-L.G.J.

Natural vs Permed hair. Stop the hate!

Having natural hair for over four years now, I can say that I’m an advocate for it. But lately I’ve been seeing a lot of negative viewpoints on permed hair from people who have natural hair. These  ”black power”, “my natural hair is better than permed hair” and “because you perm your hair you’ll falling into the white man’s trap” kind of viewpoints.

First let’s start of with “black power.” All of this is unnesscary. The first perm was invented by a black female who wanted to easily manage her hair. Curly and kinky hair can be extremely frustrating to work with if you don’t know how to take care of your hair, and if flat irons and hot combs weren’t invented yet…perms seem like a great solution. Also, I’m pretty sure that majority of people who have perms don’t do it so they can have European hair. That’s like saying because I flat iron my hair, that I do not like my African-American culture and that I’m trying to look “white.” No. I flat iron my hair because every once in a while it is nice to be able to put it in a pony tail. Especially if I have an event to go to, I can style and manage flat ironed hair better than kinky hair.

“Natural hair is better than permed hair.” Your hair can be long, healthy, and permed IF you take care of it. Permed haired needs special maintenance and upkeep. This is why there are a lot of people with permed hair who have bald spots, scabs, and their hair never grows. They don’t have the funds or experience to maintain the perm. I’ve seen girls who have beautiful, flowing, healthy permed hair that looks absolutely gorgeous. You know why? Because their mothers are licensed hair stylists, and they have taught their daughters how to upkeep their hair.

Not all natural hair is healthy hair. If you’re constantly putting weave and tight braids in your hair, it’s going to break off and not be healthy. It’s also funny how people say they’ve been natural for 10 years and their hair hasn’t gotten past their chin yet. Maybe they cut it often and like it short. No sure, but something’s fishy.

I had to vent, I’m tired of hearing people talk down about permed hair. Especially the black power messages. That just cracks me up.