Hi Meltingpot Readers,
So, the picture you see there is me in Milwaukee over the Thanksgiving holiday. I did a reading at Boswell Books and for the occasion decided to straighten my hair. All that means is that I sat in a stylist's chair for three hours while he blow dried the kinks and curls out of my hair, then flat ironed and hot combed them into the big fat curls you see in the picture. It was fun to get all gussied up for the reading, but there were some unintended consequences to me going 'straight.'
My boys L-O-V-E my hair. They want to touch it and comb it and style it for me. Now mind you, my hair isn't bone straight. It's just kind of soft and fluffy. In fact, my older son says it feels like cotton candy. Isn't that cute? Now the hair revolutionary in me at first kind of balked at how much my little manchildren just seemed to instinctively adore my hair when it's straightened as opposed to my usual kinky 'fro. They've never compared the two and sometimes my older son says he wants an Afro as big as mine, but when I say my boys 'adore' my hair straightened, I mean I'm getting googly eyes from the two of them.
But then I had another thought. I'm teaching my little manchildren that Black hair in its natural state, is versatile and beautiful. Hopefully it will be a lesson they internalize as they mature and start assessing beauty in young girls and women. Isn't that the proper way to take this lesson? Do you agree or disagree? Of course some might say I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, in which case, I should probably take a moment to listen to this song by the divine Ms. India Arie.
And in completely unrelated news, if you'd like to hear about my latest writing journey check out this great new website called Girlfriends Book Club. My post is up today and there's a chance to win an autographed copy of Substitute Me. It's also just a great site to check out for book suggestions and the writer's life.
I hope everyone is staying sane as the holiday season heats up.
Peace!
6 comments:
That's cute...fluffy hair. Though when raising my children I rarely gave as much attention to outward appearances as I did the 'inner' stuff, I remember one day my daughter describing her hair as fluffy… in comparison to one of her black friends who had naturally straight hair. I thought it was funny because I never talked about hair texture with her and was so sure she strummed up that description on her own. Just too cute.
Thanks for making smile.
Great post - and you definitely have a "teachable moment" there with your little men:-)
L-O-V-E the song/video. First time hearing it, so thanks for sharing.
RYCJ
I'm glad I could make you smile!
JBH,
Yes exactly. A teachable moment and that's always a good thing.
I love your hair and that song!! I saw India in concert a few summers ago, and fell in love with her all over again!
PS- As a white girl with super straight hair, I always admire how varied black girls hair can be. I just never know how to say it without sounding mean...... I truly do love it....
"I'm teaching my little manchildren that Black hair in its natural state, is versatile and beautiful."
Kudos to you for doing exactly that. The journey of Going Natural, insofar as my friends and I have experienced it, depends on flipping a switch in your mind that allows you to see beauty in the way your hair grows out of your head. My theory is that it has more to do with self-acceptance and with feeling like you own yourself than it even has to do with what your hair actually looks like, lol. After that switch is flipped, some women are purists about keeping it kinky and some are not, but does that matter as long as she has inner peace about her beauty? I don't think it does matter.
I love "fluffy" and "cotton candy" as a description!
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