Being Kinky in the Workplace
- Thread starter Giselle685
- Start date
BostonMaria
Well-Known Member
I laughed at the title of this thread LOL
She makes alot of great points. I personally don't care who has a problem with my hair in the workplace. When it was short I had people come up to me but it was more out of curiosity than anything else.
She makes alot of great points. I personally don't care who has a problem with my hair in the workplace. When it was short I had people come up to me but it was more out of curiosity than anything else.
chebaby
Well-Known Member
i havent finished the video yet but off the top i dont care what people think about my hair. with that said i think people who would normally have an issue with my hair give me a pass because i am young. they might think im going through a faze and itll pass.
but my natural hair is here to stay so if someone, like a boss, had an issue with my hair the only thing i could tell them is to deal with it. and im not a blunt or rude person but what else could you say? i mean this is my hair, all day everyday. was like this when i was born and will be like this when im dead.
but my natural hair is here to stay so if someone, like a boss, had an issue with my hair the only thing i could tell them is to deal with it. and im not a blunt or rude person but what else could you say? i mean this is my hair, all day everyday. was like this when i was born and will be like this when im dead.
Giselle685
New Member
I think that it is great not to care! I mostly put up the video because somewhere in the middle, she is kind of funny. She brings up really valid points about us sticking out so much. If more people were natural though... Corp America can't complain. It is amazing how much control Corporate America takes or WANTS to take on people's every day lives! WOW.
Geminigirl
Well-Known Member
I agree, I don't really care what people think about my hair. I do worry about people who don't like it and that hinders my employment,etc. Other than that idgaf.
Geminigirl
Well-Known Member
Just wondering what is considered coroprate? I hear this all the time and i'm like WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
LadyRaider
Well-Known Member
I was kinky today! I didn't blow/flat iron my hair this weekend because I'm going to the beauty shop on Friday. Didn't want double heat.
But... the weather is wet and snowy. Yesterday my braid out was mostly okay... but today... forget it... I just had a big head full of frizz.
No one seemed to mind, but I left before anyone in authority might have seen me. heh heh.
But... the weather is wet and snowy. Yesterday my braid out was mostly okay... but today... forget it... I just had a big head full of frizz.
No one seemed to mind, but I left before anyone in authority might have seen me. heh heh.
Giselle685
New Member
My personal opinion of what Corporate is, is where they are the drivers of the economy . Large investors, etc. Where you must dress professionally, and there are many political correct rules that you have to be aware of...
Corporation in the book sense has to do with liabilities and taxes. haha.
LadyRaider
Well-Known Member
I know I am not corporate. I'm in higher education. I'd think corporate would be lawyers' offices, perhaps sales, the business offices of companies like Dell.
Geminigirl
Well-Known Member
Oh ok I get it now.
This lady that owns a BSS only works during certain days or something, she said she has a corporate job and I was just so confused because corporate sounds like something that would pay good. Maybe the BSS is just a side hustle. Anyways I hear the term a lot so thanks for clearing that up.
JayAnn0513
I make 30 look good!
IMO- Any desk job in an office is corporate. I work for a finance company even the people who open the mail have to maintain a certain "look". Now my office's dress code is mostly business casual, with some people in higher positions wearing a shirt/tie or pant suits. A TWA would be just fine, so would a twist out. But a 27 piece quick weave in cherry kool-aid red - no way.
Giselle685
New Member
lol..cherry kool aid is a color? LOL!! Now I know.
naturalmanenyc
Well-Known Member
I love her videos. She has a nice blog too that I've followed for some time.
It's nice to think that hair doesn't matter, but it does. I did not go natural until I left my law firm. It would have been a career limiting move for me to go natural in my old firm given that we had no Black partners and all the Black female associates were relaxed.
It's not just Black women though. White women with curly hair tend to straighten for the office too. Straight hair is deemed more professional to most people. I am not in the law firm world anymore and I wear my curly hair 75% of the time even if it's just a curly half wig. My coworkers LOVE my curly hair. They comment that I "change my hair so much"
Paul Mooney, the comedian, makes a great point when he says “If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they're not happy.”
It's nice to think that hair doesn't matter, but it does. I did not go natural until I left my law firm. It would have been a career limiting move for me to go natural in my old firm given that we had no Black partners and all the Black female associates were relaxed.
It's not just Black women though. White women with curly hair tend to straighten for the office too. Straight hair is deemed more professional to most people. I am not in the law firm world anymore and I wear my curly hair 75% of the time even if it's just a curly half wig. My coworkers LOVE my curly hair. They comment that I "change my hair so much"
Paul Mooney, the comedian, makes a great point when he says “If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they're not happy.”
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Giselle685
New Member
LOL
Yes, I noticed that as well. Everyone wants straight hair. No one can use wild colors for their hair. I have heard a story, I am not sure if it was on here, or elsewhere, where a woman put on long braids, natural hair color.. she must have paid 190 for the style, and her boss suggested that she take it out or not come to work the next day.
honeybuni84
New Member
a friend of mine is kinky in the work place and she got her boss fired for making comments about her hair.... it is how our hair grows in naturally and to say that it isn't corporate is discrimination....
BlackMasterPiece
Well-Known Member
I have worn every single style in my siggy and then some to my firm with no issues, the only comments I get are compliments and co-workers asking to touch my hair. I am good at my job, I make money for the firm, I dress in keeping with the firms culture....its all good....being natural has never been an issue for me and its only gonna get more common with time.
Vashti
New Member
More black people need to make this an issue for it to finally be laid to the side on the dung heap of "attitudes we had in the past that make no sense in modern times". it's OUR hair. I know out here in the pacific Northwest people can come to work - in offices -wearing tattoos and piercings. Not all companies allow it but it is becoming more and more prevalent. So the whole "black kinky hair is not professional" thing needs to be confronted and addressed.
I think it has a lot to do with the culture of the company. Some companies are a little too conservative for modern times when it comes to attitudes about black hair. Coming to work with a green mohawk is one thing but coming to work with your natural black hair well groomed and clean should not be an issue in the 21st century. It's how God made us to look and what God made was good. I've had career setbacks because I chose to wear my hair natural but the trade offs were worth it for me. I never cared what people thought of my natural hair. Just didn't care. In fact I used it as a barometer of whether these people, white or black or any other color, were even worth my attention and my time. I now work at a company ( where I make good money) where this is a non-issue. I interviewed and was hired there wearing a short, natural afro. I still wear it natural. I am not forced to wear a weave, wig or relax my hair before I feel it is healthy enough to endure the chemicals. When you don't wash, comb or care for your hair, THAT is unprofessional. There is nothing strange, unprofessional or ugly about our natural hair and when more blacks see this truth and confront it, it will eventually stop being an issue with others.
I think it has a lot to do with the culture of the company. Some companies are a little too conservative for modern times when it comes to attitudes about black hair. Coming to work with a green mohawk is one thing but coming to work with your natural black hair well groomed and clean should not be an issue in the 21st century. It's how God made us to look and what God made was good. I've had career setbacks because I chose to wear my hair natural but the trade offs were worth it for me. I never cared what people thought of my natural hair. Just didn't care. In fact I used it as a barometer of whether these people, white or black or any other color, were even worth my attention and my time. I now work at a company ( where I make good money) where this is a non-issue. I interviewed and was hired there wearing a short, natural afro. I still wear it natural. I am not forced to wear a weave, wig or relax my hair before I feel it is healthy enough to endure the chemicals. When you don't wash, comb or care for your hair, THAT is unprofessional. There is nothing strange, unprofessional or ugly about our natural hair and when more blacks see this truth and confront it, it will eventually stop being an issue with others.
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