Why do we have to be so concerned with our hair!? As a black woman this is a symbol of my power and at times my weakness. I’ve dealt with hair confidence ever since I was allowed to choose my own hair styles in junior high. When my mom still controlled the schedule of perms but I could get braids and no longer ponytails or sit between her legs enduring the pain of what seemed like hundreds of hair pulling cornrows. This was to my mom’s convenience because it meant that for about two weeks she didn’t have to invoke pain on me or spend time yelling at me to sit still.
I only bring this subject up because of a recent incident in a community college class. This is relevant because the class only consist of about twelve students. My hair has been natural (no chemicals) for eight years. I’m still balancing the hair confidence thing. Anyway, I was feeling very Angela Davis with my curly afro….not the blow out though. Straightened my hair is probably to the bottom of my shoulder blade so my curly afro had some depth. I walked into my class as the only minority female, which I am use to in most environments. I could literally see the shock or maybe amazement in people’s eyes. I walked in carrying my black pride on my shoulders and sat down to learn some physics. The professor did a demonstration with a mirror that depending on the distance inverted or enlarged the image. I honestly could feel my stomach tightening as it was my turn to view my distorted image. To ease the tension I said “my hairs looks even bigger” and everyone laughed a relaxing mutual laugh. Then the professor said “I don’t think that is possible”. Now you are probably thinking what is the big deal and honestly my professor is a pleasant and approachable guy. For some reason this made me feel as small as an ant carrying the load of my hair.
This makes me concerned with re-entering the workforce and in which ways will I have to “tame” my hair to fit into work place standards of professionalism. I had locs (not dreadlocks) for 6 years which were the perfect balance. Represented my pride in my blackness and natural hair but was very manageable. After some hormonal changes (babies affect everything), I had to comb my locs out with intentions to regrow them after the baby making years. What am I going to do now? Attending school full time I can explore my hairs possibilities but will the free spirit be accepted when I transition. This was a big deal when I was in the military but thankfully no one could figure out what I was attempting to do with my hair so they didn’t question whether my new baby locs were out of regs.
Where is Angela Davis when I need her to give me a confidence boost?
Unruly Bodies 
Your post reminds me of this youtube series called “The Unwritten Rules”, starring actress Aasha Davis. It’s basically about the stereotypes of working in the work field as a minority black woman. It’s a comedy and yet touches on the truth of these issues. I think you would really like it. As a female black woman in the work field myself, I do feel the pressure to put on some sort of façade to be taken seriously, which at times makes me feel like I should hide my “blackness”. But as long as you a professional and true to who you are, Angela Davis will be proud.
Thanks for letting me know about this series. Its very rateable, I’ve watched watched a view episodes. I feel the same way as she did in the WHACK episode…..too black for some people and not black enough for others. The funny thing is I’ve been questioned about eating salmon, spinach, salads and asparagus.
This post really sticks out to me because I went through the same black girl childhood hair routine with my mom. I always say I am going to start rocking my natural hair again, to the point I put a date when I would start. I currently wear weaves all the time and have since my junior year homecoming. The reason I put a date to it is because I feel as though it is easier to wear tracks than always styling my natural hair . I also look for the confidence boost to do it. Which I have always found crazy that I have to find confidence to do so and tells me how society really does affect us.
A lot of black women in my family talk about the same exact struggles and experiences that you are currently going through. It’s very a difficult thing not only for black women but for women in general. We live in a society where women are constantly being told how they should look, what they should wear and how they wear their hair. I think our culture is to blame because we value women with straight hair than women who have curly or natural hair. Just like you said this is very prevalent in the workforce as well as outside of the workforce. I remember reading an article about how the military was restricting black hairstyles. This caused a lot of backlash and female soldiers as well as black politicians fought these restrictions. I was happy to read that Chuck Hagel denounced these restrictions and that all military branches would not enforce these very racist hairstyle restrictions.
Thank you for the update. When I decided to start locs it was 2006 while in the Air Force. My friends and I sent letters to our congress men to voice our concerns. Females were actually being told they had the choice to change thier hair or get out of the Air Force…..wow.