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This weekend I purchased the movie Good Hair. Since I have been living in NJ I have become more curious as to what the Black/African American Culture does with their hair. How a weave works? How to wear a wig where do they put all your hair? Doesn’t it get hot under there? How do you get your hair straight and shiny? Many of these questions were answered throughout the movie but I also started asking the Hubs family.
This weekend I purchased the movie Good Hair. Since I have been living in NJ I have become more curious as to what the Black/African American Culture does with their hair. How a weave works? How to wear a wig where do they put all your hair? Doesn’t it get hot under there? How do you get your hair straight and shiny? Many of these questions were answered throughout the movie but I also started asking the Hubs family.
Since having the kiddos I’ve heard nothing but he’s got that black people hair- tight curls- Nappy! She’s got that good hair. You can imagine all the question I had on those statements alone which was another reason to see the movie.
I must say after watching it I had mixed feelings about everything. I thought twice about blogging about it especially after seeing all the twitter controversy . Still I decided to share my thoughts because my kid’s hair has been changing and to be totally honest it’s become very hard to manage.
It wasn’t to long ago either that we gave in and cut off all of little man’s hair but that was months ago and we are now having hair troubles with both little man and little lady.
So let’s jump into my thoughts as a mom’s perspective
First off let me start by saying that the term “good hair” and “nappy” rub me the wrong way. I don’t know if it’s because its used to describe if somethings better or not, to me hair is hair!
Many argue that I as a Latina Mom with long straight hair, don’t understand the struggle it is to have uncontrollable hair. True but i’ve always been comfortable in my skin.
Now here is where it can get a little weird but bare with me i have a point…
I guess you can say the same about being “chubby” You don’t understand that until you are “chubby” Although some may also argue that being “chubby” is something you can change I feel that not always is it a choice and the self esteem problems are much the same. It’s not a choice because for some it’s in their genes to be big boned/ chubby whatever you may want to call it. In my case, I have gone to drastic measures to be a size “16” and still that was considered “chubby” so my point is as a little 3 year old girl stated in the movie, she hates getting her hair relaxed, but she is willing to go thru a painful process every3-4 months to hair the normal looking hair.
Relaxer is a chemical put in the hair to make curly hair go straight almost like a perm. It causes your scalp to burn and in some cases if left on too long it can leave burn scars and cause your hair to never grow back again in those areas.—WHO WOULD DO THIS TO A CHILD?
It really broke my heart to hear her say that it hurt but she had to do it to have pretty hair. I could NEVER ever put myself or my child in such pain to look a certain way.
And then you have what they call that “good INDIAN hair”. It’s ridiculous the price people pay and the movie shows the whole process to get it. 1,200 for a wig, 2,000 for a weave. Hair coming off the head of people who are sacrificing their hair for their God. People being overworked to create these weaves that will sell for much more then are probably getting paid for- they didn’t clarify that part.
I think i would rather have my hair braided and have a weave sowed in. It doesn’t damage your natural hair- well unless someone yanks it out- and you still get that normal hair look.
The movie showed the different trends the companies of products and since Chris Rock was in it you know there had to be some comedy.
Over all I must say it was a good movie. I liked how that had some celebrity input since i love all types of reality stuff.
For now I am sticking to detangler and ouchless elastic bands for little man and little lady.
I have yet to learn to braid. I’m however quickly learning that it is almost a gift to do all those fancy braiding looks.
My hopes are to teach little man and little lady that because their hair is not like everyone Else’s doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. I hope to raise them feeling comfortable in their own skin. Whether they rock a fro, braids, or a bald head their hair will not dictate their happiness.
Here are a couple of blogs I’ve found to deal with kids hair.
Happy Girl Hair is also having a very cute POSTER giveaway that ends 1/9/11
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