The “natural” movement has been sweeping through the African
American “community” and leading women to ditch their relaxers in favor of
their natural, chemical free strands. In my opinion, Internet forums and
websites such as naturallycurly.com and curlynikki.com have functioned as
pseudo-support groups for women considering making the transition from relaxed
to straight. Sites such as these, plus various “youtubers” offer women advice
on how to care for their natural hair including everything from detangling to
deep conditioning.
Although I
have never had a relaxer, I find myself frequenting these natural hair care
sites to learn about how to better care for the hair that I’ve had all my life.
By visiting these sites, I have witnessed a sort of cultural transformation
occurring in the black community. Websites and people on youtube express how
much healthier natural hair is than relaxed and encourage people to break away
from the more European ideal that straight hair is intrinsically more beautiful
and better than kinky or curly hair.
Aside from
encouraging women to adopt different hairstyles, the natural movement has
increased the focus on health and being more conscientious of what we put on or
in our bodies. Women are switching from hair care products containing many
synthetic ingredients with unpronounceable names to ones that contain all
natural and/or organic ingredients. By thinking more about the importance of
good ingredients, it seems the natural progression will be that women make
different decisions about what food they are willing to buy at the grocery
store and try to improve their health overall. It may be a lofty or naïve desire
on my part, but I hope that in the future we will begin to see some of the
health disparities related to high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart problems
declining as African American culture changes. The main caveat here, of course,
is the socioeconomic status of women who spend a lot of money on organic products
and frequent sites such as the ones I have mentioned and whether these women
are the ones most plagued by heart problems.
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