Is there really nothing that can be done?

[LongiLox]

About this "epidemic" that is the black woman's hair. After reading the relaxed versus natural thread, and reading countless threads or posts on members who run into black women with "jacked up" hair, bad weaves, balding spots, and so on, it has led me to think about what it is that can be done to help other black women out there.

As we all know, it's not just us that are ignorant about black hair; other races suffer from the same ignorance about our hair. A while back a friend (non-black) told me that "you black women have issues with your hair", at which point, I had to lecture him about how I don't have issues with my hair and how much I love my hair, etc. Recently he asked me why some black women say they only wash their hair once a month. How do you respond to something like that? It's sad to admit to others that yes, most black women do not know how to take care of our hair. And even sadder because I know it does not have to be that way.

After being on this site, I feel that there is no reason why black women cannot have healthy hair, whether relaxed or natural, or whether long or short. There's no reason why we should have people thinking they can only rely on weaves and or believing that their hair has to remain short, dry, and thin because it won't grow. This information (on how to take care of black hair) has been available for a while now and is readily available on the internet. The products are also easily accessible, so why is it that more of us do not know about it?

Is this situation really hopeless or do you all think that one day black women's hair will not be seen as an exception, enigma, or a mystery that cannot be conquered? Is there a way we can spread the knowledge and help those within our communities?

Let's discuss. I am so serious about trying to find a solution for this "epidemic".

 

[Amerie123]

The sad and unfortunate thing about this is that yes, as the black race, our hair will always be different. For one, our hair is 10x harder to retain length. I mean yeah, while we can go learn about our "good hair practices", and let our hair thrive, you have a lot of people that don't care, and should be able to just do whatever and still grow like the other races. I say that to say a lot of women (other races), don't do nothing but wash and go, and *bam* they have BSL and below. But black women on the other hand have to do this, that, don't do this, do this, etc just to grow and retain.

It seems as if it may always be this way, however, I do think that over time, it can improve drastically.

ETA: Most other races don't put half the thought into their hair, but yet their hair still thrives. Why? Something that we may never be able to help as long as we have this texture.

also ETA so it's not misinterpreted: when I mean sad, i mean if you realize, only our race supposedly "needs knowledge on hair care" just to have "beautiful hair", where as other races don't "need knowledge". We don't have equal ability to retain, or else this wouldn't be an issue. The fact that as beautiful as our hair is, it takes more attention than that of other races.

 

[Solitude]

Okay...I know this is a hair care board, but it's really not that serious. Hair isn't that important and most people, of any color, would never exert the time and energy on hair care that people on LHCF and other hair boards exert.

If I were you, I would not worry about other people's ignorance about black women's hair. People are ignorant about many issues in the world; polictics, religion, beauty....that problem will never be solved.

As far the "epidemic;" IMO it's not one. Black women have different ways of expressing ourselves. Some women rock weaves, some wear short cuts, some like to dye it, fro it, twist it, tease it. Not everyone wants long hair. Please don't believe that just because many black woman doesn't have, desire, or try to achieve long hair that there is some type of terrible epidemic going on.

Case in point: my mom, DAD, and my aunts have rocked fros, press 'n curls, bald fades, weaves, wigs, twas, and relaxed hair. It's just hairstyles & fads, nothing more & nothing less.

 

[LongiLox]

The sad and unfortunate thing about this is that yes, as the black race, our hair will always be different. For one, our hair is 10x harder to retain length. I mean yeah, while we can go learn about our "good hair practices", and let our hair thrive, you have a lot of people that don't care, and should be able to just do whatever and still grow like the other races. I say that to say a lot of women (other races), don't do nothing but wash and go, and *bam* they have BSL and below. But black women on the other hand have to do this, that, don't do this, do this, etc just to grow and retain.

It seems as if it may always be this way, however, I do think that over time, it can improve drastically.

ETA: Most other races don't put half the thought into their hair, but yet their hair still thrives. Why? Something that we may never be able to help as long as we have this texture.

