Sunday, March 27, 2011

College and Natural Hair


I have only been in college for one full semester and half of the semester i am in now, and the freedom to do the things i did to pamper my hair at home cannot always be accomplished when your living in  a itty bitty dorm room sharing a bathroom with four females. At home I would be able to wash my hair whenever,twist it and walk around the house with no shame. But college life is busy, hectic, and stressful, so caring for my hair can sometimes be a struggle.
I have found that although me and my mother thought that I would have some resistance to my natural hair due to the black communities acceptance of straight hair,weave, wigs,and long hair at that, that I would be ridiculed and looked at in a certain way (and not a good way) it was surprisingly easy and i have never been ridiculed..to my knowledge of course. The only thing i would have to mention is the constant talk of "good hair". Now this follows me everywhere and it irks the mess out of me. I MEAN REALLY?! i thought bad hair was hair that was damaged,falling out,and balding? but no! its based on your texture. Now i think most of us can agree when I say that I didn't have a problem hearing good hair and bad hair when i was natural, mostly because i grew up with those terms and didn't think too much of it..if your hair was kinky,which i called nappy,not straight or resembled anything like a afro i would think you looked crazy. Now you ask? I HATE that phrase..i feel its ignorant and a bit submissive to what the media thinks is unacceptable hair. I have tried to educate the people I meet in college about this natural hair is bad hair phenomena but it normally comes right back up. I hear people saying " I'm going to have mixed babies so my baby will have good hair". However, despite the ignorance i have heard from my very own African Americans there is a very healthy amount of naturals at Sam Houston. I have seen females rocking fades, twa's, afros, twist outs, frohawks, braid outs, updo's, and flat twists. I love the diversity on my campus and I tend to get complimented a lot on my hair. Not only are their loose naturals there are also locs everywhere on this campus mainly men are the ones showing of this style.
SO I HAVE A QUESTION ....HOW IS YOUR CAMPUS WHEN IT COMES TO NATURAL HAIR AND HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM YOUR STUDENTS,TEACHERS, OR FRIENDS?

image used above is courtesy of: http://www.tajishabu.com/Tajis_Natural_Hair_Styling/Welcome_files/About_Me.jpg

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