How do you feel about white women being a part of the natural hair community?

[girlonfire]

^^this

I thought I was the only one. I hate going on instagram and searching #naturalhair and a white girl who just got out the shower with somewhat wavy hair is taking a selfie. Of course her hair is natural. Even if she were to have straightened her hair it would be considered natural. But the "natural hair community" has a different meaning to me. To me it means products, styles, tools, and advice for ethnic hair types, a population that is (historically) known to chemically adjust the structure of the hair shaft via relaxers. It is a community of pride and support. Now, I know some white women get perms to make their hair curly...If they spent 20 years on the creamy crack and are just now breaking free and taking pride in their "natural" hair then good for them. But don't taint those hashtags!

this is completely unrelated but I just wanted to tell you that you are absolutely gorgeous!!

 

[girlonfire]

When she can predict what horrifying event occurs when walking down the boardwalk on a date with your fly press and curl blowing in the wind, 10 blocks away from your automobile when you feel it -- a single fat juicy raindrop. What happens next?

If she answers , maybe we should welcome her.

If she thinks you just smooth back it into a magic bun, she should K.I.M.

What's K.I.M.?

 

[girlonfire]

If she know what the phrase, "Hold your ear, baby..." refers to maybe we should welcome her.

If the three letters R I O make her hair curl back into the scalp to protect itself, she'll be a great fit I think!

Lastly, the clack clack clack of the curling iron hot off the stove. If she can correctly identify that sound in conjunction with the accompanying sizzle of grease DING DING DING! We have a new member of the natural hair community!!

I got the other two but what's the R i o thing?

 

[girlonfire]

wait the girl who started the controversy was water lily!?! She seemed so amicable. I liked watching her. this makes me so upset.

 

[girlonfire]

Subscribe, It's a reference to a spiritual, iirc. God would be the one saying it, not slave masters and such.

Whew had me worried for a split second. I caught the reference the first time i read it though!

 

[girlonfire]

I don't really see a problem with it as long as they respect us. Aren't there even some latina woman in the natural community? Some white woman have kids with hair similar to ours and I don't see anything wrong with them seeking advice or whatever, again as long as they are respectful.

I have just always found it funny that every time there is an event or cause for black or non-white races, white people ALWAYS seem to find their way in there or give there 2 cent. It almost never fails.

Non black latinas?

 

[girlonfire]

^^^@ the bolded
That's that coon mentality, quick to defend the massa/misses and throw ya own under a bus for trinkets. We got too many wanting to look like "the good blacks" and not one of those other kinda blacks.

ETA: Black folks will give their eyeteeth for some acceptance from other groups that don't care anything for their advancement

Damn. This was harsh. It's true though. I appreciate how blunt you made that.

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

What's K.I.M.?

Keep it moving

 

[girlonfire]

Calling each other "New Blacks" and coons and whatever other names does not help the issue. There are blacks who have differing opinions on issues that are not sellouts, coons, racs, new blacks, or whatever else.

Why is it that black people are the only ones that are not allowed to have individual viewpoints? We don't all have to think alike about an issue, geesh.

Further, I have noticed that it seems like only successful blacks are labeled "new blacks" yet it is supposed to be an insult.

Pharrell Williams is the only black person that I have heard of refer to himself as a new black, so he can rightfully be labeled as such. But now, any successful black person who expresses a differing view on race relations is labeled a "new black" as if it is an insult, yet these people are surviving, thriving, and doing a lot for the black community. Are all blacks supposed to want to be in the #struggle 24/hours a day, seven days a week?

You are talking about recognizing our own power and that is what Pharrell was talking about as well.

what exactly is Pharrell doing for the black community? if you are mentioning Ferrell specifically do you mean his YouTube channel?

 

[Honey Bee]

Solitude, I also asked you to stay focused. I'll repeat my request. You're filling what was supposed to be an empowering thread with some tit-for-tat nonsense. Let it go or take it to pm. #nothereforit

 

[Froreal3]

I know that some of them wear wigs and weaves because I have been around here since 2008. I don't know how every person wears their hair, obviously. I'm not sure why that's hard to understand .

