can girls from southern africa grow long hair? i know west/central/east africans

miss cosmic

miss cosmic

Well-Known Member
can, but i'm looking for testimonies/pics from people of southern african descent.
i am in south africa and almost invariably all the girls i've seen with long hair whether it's relaxed or natural are from some other part of africa, and not another southern african country.

before you all go off and call me ignorant let me explain why i'm asking.
i've seen lots of black girls with afro-textured hair. and by lots i do mean lots.
yes, african girls can grow long hair, i've seen their hair, what i'm looking for is someone from southern africa (angola, zambia, malawi, south africa, zimbabwe, botswana, mozambique, swaziland, lesotho, botswana, namibia) with relaxed/natural hair past armpit-length.
if your parents are both from a southern african country, even if you're living or were born somewhere else in the world please chime in.

please ladies, no lessons on how everyone is mixed with something etc etc i'm not about to go into that discussion, all i want to see is people of southern african descent who have successfully grown long hair.
 
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Do people in Southern Africa have a different hairtype from the rest of the world? :perplexed

I'm tired of people thinking if you're from a ''certain'' part.. your hair should grow. I'm East African, and yes the majority of my female relatives have long hair. I have 3c hair (which some people think just grows if you sleep) but my hair never grew long. I see progress now, but that's because I'm WORKING on it.

Hair grows if you take care of it, regardless of what kind you have.

Focus on hair retention and good hair practices. If you want to see people who have hair similar to yours... then just ask for the hairtype. You are really narrowing it down but requesting just a part of Africa.

HHJ
 
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I'm South African by heritage (and currently living there) and my hair was MBL as a child.It is SL now after some setbacks but there is no doubt that it can and will grow long again:) I think what you are seeing is the result of bad hair practices. Also culturally, hair cutting is done for specific rituals here (when mourning etc) and that could be it. Also, having short hair is not seen as masculine as it sometimes is in the West. My mum has had a fade for the past 15 years and rocks it!
 
thank you for your response.
what i mean is that obviously people from different parts of the world have different genetic programming. even within the same ethnic group there can be differences.
what i am referring to specifically was the question of whether there is a link between region of origin and hair growth, with reference to southern africa in particular because that is the region that is of interest to me.
i thought i'd made that clear but obviously i need to clarify further.

phases of hair growth are determined by genetics. some people's hair just grows for longer periods of time before shedding than other people's hair does.
i wasnt asking about hair practises for a particular hair type, i was asking about the genetics of it with particular reference to southern african people, as observed phenotypically.

i have seen people with 4b hair, i have seen plenty of them. and now i'm now narrowing it down to people with 4b hair who are of southern african descent. i dont see why anyone should be offended/surprised or annoyed by that.
 
lesedi said:
I'm South African by heritage (and currently living there) and my hair was MBL as a child.It is SL now after some setbacks but there is no doubt that it can and will grow long again:) I think what you are seeing is the result of bad hair practices. Also culturally, hair cutting is done for specific rituals here (when mourning etc) and that could be it. Also, having short hair is not seen as masculine as it sometimes is in the West. My mum has had a fade for the past 15 years and rocks it!
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thanks lesedi. you are right about the general lack of knowledge about good hair care. that said, i know of people who take good care of their hair and still fail to achieve great length. this is not to say i dont know people who have rocked long hair, just that it's not as common as it is for people from other parts of the continent.
what you have said is exactly the type of response i'm looking for, thanks again.

*off to do more research*
 
I get what your saying. Sounds like you just need some inspiration. I hope someone chimes in and gives it to you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk
 
I've tried to do a quick Google search for inspiration photos but wasn't able to find anything yet.

