How many AA women you know are MBL or WL

Neith

New Member
I don't think that black women have a shorter length potential than other races.

It's not like every single non-black person has the ability to grow their hair to their ankles either. It's a mix... some people can reach very long lengths, but some can't.

We definitely have a problem with retaining growth a lot of the time... but we are not aliens. We have human hair follicles just like everyone else.

On average, everyone grows 6 inches of hair per year and has a growth cycle that lasts 3 - 7 years, regardless of race.

I think pretty much everyone can reach apl - bsl with the proper regimen. Most probably can go further. but no, everyone doesn't have the ability to grow super long.

 

that_1_grrrl

New Member
You know, I wish we could get more feedback on practices and hair length in other Black countries. I know my mom said she saw pictures of my dad's first wife and of my oldest sister (Cuban), and they had really short, broken hair. In hindsight, I'm not sure why my mother was dissing their hair. I think she was telling me that my father used to make fun of his first wife and call her ugly... before they married.

Anywho, I don't know if Black women in Cuba have the same problems with retaining length or not. From what I've seen, there seems to be the same problem.

I just wonder how widespread our "problems" are.

I don't want my sisters from other countries to feel slighted, I just wanted to focus on the problems here in the USA with AA and their hair. Why we don't see long hair.
 

gissellr78

New Member
I just got back from there, I went to visit my sponsor child. There are hundreds of midback length in the DR. She's 18 and just cut her hair from waist to chin length.


How nice!!!! I had a sponsor child lives in Peru.Yes there are a lot of dominican women with long hair some with mid back. Since the thread specified AA i only know 1 with BSL. sorry.

Glad you went to see your sponsor child thats sweet:spinning:
 

that_1_grrrl

New Member
You know what else? Having Black hair does not = slow growth.

On LiveJournal, I belong to the longhair community. It is a mostly White community. It amazes me how long it takes some of the women there to grow their hair long. I think it took one woman 11 years to grow to hip length, and I think of Sera2544 who grew her hair that long in 5 years.

We are human just like everyone else and race tells us very little about what our can and will do.

I don't think that black women have a shorter length potential than other races.

It's not like every single non-black person has the ability to grow their hair to their ankles either. It's a mix... some people can reach very long lengths, but some can't.

We definitely have a problem with retaining growth a lot of the time... but we are not aliens. We have human hair follicles just like everyone else.

On average, everyone grows 6 inches of hair per year and has a growth cycle that lasts 3 - 7 years, regardless of race.

I think pretty much everyone can reach apl - bsl with the proper regimen. Most probably can go further. but no, everyone doesn't have the ability to grow super long.

 

aa9746

New Member
I just started looking at the Chris Rock interview with Oprah and it got me wondering, how many AA women I know with MBL or WL hair. I could only come up with 2 women and that's a shame. I'm not counting the ones I know from this board. Now I can see why, Indian hair is so coveted by women of color.

I knew two but one cut her hair to shoulder length this summer. So now I only know one.
 

msa

New Member
No. I think only a handful can actually reach MBL or WL maybe less than 1% of the african american population. I think if african american women took care of their hair, the average length might measure SL with the second largest percentage at BSL and the smallest percentage at MBL. I really don't see any african american women with WL hair. They probably would only measure in the 10s or the few 100s. But this is just my theory.


Wow, especially at the bold.

I know lots of people believe that because they don't have or know about good haircare practices that focus on retention. But to say that even with good haircare most black women will only be SL doesn't really make sense.

AA women's growth rate isn't different from anyone else's (6in/year) and the average growth phase is from 2-4 years. So even with a short growth phase, AA women would be able to have 12inch long hair, which is definitely past SL.
 

makeupgirl

Well-Known Member
just 1 to be honest. Everyone else I know either uses weave, wigs, or their hair hasn't been longer than shoulder or apl. My mom's hair was MBL when she was in high school. Also she use to tell me that my great-great aunt was full blood indian and her hair was MBL or WL.
 

makeupgirl

Well-Known Member
I don't think that black women have a shorter length potential than other races.

It's not like every single non-black person has the ability to grow their hair to their ankles either. It's a mix... some people can reach very long lengths, but some can't.

We definitely have a problem with retaining growth a lot of the time... but we are not aliens. We have human hair follicles just like everyone else.

On average, everyone grows 6 inches of hair per year and has a growth cycle that lasts 3 - 7 years, regardless of race.

I think pretty much everyone can reach apl - bsl with the proper regimen. Most probably can go further. but no, everyone doesn't have the ability to grow super long.

That's so true. I thought I couldn't grow my hair past my shoulders and I didn't have the "so called" long hair gene in my family but I still have faith that I will have long hair. I always look to my mom and my aunt and especially my great-cousin for inspiration. All of them have retain length most of their lives at least APL or BSL so I know it's possible. My aunt, don't know what she does but she has a pixie cut in January and in December it's APL again.
 

that_1_grrrl

New Member
I've seen the one about Africans and maybe the one about Haitians. I have to find the one about Black Latinas.