I agree that our hair will always be different and I think there's nothing wrong with that. There's a reason why God made our hair so different from everyone else's. Different AND healthy is good. The problem is the unhealthy-ness of our hair. I believe that we can still have a simple regimen somewhat similar to the other races and have our hair thrive. It's all about using the right shampoos and conditioners (rather than those that dry) and using the right moisturizers (rather than grease or mineral oil). Essentially, that's all you need. Of course we'll have to be more careful with our hair in terms of protective styling and such. We might have to do a little more to keep our hair healthy, but the current state of our hair should not be this bad.

 

[JustKiya]

We would need a marketing campaign as fierce as the one for relaxers.
We would need celebrities to start rocking their hair instead of worshipping at the altar of the Yaki.
We would need to overcome 400 years of indoctrination that there is something inherently wrong with the hair that comes out of our heads.

 

[LongiLox]

Okay...I know this is a hair care board, but it's really not that serious. Hair isn't that important and most people, of any color, would never exert the time and energy on hair care that people on LHCF and other hair boards exert.

If I were you, I would not worry about other people's ignorance about black women's hair. People are ignorant about many issues in the world; polictics, religion, beauty....that problem will never be solved.

As far the "epidemic;" IMO it's not one. Black women have different ways of expressing ourselves. Some women rock weaves, some wear short cuts, some like to dye it, fro it, twist it, tease it. Not everyone wants long hair. Please don't believe that just because many black woman doesn't have, desire, or try to achieve long hair that there is some type of terrible epidemic going on.

Case in point: my mom, DAD, and my aunts have rocked fros, press 'n curls, bald fades, weaves, wigs, twas, and relaxed hair. It's just hairstyles & fads, nothing more & nothing less.

Not every woman wants long hair, that's why I mentioned healthy hair whether long or short or whether relaxed or natural. It's okay to wear weave, but not because you truly feel you're unable to grow your own hair. I hear this from our own people more than anyone else. I've had people try to convince me that I must have "good" hair and that's why my hair must be growing. Thank goodness I have pictorial proof of my hair before I started learning healthy hair practices and my new growth to show them.

 

[LongiLox]

We would need a marketing campaign as fierce as the one for relaxers.
We would need celebrities to start rocking their hair instead of worshipping at the altar of the Yaki.
We would need to overcome 400 years of indoctrination that there is something inherently wrong with the hair that comes out of our heads.

But where do we start? I feel that the third item is what we can truly start to work on as individuals. I guess it starts by educating ourselves and those around us and passing it on to later generations.

 

[Solitude]

We would need a marketing campaign as fierce as the one for relaxers.
We would need celebrities to start rocking their hair instead of worshipping at the altar of the Yaki.
We would need to overcome 400 years of indoctrination that there is something inherently wrong with the hair that comes out of our heads.

We would need to stop the in-fighting about relaxed v. natural, weaves v. real hair


(No offense, JustKiya, I respect you & admire your hair & I read your blog all the time, but you know where these discussions always lead....)

OP....leading by example, talking to people IRL about healthy hair care, starting a blog, or making tutorials are ways to help.

Adopt a young girl & her hair.

 

[GV-NA-GI-TLV-GE-I]

About this "epidemic" that is the black woman's hair. After reading the relaxed versus natural thread, and reading countless threads or posts on members who run into black women with "jacked up" hair, bad weaves, balding spots, and so on, it has led me to think about what it is that can be done to help other black women out there.

As we all know, it's not just us that are ignorant about black hair; other races suffer from the same ignorance about our hair. A while back a friend (non-black) told me that "you black women have issues with your hair", at which point, I had to lecture him about how I don't have issues with my hair and how much I love my hair, etc. Recently he asked me why some black women say they only wash their hair once a month. How do you respond to something like that? It's sad to admit to others that yes, most black women do not know how to take care of our hair. And even sadder because I know it does not have to be that way.

After being on this site, I feel that there is no reason why black women cannot have healthy hair, whether relaxed or natural, or whether long or short. There's no reason why we should have people thinking they can only rely on weaves and or believing that their hair has to remain short, dry, and thin because it won't grow. This information (on how to take care of black hair) has been available for a while now and is readily available on the internet. The products are also easily accessible, so why is it that more of us do not know about it?