I do want to say that I think phrasing it as a 'Is it possible?' question is a bit of mistake. Clearly, it's possible and we as black women drag each other down a lot by questioning the possibility. Just one person whose Southern African with long hair proves that it's possible. The question is, on average, what is the natural terminal length of that hair if it is properly preserved? And probably no one can answer that for you because most of that hair is broken off or trimmed off long before that natural terminus is met. I know that you said you know of women with good hair practices who "can't" grow long hair but honestly, you can't know if those practices are good if they aren't effective at preserving long hair strands. You wouldn't find women here putting vaginal creams and horse conditioners and steam and henna and plant matter on their hair if the the traditional "good" hair practices were effective at preserving their 4a/4b/3c hair strands.

I know it can be discouraging not to see more hair role models but I would caution you against making this a matter of African regional genetics when the education and care hurdle is clearly so much more relevant.
 
My mother in-law is South African (mafikeng) and her hair grows extemely fast. While my hair is much longer than hers, I believe her hair grows faster than mine. However, her hair practices are horrendous so it does not grow very long. I'm on a mission to help her grow it out :grin:

ETA: Yes, certain ethnic groups on average grow hair faster than others. It's a scientific fact. Just like certain groups tend to show signs of again at a slower rate than others. And also, why Asian and caucasians have to worry about bone loss in their old age, whereas black women generally do not. There are genetic differences between group, accepting that fact does not automatically make one superior to the others...:rolleyes:
 
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LunadeMiel said:
My mother in-law is South African (mafikeng) and her hair grows extemely fast. While my hair is much longer than hers, I believe her hair grows faster than mine. However, her hair practices are horrendous so it does not grow very long. I'm on a mission to help her grow it out :grin:
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Is your husbands family Sotho or Tswana by any chance?
 
jouissance said:
I've tried to do a quick Google search for inspiration photos but wasn't able to find anything yet.

I do want to say that I think phrasing it as a 'Is it possible?' question is a bit of mistake. Clearly, it's possible and we as black women drag each other down a lot by questioning the possibility. Just one person whose Southern African with long hair proves that it's possible. The question is, on average, what is the natural terminal length of that hair if it is properly preserved? And probably no one can answer that for you because most of that hair is broken off or trimmed off long before that natural terminus is met. I know that you said you know of women with good hair practices who "can't" grow long hair but honestly, you can't know if those practices are good if they aren't effective at preserving long hair strands. You wouldn't find women here putting vaginal creams and horse conditioners and steam and henna and plant matter on their hair if the the traditional "good" hair practices were effective at preserving their 4a/4b/3c hair strands.

I know it can be discouraging not to see more hair role models but I would caution you against making this a matter of African regional genetics when the education and care hurdle is clearly so much more relevant.
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thanks so much. i totally get that the 'is it possible' is an error, i agree with you on that. i mean, i KNOW it's possible, but like you say i was asking more in general, since the girls i've seen are exceptions rather than the rule.
i'm trying to figure out whether it's the bad hair care practises that are keeping hair short or whether there are other factors to consider.

thank you!
 
LunadeMiel said:
ETA: Yes, certain ethnic groups on average grow hair faster than others. It's a scientific fact. Just like certain groups tend to show signs of again at a slower rate than others. And also, why Asian and caucasians have to worry about bone loss in their old age, whereas black women generally do not. There are genetic differences between group, accepting that fact does not automatically make one superior to the others...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I agree. I hate it when people make out that it's not easier for white people to grow hair. It's a fact. It doesn't mean we can't grow our hair either, it will just take longer.
 
LunadeMiel said:
ETA: Yes, certain ethnic groups on average grow hair faster than others. It's a scientific fact. Just like certain groups tend to show signs of again at a slower rate than others. And also, why Asian and caucasians have to worry about bone loss in their old age, whereas black women generally do not. There are genetic differences between group, accepting that fact does not automatically make one superior to the others...:rolleyes:
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ITA!
thank you :)
 
I'm from Southern Africa and my hair (natural) is now longer than armpit length. I'm hoping to straighten it in the next week and will post pics.

I have one other friend (relaxed) who is BSL. Pure Southern African too. No mix at all.

Both of us tho, frequent hair blogs and forums. So we've used good hair care practices to get us to this point.
 
