The Evolution of Natural Hair | Lawrencia Amfo-Asiedu

Growing up as a young Black girl, I constantly saw images of beautiful girls with long, straight hair. The misconception was in order to have desirable hair, it had to be bone straight and long. The indoctrination of believing straight hair was far better and signified beauty. From TV programmes, adverts and in the school playground ‘being different’ was rather complex. Beauty was categorised as having a lighter skin tone and straighter hair was the ideal. I rarely saw images of natural hair represented in the media, yearning for straight hair I vividly remember putting t-shirts on my head and swinging it from side to side pretending I had long beautiful hair such as Disney characters we adored like Rapunzel or Jasmine from Aladdin. As hilarious as it sounds, it is horrifying to think now why I believed or was made to believe my own hair was not seen as worthy or pretty. It was more than hair, this was me questioning my identity as a child in a world where your looks are heavily scrutinized. It was the year of 1996 when Spice girls hit the music scene with their infectious song ‘wanabe’. Finally, there was a Brown girl with a full head of glorious curls that was sometimes teased out in an Afro. Better known as Mel B (Scary Spice) finally a racially ambiguous young woman who was neither Black or White however possessed ‘Black hair’ unlike her other female counterparts in the girl band. Someone we could claim and represented ‘us’.

My own hair journey has been a rather interesting one, I cannot remember when exactly my hair was relaxed but I do believe it was at a tender age. An age where I could not decide for myself, the relaxer would irritate my scalp and leave me with burns however I adored the outcome. The thought of finally having straight hair like the girls in the school playground so I could swing my shoulder length hair from side to side and it moved when the wind blew. Growing up, I had a full head of thick hair however I felt my mother did not really know how to maintain it and felt an alternative style would be much easier and less time consuming than dealing with my natural hair. It was perceived as a hassle, getting a relaxer was an easier option. At the time, the popular TV show ‘Sister Sister” which featured the identical twins Tia and Tamera, the mixed-race twins had such divine, luscious Jet-Black curls then suddenly a few episodes later they had long straight hair. I remember my mum enthusiastically telling me once ‘when you relax your hair it will be like sister sister’. Again, reinforcing that straighter longer hair was deemed as prettier.

Fast forward to a number of years later, a majority of Black and Mixed race women have transitioned back to natural hair or have done the big chop. Some have called it a ‘movement’, relaxer sales were slowly declining and women became tired of the ‘creamy crack’. The false ideology of Eurocentric features that was once seen as attractive for so long was becoming a distant memory. More women are shifting from relaxed tresses to their natural hair which was once considered as ‘unruly or nappy’. I personally decided to transition in 2016 and big chopped last year, I have not looked back since. Currently enjoying every inch of my fro and every kink and curl. To be frank I wish I had transitioned a long time ago.

We are living in a time of transformation and major discovery with a plethora of products catering for Black and Mixed race women. Youtubers catering for natural hair and inspiring women to go natural. Products such as Cantu, Shea Moisture, Aunty Jackie’s and a million others have made it easier for women of colour, gone are the days were being natural was not always pleasant with our mothers struggling to define our hair types and using combs to ferociously part our hair in sections just to achieve the desired style.

With celebrities opting to display their natural hair such as Michelle Obama, Gabrielle Union and Lupita N’yongo. Recently, I have come across a number of billboard advertisements with women with natural hair to think this was non-existent only ten years ago. As the rest of the world is starting to pay attention to natural hair and come to terms with it, I spoke to six different women to discuss their natural hair journey and the evolution of natural hair over the years.
Enjoy!