You know, it's interesting to read both IndusLadies and LHC because it's really grounding to hear other races complain about their hair and what their hair doesn't do. Growing up surrounded by "Black hair doesn't grow" and hearing how effortless it is for other women, it really warps reality.

There are some really cool topics here about hair practices and issues. Off the top of my head "African Hair Secrets" and the ones about Haitian women were huge w/ tons of responses from women of those cultures. There are also some that deal w/ Black Latinas, East Africans, and biracials. Search thru the forum cuz there are quite a few subjects about Black women who aren't AA and their hair issues and solutions.

Tho not Black women, I read IndusLadies (Indian)http://www.indusladies.com/hair-care-and-hair-styles/ and the Long Hair Community (mostly White, but plenty of others) http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4 you'll see how hair problems aren't just Black! :grin:
 

tocktick

Well-Known Member
The thread is really focusing on AA women(without locs) because the hair practices in the US are not good for retaining length.

In every BSS I go to over here, about 98% of the products have been imported from the U.S.A. Imo, many black women worldwide are just as confused and clueless about black hair as some AAs.

I'm in the U.K, so my post pertained to them. Idk why but when I see "AA" on this board, I tend to just think "black" unless the thread is about a very specific problem in the U.S.
 
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that_1_grrrl

New Member
Lol! I grew up around mostly non-Black Latin@s. Most of the Mexican girls I knew had just long gorgeous hair, and I rarely heard a complaint about it.

Although, now that we're out of a school setting, I hear the complaints, lol.

Absolutely! I've spent WAY too much time around "other races" to buy for one sec that they don't have many or all the same problems we have in terms of rentention for length. I went to school w/ White chicks who talked about having "a growing point" for their own hair. Interestingly, I'd never heard anyone Black say something like this until hair forums! :lachen:By "growing point" they meant they thought their hair couldn't grow beyond point X because it hadn't to date.

On IL, notice how many topics there are about "straightening creams"! :yep:
 

laurend

Well-Known Member
In every BSS I go to over here, about 98% of the products have been imported from the U.S.A. Imo, many black women worldwide are just as confused and clueless about black hair as some AAs.

I'm in the U.K, so my post pertained to them. Idk why but when I see "AA" on this board, I tend to just think "black" unless the thread is about a very specific problem in the U.S.


How many Black British do you see with MBL? Isn't like 2AM over there? Girl you need to get to bed and get some beauty sleep!
 
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tocktick

Well-Known Member
^^ Yes, it's 2am and I feel eye-bags forming :lol:. This is well past my bedtime but I had to stay up for my mum who has just come back from mainland Europe and now she's showing her souvenirs :yawn:. I'm about to go to sleep though. To answer your question, I've seen one black British person at MBL. I went to school with her but I did not know her personally, so I didn't make mention of her in my first post. I see a few nicely cared for APL heads but once in a blue moon, tbh.
 

anon123

Well-Known Member
Tho not Black women, I read IndusLadies (Indian)http://www.indusladies.com/hair-care-and-hair-styles/ and the Long Hair Community (mostly White, but plenty of others) http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4 you'll see how hair problems aren't just Black! :grin:

Funny, because I hang out at LHC, too, and it only confirms the stereotypes to me. Not to say that everyone there has easy hair, but their hair woes seem mild compared to this board's. Maybe I'm just negative. :rofl: Or maybe I'm projecting my hair woes onto LHCF. I just know that despite the "all folks' hair grows just the same", that's mostly theoretical and not what's realized in real life, even on this board which is dedicated to healthy hair care.

That said, I think the average black woman with good hair care can get to at least bsl. Maybe not all, but probably the average. Just a guess.
 

phychugirl

Well-Known Member
Currently, I can't think of anyone IRL with MBL/WL hair. Before she cut it last year, my cousin's hair was waist length. She's not mixed.
 

shunemite

New Member
Right now about 4: 1 of them is Ethiopian and natural, 1 from New Orleans, 1 brown skinned and one dark like me.
 

GodivaChocolate

Well-Known Member
I can count about 12 off the top of my head and only 3 are mixed. My mom had WL hair, 1 aunt with Hip Length hair, 2 cousin MBL , 4 friends mbl or wl, 1 niece Hip legnth, 3 inlaws mbl or WL
 

LoveisYou

Well-Known Member
The thread is really focusing on AA women(without locs) because the hair practices in the US are not good for retaining length.

In my personal experience the hair practices of the majority of black immigrant women are not much better (with the exceptions of Haitians and Ethiopians). One thing I admire about Ethiopians is that they embrace their natural hair. I'm hard pressed to find an Ethiopian woman who relaxes and I know a few type 4s (just in case ppl. believe it's because of hair type).
 

leleepop

Well-Known Member
8 can think of...I'm gonna name them Bathshiba, Michelle, Lauren, Venus ,Keisha ,Van ,a Lady in church, and Joy I edited every time I thought of more. Didnt realize I new so many. 3 has type 3 hair and the others I dont know if they still wear their hair this long.
 
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