Zambian Chica checking in! I believe that any and everyone can grow hair long(with varying terminal lengths). I am currently between APL and BSL. I am scissor happy hair grower. I never thought my hair could be this long nor did I think it was possible but I continue to learn about MY hair and what it needs. I am ususally in braids to stop me from cutting but most times I take them down to rebraid I am surprised by the growth.

SOOOoooo. I think you should take the time the time to learn about what you hair needs and when it needs it. In terms of moisture and protein treatments and generally taking better care of it in order for it to grow.
 
i've just had a conversation with some friends (all shoulder-length relaxed, been there for years) about growing hair longer. i shared a few tips that i've found on this and other sites and the average response was
"wash my hair at least once a week?! you must be some kind of crazy..." and variations of that theme.
so maybe it's lack of information? ok, no maybe about it.
when i was still getting relaxed every month (yep, every four weeks to the day) on my hairdressers advice, i never washed my hair between relaxers. then i learnt a bit and started doing oil treatments every fortnight and i saw an improvement.
hairdressers are just as ill-informed as the general population IMO because the one i went to had actually gone to some accredited academy and 'knew' stuff.

so maybe it's got nothing (or rather very little) to do with ethnicity, and more to do with hair care practises.
"my people fail to grow long hair due to lack of knowledge"

thank you all for responding.
some more, please
:)
 
@mwedzi: Yes they can. Miss Mwedzi has some thick, beautiful, long hair. I am not sure what country she is from, though.
HTH
 
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I am ghanian hence my name and I believe I know what you are saying but you worded wrong. Growing out hair has nothing wit ne thing.All you have to do is be alive girly...I feel what you are saying though. U could have title it "Calling out southern african girls with hair past apl! hair xxx wanted plz...
Seriously though south african girls can grow hair .I believe I have seen an Angola hair with thick hair bsl or longer...Her hair is pretty!!hope she replys
 
don't have an answer but I think it's a valid question op. Looking at the factors that play into retention and length - diet, environment, genetics, cultural norms and hair care practices - is there anything that sets southern africa apart from the other regions (obviously cultural and hair care have already been addressed)? Also, have you noticed if southern african women tend to have finer stands than their counterparts from other regions? I've began to notice that everything else being equal, people with fine strands have a harder time retaining.

africanqueen456 said:
I am ghanian hence my name and I believe I know what you are saying but you worded wrong. Growing out hair has nothing wit ne thing.All you have to do is be alive girly...I feel what you are saying though. U could have title it "Calling out southern african girls with hair past apl! hair xxx wanted plz...
Seriously though south african girls can grow hair .I believe I have seen an Angola hair with thick hair bsl or longer...Her hair is pretty!!hope she replys
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I think you're referring Maracujá? Her hair is gorgeous!
 
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miss cosmic said:
thank you for your response.
what i mean is that obviously people from different parts of the world have different genetic programming. even within the same ethnic group there can be differences.
what i am referring to specifically was the question of whether there is a link between region of origin and hair growth, with reference to southern africa in particular because that is the region that is of interest to me.
i thought i'd made that clear but obviously i need to clarify further.

phases of hair growth are determined by genetics. some people's hair just grows for longer periods of time before shedding than other people's hair does.
i wasnt asking about hair practises for a particular hair type, i was asking about the genetics of it with particular reference to southern african people, as observed phenotypically.

i have seen people with 4b hair, i have seen plenty of them. and now i'm now narrowing it down to people with 4b hair who are of southern african descent. i dont see why anyone should be offended/surprised or annoyed by that.
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National/geographic origin has nothing to do with it coz everyone is genetically unique. Even among families people have different hair types and different lengths. I keep seeing this inference that East Africans have one type of hair and that it's 3Cish. Maybe you mean North East Africa (and even there you won't find one type of hair)? East Africa - i.e. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi is a very diverse region and some people have type 3 hair but plenty more have 4a-z and 4b is very common.
 
