A bizarre debate is brewing over what ‘natural’ hair actually is and whether hair enhancements like wigs, weaves, and extensions play a misleading role in how we define beauty these days. I recall my early schooling days, here in Africa back at my place of origin and birth. The issue of hair at school was a serious one even back then, one which could earn you a few good lashes topped with a very public and painful combing session in front of your classmates.
Luckily, I have never experienced this but what fun it was to watch because nothing beat seeing the class bully’s date with the metal school made afrocomb. Nothing was more fulfilling than seeing that followed by two lanes of warm tears from their eyes. The icing on the cake was seeing their legs go up each time the comb sliced through their kinky hair leaving white straight lines on their foreheads! I always looked forward to those episodes and wondered whether teachers still do that. It is only now I am learning that what happened back then may amount to ‘racial discrimination’ that the act may in fact be against the ‘African agenda’. There is a school of thought that argues that black women should embrace this political element and reject European standards of beauty. Furthermore, proponents of this line of reasoning argue that the constant refrain of the current natural hair movement is self-acceptance, freedom, health, and spiritual growth. Up until now I thought we were done with most of these backward dos and don’ts. For lack of a better word, this debate about hair is boring and primitive. It is one thing to preserve ones culture and identity and what have you but to use hair, just a waste of brain cells.
