white people have better hair than black people,” she said.
Then Tyra said she has her own version of the Hanna Montana wig that she puts on. My soul died at that moment. LOL! She brought it back to the foolishness. Tyra was having withdrawals from the lace-front wig.
The adult guests were an interesting bunch.
One woman said she has good hair because it has white girl flow and can move. Aw lawd. What year is this? And one mother said at 11, she knew she would have a baby outside of her race so that her child would have good hair. Her baby’s father is Latino.
One white girl in the audience asked, “I just don’t get the whole not washing your hair every day thing?”
And in her answer, Tyra compared the black hair process to marinating chicken. Oh Tyra. SMH.
The main guest was a black woman who’s considering going natural, and was concerned about how people would view her. Girl, you ain’t getting plastic surgery! You can go back to the perm if you don’t like it. Calm down.
Personally, going natural was definitely an interesting process. In college, I just went natural because I liked having braids and couldn’t afford to perm my hair on the regular. In the Florida heat, the in-between of perm and non-perm was not what’s up. So I grew a fro. And my fellow classmates loved to touch the puff.
One time after taking out braids and going back to the puff, one of my non-black co-workers asked me how I changed my hair like that. In my mind, I was like, “All I did was take out the braids! The fro was always there!” But, alas, I attempted to explain the difference.
Then I got tired of the fro and started to lock my hair. My mom and aunt almost had a fit when I brought it up. Why that? They asked. You won’t be as pretty anymore! Just keep the fro. I had to show them pictures of what I wanted them to look like, and then they were cool.
Now that I’ve had them for about a year, most of the comments/questions I get are from black women wondering about the process. But no one pats my hair like with the fro J.
My process was more about convenience than making a statement. My hair’s healthier in the locks than when I had the perm.
I don’t understand women who try to convince other women how to style their hair. “Girl, put a perm in those naps!” or “You have self-hate; just release the perm from your soul!”
To me, I just say, Do You. If you love the natural look, that’s great. If your wrap is fierce, swing it freely. If you’re afraid to go natural, know that you can always go back to the perm.
What about you? Have you had any hair image issues? Do you think the good hair versus bad hair debate will ever go away?
“Girl, you ain’t getting plastic surgery! You can go back to the perm if you don’t like it. Calm down.”
LOL! This is exactly what I thought when I watched some clips. Is it really that serious? I grew out my perm two years ago, but I would never dictate to other people how to wear their hair. And when old girl bragged about having the “white girl flow,” I had to look at the calendar to make sure I hadn’t fallen through a time warp to 1981.
@ Erika: I didn’t know people still thought like that either. She was too much. And the girl who decided at 11 she had to marry outside her race to get a good haired baby took it back too.
The woman with the ” white girl flow” needs a serious reality check. All I could do was shake my head, as I watched the show in horror. I can’t believe that 20 years after “School Daze”, we are still discussing this issue. Check out this clip from the classic Spike Lee joint,
http://letyourhairdownblog.fixhue.com/2009/05/14/lets-talk-about-good-and-bad-hair.aspx
I think that we as women of color need to move past this hair texture thing, and focus on raising our children right.
My daughter is white and was born with the curliest hair, that is just like ethnic (black) hair. My hubby and I are italian and polish.
She is actually at this moment at the salon that is usually reserved for ethnic hair. They know how to style it and what products to use.
And my hair is soft and flowing and I ALWAYS have it pulled back into a ponytail. Honestly, the grass is always greener no matter who you are.