Is this situation really hopeless or do you all think that one day black women's hair will not be seen as an exception, enigma, or a mystery that cannot be conquered? Is there a way we can spread the knowledge and help those within our communities?

Let's discuss. I am so serious about trying to find a solution for this "epidemic".

There are many people, Black and not, who damage their hair. That's why we have a plethora of hair solutions on the marketplace. The bolded is simply untrue. Black women know how to take care of their hair. I hardly ever see people with nasty-looking hair who are Black.

 

[LongiLox]

We would need to stop the in-fighting about relaxed v. natural, weaves v. real hair


(No offense, JustKiya, I respect you & admire your hair & I read your blog all the time, but you know where these discussions always lead....)

OP....leading by example, talking to people IRL about healthy hair care, starting a blog, or making tutorials are ways to help.

Adopt a young girl & her hair.

Yes, we need to stop the fighting for real. We always seem to have a problem staying united.

 

[JustKiya]

But where do we start? I feel that the third item is what we can truly start to work on as individuals. I guess it starts by educating ourselves and those around us and passing it on to later generations.

I don't know, honestly. I realize, rereading my answer, I was focusing on women having natural hair, rather than just healthy hair, period. Whoops.
From that POV, my answer to your question would be "Love your natural hair, love your daughters natural hair, love your son's natural hair" - but we still have people hating on their skin, so I think leaping to loving their hair is - well. erplexed

I don't know how you could widely educate people about the proper care of their hair - a huge marketing effort, but - well, healthy hair care tends to be cheaper/less product based than the crap we are doing now, which means there is less money supporting it, and..... I dunno.

As far as healthy hair, period - we must revamp the curriculums that are being taught in beauty schools.
We need to get more aware, educated about African hair people in the labs, marketing departments, etc, of the hair care manufacturers.

 

[locabouthair]

Okay...I know this is a hair care board, but it's really not that serious. Hair isn't that important and most people, of any color, would never exert the time and energy on hair care that people on LHCF and other hair boards exert.

If I were you, I would not worry about other people's ignorance about black women's hair. People are ignorant about many issues in the world; polictics, religion, beauty....that problem will never be solved.

As far the "epidemic;" IMO it's not one. Black women have different ways of expressing ourselves. Some women rock weaves, some wear short cuts, some like to dye it, fro it, twist it, tease it. Not everyone wants long hair. Please don't believe that just because many black woman doesn't have, desire, or try to achieve long hair that there is some type of terrible epidemic going on.

Case in point: my mom, DAD, and my aunts have rocked fros, press 'n curls, bald fades, weaves, wigs, twas, and relaxed hair. It's just hairstyles & fads, nothing more & nothing less.

Maybe it's not that important because some people just dont believe their hair can grow. Not everyone wants long hair, Yes thats true. I'm one of those.

Something IS wrong if lots of us are dealing with serious damage.

I agree that our hair will always be different and I think there's nothing wrong with that. There's a reason why God made our hair so different from everyone else's. Different AND healthy is good. The problem is the unhealthy-ness of our hair. I believe that we can still have a simple regimen somewhat similar to the other races and have our hair thrive. It's all about using the right shampoos and conditioners (rather than those that dry) and using the right moisturizers (rather than grease or mineral oil). Essentially, that's all you need. Of course we'll have to be more careful with our hair in terms of protective styling and such. We might have to do a little more to keep our hair healthy, but the current state of our hair should not be this bad.

It shouldn't. Im not all about long hair. Healthy hair is more important.

Some people just dont believe their hair can get better.

I am one of those with "jacked up" hair. I am still dealing with damage from when I went to stylists. Its getting better slowly. I had to know that I deserve to have healthy hair. Some people just give up and accept that.

I see women with very bald edges and they STILL wear tight braids.
Why would you keep do you add further damage to your hairline when it's sensitive?

Idk, the solution. I was teased about my hair all my life. I had "bad hair" that was always damaged and wuldnt make it past my ears. I knew I wanted different so I started researching..