Any person who does chemically NOT alter his or her natural hair is natural. Simple. CurlyNikki has a little space on the internet where she has chosen to include them. You can start your own space and you can choose not to. Also simple.

I already explained the weave reference. You can go back and reread my posts if you are actually interested.

Solitude, but can you agree that "natural" means something different for black women? For us it is related to texture (although some people try to change it up to mean color too...personally I've never subscribed to that) and has been that way for a very long time.

I am thinking you are suggesting that because the general word "natural" encompasses different meanings for different groups (for us it means no perm and for others it typically means no color), we should all stand together under the general term regardless of the context. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that point.

Also going or being "natural" has been in existence for as long as black people have been chemically straightening their hair. Therefore regardless of when this "healthy hair movement" on these forums began, we had always referred to "natural" in this context.

 

[charmtreese]

You can do as you feel. The tone of my post in this and any other thread has not changed. Others feel the same as I do, but they will not speak out for fear of being e-bullied. My reference to the old days was to illustrate the point that the division in race and hair texture did not exist when I joined. Even when there were debates about relaxed v. natural, at the end of the day the focus was on healthy hair, and it was generally referred to as a "healthy hair movement" not a "natural hair movement." I find it interesting that you mentioned shade, but did not reference the poster that said I lack logic and common sense. That's LHCF for ya .

I joined a year before you, and race division is nothing new here. If race division was not a concern this forum would never have been created.

Personally, I would prefer if white women were not apart of the"Natural hair Movement". I don't care how curly their hair is or how frizzy it can become in the rain, their Journey is not ours and ours is not theirs. All throughout school my hair and I were different, together we stood out and I was questioned, teased and made to feel ugly and less than. I know my story is not the story of every black girl, but as a collective our stories are more similar then not, and as a collective our hair is more similar.

The "Natural Hair Movement" is a movement to showcase the black women's pride, beauty, and diversity in their hair. It should not be infiltrated by others just because they discovered a way to combat triangle hair or frizz.

In a sea of white girls with hair types ranging from 1-3b, I was the only one with 4b hair and not one of them could relate to my hair struggles. I remember this particular day like it was yesterday..... all the girls lined up to have their hair tidied up and the teacher with her tiny little blue comb looked right at me and then took the next girl.

 

[topnotch1010]

Personally, I would prefer if white women were not apart of the"Natural hair Movement". I don't care how curly their hair is or how frizzy it can become in the rain, their Journey is not ours and ours is not theirs. All throughout school my hair and I were different, together we stood out and I was questioned, teased and made to feel ugly and less than. I know my story is not the story of every black girl, but as a collective our stories are more similar then not, and as a collective our hair is more similar.

The "Natural Hair Movement" is a movement to showcase the black women's pride, beauty, and diversity in their hair. It should not be infiltrated by others just because they discovered a way to combat triangle hair or frizz.

In a sea of white girls with hair types ranging from 1-3b, I was the only one with 4b hair and not one of them could relate to my hair struggles. I remember this particular day like it was yesterday..... all the girls lined up to have their hair tidied up and the teacher with her tiny little blue comb looked right at me and then took the next girl.

I can't be bothered to read all of the other posts, but this is the long and short of it. Their problems are not ours and our problems are not theirs. Can we just have something of our own for once?! Is that really too much to ask for?!

 

[SuchaLady]

Look what I found on Instagram y'all

 

[Saludable84]

Look what I found on Instagram y'all

Black is the new cool!

 

[Honey Bee]

Look what I found on Instagram y'all

Her hair, though...