Tiye said:
National/geographic origin has nothing to do with it coz everyone is genetically unique. Even among families people have different hair types and different lengths. I keep seeing this inference that East Africans have one type of hair and that it's 3Cish. Maybe you mean North East Africa (and even there you won't find one type of hair)? East Africa - i.e. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi is a very diverse region and some people have type 3 hair but plenty more have 4a-z and 4b is very common.
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I agree. Where you are born has nothing to do with it. I think the common thread that most people with a "certain" hair type have is the inability/lack of knowledge as to how to properly care for their hair type. This creates an illusion that certain types CAN'T grow. Your hair is always growing whether you are from South Africa or Ivory Coast, it's HOW u care for it that decides retention.
 
my mom is from zimababwe, but her dad was fromd england. So she is mixed. And she can grow her hair long! Her hair type is more african american then white. She has very curly hair, it's not really nappy like mine (my dad is black) its like.....3c curly, yet at the same time has the frizzy-ness of 4z lol! :) Her hair is heat trained now. Her hair grows slow compared to white people. But fast when it comes to black. Her hair is also dry. IDK, her hair is weird. :) I'm not sure if this counts for you but thats all i got.
 
miss cosmic said:
thank you for your response.
what i mean is that obviously people from different parts of the world have different genetic programming. even within the same ethnic group there can be differences.
what i am referring to specifically was the question of whether there is a link between region of origin and hair growth, with reference to southern africa in particular because that is the region that is of interest to me.
i thought i'd made that clear but obviously i need to clarify further.

phases of hair growth are determined by genetics. some people's hair just grows for longer periods of time before shedding than other people's hair does.
i wasnt asking about hair practises for a particular hair type, i was asking about the genetics of it with particular reference to southern african people, as observed phenotypically.

i have seen people with 4b hair, i have seen plenty of them. and now i'm now narrowing it down to people with 4b hair who are of southern african descent. i dont see why anyone should be offended/surprised or annoyed by that.
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I'm not offended by it. I have 4b hair. But, no, don't look at it that way. I'm from East Africa. I have (almost) SL hair right now, I had a bob before this. When I was 6 years old, I had BSL hair, because my mom took great care of it. I have several relatives who do not have long hair, and some who do. My hair journey and that of my relatives is mainly due to hair care. I have some relatives with no hair line due to extra tight braiding of cornrows and micro braids. Others relaxed too often or reused a relaxer by scraping it off of someone else's head to "save money".

There were people I grew up with whose hair "didn't grow", and after changing certain habits they were able to retain it. The reason I say don't look at it that way is that it doesn't matter how fast or slow your hair grows, what matters is that you keep what you got! So what if it takes someone else 4 months to get extra long hair and it takes you a year? As long as you get there and you know you did the best you could, that's what matters.
 
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I think that the OP is free to ask this question... if you don't know something, sure ask the question. I don't have a beef with anyone. :)

However, questions like these make me sad.

Is there really something about people from Southern Africa that makes their hair totally unlike any other hair type on the planet? :perplexed

It's disheartening to me that some people feel as if their hair or other people's hair is "something else" other than human hair. All human hair grows. Most humans have a decent terminal length (down their backs). Kinky hair of all textures can be preserved by keeping it moisturized and healthy. There is no gene that makes your hair unable to be kept healthy.

Seriously... I view it almost as if it were dehumanizing certain people. As if they don't have the capabilities as everyone else. Do they have a gene that makes their hair crumble like dust after reaching a few inches?

In this case, it's Southern Africans. In other discussions, it may be people with a 4b texture, or people who "are not mixed".

I feel it's a mindset that some people have. "We" aren't capable. No matter how much we know scientifically about the human body and structure of hair, that mentality has such a strong foothold in our minds.
 
lesedi said:
I agree. I hate it when people make out that it's not easier for white people to grow hair. It's a fact. It doesn't mean we can't grow our hair either, it will just take longer.
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I actually know of quite a few white women who have a helluva time growing out their hair...breaking off, growing in with horrible thin ends, reaching apl, then falling out...taking 3x as long as anybody else, brittle dry mess etc. These are healthy women with fine strands. There's a lot of misinformation on hair out there period.
 