LHCF is great but not everyone is ready to receive the information.

 

[LongiLox]

Maybe it's not that important because some people just dont believe their hair can grow. Not everyone wants long hair, Yes thats true. I'm one of those.

Something IS wrong if lots of us are dealing with serious damage.



It shouldn't. Im not all about long hair. Healthy hair is more important.

Some people just dont believe their hair can get better.

I am one of those with "jacked up" hair. I am still dealing with damage from when I went to stylists. Its getting better slowly. I had to know that I deserve to have healthy hair. Some people just give up and accept that.

I see women with very bald edges and they STILL wear tight braids.
Why would you keep do you add further damage to your hairline when it's sensitive?

Idk, the solution. I was teased about my hair all my life. I had "bad hair" that was always damaged and wuldnt make it past my ears. I knew I wanted different so I started researching..

LHCF is great but not everyone is ready to receive the information.

I think the bolded is one of the biggest obstacles. I have a friend (same one who accused me of having "good" hair and runs her hands through my hair everytime she sees me, LITERALLY looking for tracks) which me and another friend were trying to get to practice healthy hair practices because she notices how our hair has been growing and is having issues with her hair, but will not do anything of the things we suggested to her.

Her: My hair is not growing.
Me: Well, have you been doing any of things we suggested to you?
Her: No... my hair keeps breaking.
Me: Have you been washing and deep conditioning?
Her: No. Oh well, I'm just going to put a weave in it anyway.

A couple of weeks later, she'd put a terrible looking weave. It's a terrible cycle.

 

[CenteredGirl]

I think that what makes our hair more difficult to manage is that we are constantly looking over the "fence" and using products, tools and regimens that are not culturally appropriate for our hair.

 

[msa]

Is there a way we can spread the knowledge and help those within our communities?

Anytime someone says something ignorant or misinformed about hair growth/retention/health/care to me, I correct them instead of just letting it go.

It's not that difficult. If you feel that a change is needed, be that change whenever and wherever you can.

Now, is there ever going to be a time when we're all "enlightened" about this hair thing. No. But I try to spread knowledge to as many people as I can.

 

[Denise11]

What a lot of people don't realize is that people don't want you to try to "save" them. We need to focus on our own hair. There are a lot of people who love weaves, relaxers, etc....

Just because we're on a haircare forum doesn't give us a right to judge other peoples hair. Maybe they like their hair the way it is. When we get to our goals, then maybe we can tell friends and family what we did- if they even want to know, or even care. Everybody doesn't want long hair. A lot of people don't even care about healthy hair, as long as they can make the style that they want. But that's their right, and their business.

Folks need to start minding their own business, and stop trying to figure out how to change others. Especially when most of the time, they don't even want your help.

 

[ceebee3]

The sad and unfortunate thing about this is that yes, as the black race, our hair will always be different. For one, our hair is 10x harder to retain length. I mean yeah, while we can go learn about our "good hair practices", and let our hair thrive, you have a lot of people that don't care, and should be able to just do whatever and still grow like the other races. I say that to say a lot of women (other races), don't do nothing but wash and go, and *bam* they have BSL and below. But black women on the other hand have to do this, that, don't do this, do this, etc just to grow and retain.

It seems as if it may always be this way, however, I do think that over time, it can improve drastically.

ETA: Most other races don't put half the thought into their hair, but yet their hair still thrives. Why? Something that we may never be able to help as long as we have this texture.

This is just wrong. What's sad and unfortunate is that people actually think like this. There is nothing sad and unfortunate about nubian hair. The only problems we have are when we go against the natural tendency of our hair to grow towards the sun. I think it's a wonderful thing that our hair is like no one else's on this planet. It's unique and close to my creator.

 

[tbaby_8]

Okay...I know this is a hair care board, but it's really not that serious. Hair isn't that important and most people, of any color, would never exert the time and energy on hair care that people on LHCF and other hair boards exert.

If I were you, I would not worry about other people's ignorance about black women's hair. People are ignorant about many issues in the world; polictics, religion, beauty....that problem will never be solved.