 

[CaraWalker]

Didn't even bother reading any of it. Hope you are getting paid. Hope you are not wasting your time for free.

pretty sure aint nobody wasting their time reading that boolsheet so that was a lot of wasted keystrokes scrolled right on by like

 

[CaraWalker]

She said Jewish women wear wigs not weaves. And the Jewish women you know must not be married or religious. Because once they are married that wig goes on and doesn't come off ever in public.

i didnt know that! i was wondering why jewish women wore wigs! this girl was younger than me and had a wig on, im like, does she have cancer or something? whats going on there? so thats a thing? huh. learn something new everyday.

i wish i cared about my post count. please conjoin my double posts

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

i didnt know that! i was wondering why jewish women wore wigs! this girl was younger than me and had a wig on, im like, does she have cancer or something? whats going on there? so thats a thing? huh. learn something new everyday.

i wish i cared about my post count. please conjoin my double posts

Most of the Jewish married women I know just cover their hair but a love of them wear wigs as an alternative

 

[GoldenRule]

I got the other two but what's the R i o thing?

RIO was a "relaxer alternative" introduced in the early 90s. It was touted by Debbie Allen. SCORES of women bought it and it basically left some women permanently bald. I purchased it but by the time I scraped the money together, they'd been outed and I never received the product (or the money) THANK GOD!!

 

[LadyRaider]

In a sea of white girls with hair types ranging from 1-3b, I was the only one with 4b hair and not one of them could relate to my hair struggles. I remember this particular day like it was yesterday..... all the girls lined up to have their hair tidied up and the teacher with her tiny little blue comb looked right at me and then took the next girl.

Hah. My 4th grade picture is a mess. I must have decided to take my hair down from the two braids I wore through high school (roll eyes) and the teacher thinking she'd be helpful, tried to rebraid it. And that on top of the photographer telling me to "look sexy" made that picture just a mess. I wish I had it to post it.

 

[charmtreese]

Hah. My 4th grade picture is a mess. I must have decided to take my hair down from the two braids I wore through high school (roll eyes) and the teacher thinking she'd be helpful, tried to rebraid it. And that on top of the photographer telling me to "look sexy" made that picture just a mess. I wish I had it to post it.

Lol...I'm mad that the photographer told you to look sexy...lol!

 

[Femmefatal1981]

E-bullied? What ever happened to being able to disagree with people and move on.

 

[luckiestdestiny]

Black is the new cool!

No we're always cool just never credited.

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

Hah. My 4th grade picture is a mess. I must have decided to take my hair down from the two braids I wore through high school (roll eyes) and the teacher thinking she'd be helpful, tried to rebraid it. And that on top of the photographer telling me to "look sexy" made that picture just a mess. I wish I had it to post it.

I won't even post pix from school prior to my relaxer days. My poor mother had no idea how to deal with my hair and in a sea of white kids I wad referred to as the grazing bush those pix will never see the light of day as long as I have breath in me lol

 

[Mingus]

...

 

[curlytwirly06]