I have a question for the OP: coz I just remembered in our History lessons we studied how several tribes migrated from East Africa and settled in current South Africa and neighboring countries. It's so striking that certain languages I hear like Shona and Zulu have words that sound almost like Swahili and I can actually pick up on some conversations.

The question I wanted to ask is that is it ok for a South African professional woman to have curly natural hair or braids or locks or cornrows as a bank manager, lawyer, doctor etc? The reason I ask this is that in East Africa, it is not that huge of an issue, but in America it can be an issue. Some employers here will not hire a black female with natural hair. (Not all employers, but some). As a result of this, some women feel forced to relax their hair oir straighten it daily with heat and the daily heat use or too frequent relaxers can cause breakage. Sometimes this can be an explanation for shorter hair.

I'm not saying that people who relax (coz I do too) feel pressured and abuse their hair to fit in. Just an alternate theory to the genetics theory because some of South African genetics are the same as East African by way of migration.
 
Tiye said:
National/geographic origin has nothing to do with it coz everyone is genetically unique. Even among families people have different hair types and different lengths. I keep seeing this inference that East Africans have one type of hair and that it's 3Cish. Maybe you mean North East Africa (and even there you won't find one type of hair)? East Africa - i.e. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi is a very diverse region and some people have type 3 hair but plenty more have 4a-z and 4b is very common.
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So you would argue that certain groups are genetically pre determined to be taller, have longer eyelashes, shorter legs...? Why is hair so different. No one is saying that black folks can't grow long hair :lol:?

Aren't most ethnic groups made of up of people who were at one point biologically related (most started as family units, clans...etc). So why would it be wrong for certain ethnic groups to share certain genetic traits???
 
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Volver_Alma_Gitana said:
I actually know of quite a few white women who have a helluva time growing out their hair...breaking off, growing in with horrible thin ends, reaching apl, then falling out...taking 3x as long as anybody else, brittle dry mess etc. These are healthy women with fine strands. There's a lot of misinformation on hair out there period.
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I'm sure there are white women like that. I just think that the vast majority of white women have it a lot easier when it comes to growing hair. I mean we are wearing silk scarves, dc'ing, proteining,protective styling, mega-tek-ing and the average white person will wash and go (a lot of times without conditioning) and there hair grows substantially. It's not something I am jealous of, I appreciate my hair type and texture very much and would NEVER want to change it, it's just something I have noticed.
 
Neith said:
I think that the OP is free to ask this question... if you don't know something, sure ask the question. I don't have a beef with anyone. :)

However, questions like these make me sad.

Is there really something about people from Southern Africa that makes their hair totally unlike any other hair type on the planet? :perplexed

It's disheartening to me that some people feel as if their hair or other people's hair is "something else" other than human hair. All human hair grows. Most humans have a decent terminal length (down their backs). Kinky hair of all textures can be preserved by keeping it moisturized and healthy. There is no gene that makes your hair unable to be kept healthy.

Seriously... I view it almost as if it were dehumanizing certain people. As if they don't have the capabilities as everyone else. Do they have a gene that makes their hair crumble like dust after reaching a few inches?

In this case, it's Southern Africans. In other discussions, it may be people with a 4b texture, or people who "are not mixed".

I feel it's a mindset that some people have. "We" aren't capable. No matter how much we know scientifically about the human body and structure of hair, that mentality has such a strong foothold in our minds.
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:spinning: Love your post. Especially the part about dehumanizing. We just finished a thorough look at the integumentary system (hair skin/nails) and hair growth is basically rapid cell division that EVERY HUMAN does passively unless something kills your cells like chemo therapy - which kills healthy and "bad" cells. I always wonder why black people think they are a "special case". We are not some special species of people. We are humans just like everyone else except we produce more melanin. Geesh.
 
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