As far the "epidemic;" IMO it's not one. Black women have different ways of expressing ourselves. Some women rock weaves, some wear short cuts, some like to dye it, fro it, twist it, tease it. Not everyone wants long hair. Please don't believe that just because many black woman doesn't have, desire, or try to achieve long hair that there is some type of terrible epidemic going on.

Case in point: my mom, DAD, and my aunts have rocked fros, press 'n curls, bald fades, weaves, wigs, twas, and relaxed hair. It's just hairstyles & fads, nothing more & nothing less.

I agree with you soror. It really isn't that deep, especially with the economy like it is and people losing there jobs left and right. Yes, I want healthy hair, but I way more other things to worry about. It isn't an epidemic. Some people choose to take care of there hair others don't. If People really want to take care of there hair, they will research just like other people.

 

[Denise11]

This is just wrong. What's sad and unfortunate is that people actually think like this. There is nothing sad and unfortunate about nubian hair. The only problems we have are when we go against the natural tendency of our hair to grow towards the sun. I think it's a wonderful thing that our hair is like no one else's on this planet. It's unique and close to my creator.

Grows towards the sun? Close to your creator?

 

[prospurr4]

...After being on this site, I feel that there is no reason why black women cannot have healthy hair, whether relaxed or natural, or whether long or short. There's no reason why we should have people thinking they can only rely on weaves and or believing that their hair has to remain short, dry, and thin because it won't grow. This information (on how to take care of black hair) has been available for a while now and is readily available on the internet. The products are also easily accessible, so why is it that more of us do not know about it?...

Because you don't seek for help that you don't think exists.

This part of your post really struck a chord with me, personally. As a child through young adult, I was brainwashed into thinking that my short, dry, thin, damaged hair was "normal" for my hair type (4b), and this mindset is common.

I found LHCF completely by accident; I certainly wasn't looking for it because healthy/long hair wasn't even a possibility for me. Anyway, as I gobbled up the knowledge on this site, I realized that there was hope for me to have healthy hair, growing as long as I wanted. As my thinking changed, so did the condition of my hair.

 

[ceebee3]

Grows towards the sun? Close to your creator?

Yes, it's really quite simple. Our hair grows up not down. We have hair like wool, like Jesus, son of God, my creator.

 

[that_1_grrrl]

This is just wrong. What's sad and unfortunate is that people actually think like this. There is nothing sad and unfortunate about nubian hair.

I agree.

I also do not think our hair is that hard to take care of. The only reason it seems that way is we have gone through years being taught the wrong way to take care of hair. So, now, for most of us, this is something new. Re-learning something takes time, so it seems like it takes a lot of work to grow and retain length.

But what conclusion do we always come back to?

Keep It Simple.

Looking at simple routines, I notice that's what long-haired girls of all races have in common: they don't do much to their hair.

So, I think it will catch on once Black women realize which products are good and that the less they do to their hair, the better.

Oh, and another reason it probably seems like a lot of work is many of us are fighting years of damage. The damaged, imo, is what needs so much work. We have to be so careful to keep that damaged hair in good enough shape that it'll stay on our heads and help us keep length.

That is all.

Let's be examples.

 

[that_1_grrrl]

Because you don't seek for help that you don't think exists.

This part of your post really struck a chord with me, personally. As a child through young adult, I was brainwashed into thinking that my short, dry, thin, damaged hair was "normal" for my hair type (4b), and this mindset is common.

I found LHCF completely by accident; I certainly wasn't looking for it because healthy/long hair wasn't even a possibility for me. Anyway, as I gobbled up the knowledge on this site, I realized that there was hope for me to have healthy hair, growing as long as I wanted. As my thinking changed, so did the condition of my hair.

I definitely agree with this. If women have been told such negative things about their hair, why would they start looking for healthy hair tips? Why would they care?

 

[Denise11]

Yes, it's really quite simple. Our hair grows up not down. We have hair like wool, like Jesus, son of God, my creator.

Yall are way too deep on here. It's just hair.

 

[Soliel185]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force him to drink.