Hello Everyone, Long time lurker, first time poster here. This whole hullabaloo has actually brought me out of the woodwork to finally bite the bullet and subscribe. So regarding the original question – how do I feel? I feel frustrated and annoyed at the amount of disrespect being leveled at this community. While any number of people can claim to have “natural” hair based on the hair that grows out of their heads, the “natural hair movement,” as it were, was started by and for black women for all the reasons that have already been stated numerous times throughout this thread. I have no problem with exchanging ideas and/or products with other people. However, people who are not part of this community, and who don’t share in the overall experiences/hardships of black women with regard to hair and general identity issues, calling themselves #teamnatural is extremely misplaced and disrespectful. At this point for me, I’m starting to move past how I feel about it and am starting to move into what I plan on doing about it. I can’t control what other people say about themselves. I can’t stop a white woman from claiming some sort of “natural hair journey” for herself, even though that’s language that clearly originated from this community. However, we are currently at a moment of time in which this has become a line in the sand for me. In my mind, willfully using language and attempting to appropriate an identity which was not created for you is a way of disregarding and disrespecting my unique experience as a black woman. In effect, you’re telling me that me and my experiences don’t matter and are not deserving of respect. Well, I’m not willing to allow myself to be disrespected in that or any other way. So as far as I’m concerned, I plan on disregarding the opinions and/or the very existence of people who disregard me. I’m not willing to give such people any of my time or energy whether that be online or in my day to day life. I’m fully prepared to lose friends and/or acquaintances over this. I’m done trying to educate people about why they should respect my experience, nay my very existence, as a black woman in this society. If you’re not up to speed on the basics of human decency and respect at this point, then I don’t want you anywhere near me. There seem to be a lot of white women who have been so wrapped up in their little privilege bubble that they really don’t have the basics down, which means that there are a lot of them who will simply not make it past my filter. Unfortunately, there also seem to be more than a few black women and other woc who want to act as their apologists. They won’t make it past my filter either. Obviously people are entitled to their opinions, and I’m not going to call people out of their name just because they may have an opinion that is different from mine, but I’m also not willing to waste time debating with people who would support and facilitate those perpetuating the aforementioned disrespectful behaviors. So how is this manifesting itself so far? Well as far as social media is concerned, my index finger has yet to cool off due to how much I’ve had to hit the ignore button. I’m just steadily erasing people from my online consciousness. I sometimes frequent Tumblr, and the #natural-hair and #team-natural tags are rife with white women trying to assert their presence there. I swear at this rate that I will have ignored half of the white women on Tumblr before this is over. Same thing with Twitter. I don’t have an Instagram account, but I would be doing the same there if I did. I had been to the CN website a few times, not a subscriber or anything, but I have gotten rid of the bookmark that I had to her website, and I’ve actively avoided clicking on any articles from her site. I’m saddened that MC (YouTuber) got involved in this. I don’t follow many natural hair YouTubers, but I did like some of her videos. I’m praying that Naptural85 stays out of the fray, because I am subbed to her, and it would kind of break my heart to unsub from her channel. All of this turning my back on people with a differing opinion may seem extreme, but as I said, I’m not willing to support people who are insistent through their words or their actions on moving the “natural hair movement” in a direction that is clearly detrimental to black women. There will be no click, sub or purchasing support from me for any bloggers, vloggers or product manufacturers who do so. As far as how this is manifesting IRL, online communities move a lot faster than “real world” ones. This particular issue is not one that I’ve had to address yet with anyone that I know; although, I’m sure that the issue will rear its ugly head at some point. As already stated, I’m willing go to whatever extreme that I deem necessary to protect what I consider to be in the best interest of the natural hair community specifically and black women and girls in general. Just to end this post on an up note, there are, thankfully, some white women out there who do get it. Here’s a link to a very different kind of Q&A from a white curly reader on BGLH (Black Girl Long Hair): article I, for one, am more than ready and willing to continue sharing information cross-culturally with women such as Ali in this article who truly understand and respect the need for black women to have spaces unique to us and our experiences.

This response was fire. I think I felt the spirit just reading this.

 

[Mingus]

...

 

[Neomorph]

I don't think there is a problem with non-black women learning about how we care for our hair. Knowledge can give way to understanding and possibly less discrimination. But to try to say "Yeah I'm #teamnatural" or "My hair is kinky/nappy too" (this has been said) is ridiculous and downright insulting. Our hair is unique to those of African descent (full-blooded or mixed) and we should be allowed to have a space to talk about hair care and other things that affect us as a people. Other ethnicities do it so why can't we?

The analogy I would like to use is Native Americans and pow-wows. Sure I can go visit an open-to-the-public pow-wow. I can appreciate the culture and even ask a few questions. But should I slap a headdress and some moccasins on and jump into the middle of the circle and start dancing (not like I can dance anyways)? H*** NO!

 

[naturalb2uty]

Saw this on tumblr
Kathleen Cleaver (Why we wear our hair like this) - 1968
http://youtu.be/VwLpoy0nfng