Everyone here on LHCF is here because they WANT to be here. We each decided at one point or another that we wanted more information, and we wanted to put in the effort to have healthy hair.

Maybe when women see more black women on the street with healthy hair that is not a weave (no offense to weave wearers what so ever, but when you see someone with pretty hair and then find out it's a weave it's like "well no wonder it looks nice, I'll just have to buy some too") they'll start believing that their hair can be better - they aren't stuck with anything.

Long hair is not always healthy hair, and short hair is not always damaged.

 

[*Michelle*]

This is just wrong. What's sad and unfortunate is that people actually think like this. There is nothing sad and unfortunate about nubian hair. The only problems we have are when we go against the natural tendency of our hair to grow towards the sun. I think it's a wonderful thing that our hair is like no one else's on this planet. It's unique and close to my creator.

This may or may not be true...my hair does not and never has grown toward the sun. I have two children whose do not either. Oh and there are other races whose hair does grow towards the sun. My dd's hair does grow toward the sun...well she is relaxed and her hair is just as healthy, shiny and flowy as it could be not a single, solitary problem. Beautiful hair indeed. Humans like to go against natural tendencies...we r humans. Our creator understands he gave us free will (yes I know it's not always good...but it is what it is).

I can see both sides of this argument. Basically in todays no one has to have "jacked up hair", with that said "Jacked up" is very subjective.

If someone asks me about my hair or my dd's hair I tell them the truth and guide them as best I can in the time we may have. I don't go around randomly giving advice. Even when I was a hairstylist (and I was one whose hair was ALWAYS on point) people didn't always receive my advice, a lot of them wanted their hair frozen solid, burned to a crisp, no conditioner and don't even mention a trim/cut...oh and diet/excercise, girl please I would get looks like a one eyed martian from under planet rock! And not all hairstylist "chop" hair...but if you come to me and your hair is in an unhealthy state then what do you expect me to say??? I advised but did as the client requested ALWAYS.

I have no idea how to spread the word. The world is a small place now if someone really wants to know they can look it up on the internet/library etc.

Not to rain on anyones parade cuz I wish we all had healthy hair regimens/lifestyle (because healthy hair IS a lifestyle not a fad.)...just don't know what to do about.

*listening*

ETA: I forgot to say our hair is not inherently 10x harder to retain...knowledge is power.

 

[Amerie123]

This is just wrong. What's sad and unfortunate is that people actually think like this. There is nothing sad and unfortunate about nubian hair. The only problems we have are when we go against the natural tendency of our hair to grow towards the sun. I think it's a wonderful thing that our hair is like no one else's on this planet. It's unique and close to my creator.

When I say sad, it's not in reference to nubian hair. So, don't even take it that way. I'm talking about the retention factor. I like the fact that our hair is like no other, but let's face it, when a black women have long hair and what not, she's automatically assumed with being mixed, etc. I'm just saying, it's sad that this whole "black hair thing" is even considered to be a problem period.

 

[*Michelle*]

Yall are way too deep on here. It's just hair.

 

[Soliel185]

I think that what makes our hair more difficult to manage is that we are constantly looking over the "fence" and using products, tools and regimens that are not culturally appropriate for our hair.

I'm not sure what you mean? The products that do the best on my head are not really culturally explicit - as far as I know jojoba oil, coconut oil, acv, and baking soda are beneficial for all hair types...Made for "black" hair doesn't = good for "black" hair and that goes for all products and all hair types IMO.

 

[*Michelle*]

When I say sad, it's not in reference to nubian hair. So, don't even take it that way. I'm talking about the retention factor. I like the fact that our hair is like no other, but let's face it, when a black women have long hair and what not, she's automatically assumed with being mixed, etc. I'm just saying, it's sad that this whole "black hair thing" is even considered to be a problem period.

This has been my experience...and I look nowhere near like I am mixed with anything. If I say I'm not mixed to a white person, they accept it...usually a black person will say "You know you got indian in you". REALLY??!! UGH!!!

I agree it is sad...just as sad as the whole "The white man is keeping me down" mentality. But that is a whole 'nother thread.