Written By: Nicole Parker-Jones—Women in sub-saharan Africa keep their hair short ... really short, in the same vain as a "buzz cut." As a result, their hair is neat, practical, and consumes less of their efforts. Their short hairstyles certainly don't make these women any less beautiful (if anything women with especially short hair have an organic beauty precisely because we see them for what they truly are). It seems as though in Western culture, the opposite is true: black women are more consumed than ever with their hair, and there is nothing more pressing on black women's minds than hair—whether it is short (not really short), relaxed, locked, natural, straight, curly, braided, dyed, or dare I say, weaved (gasp), hair has us preoccupied. We spend hundreds of dollars every year on our hair even in the face of serious financial constraints. We forgo exercise to keep our hair—down to its very "edges"—looking pristine. And we sacrifice considerable time around our visits to the hair salon. Sometimes I even schedule important events around the times when my hairdresser can see me; when I had to travel outside of the country for the first time, I kept my vacation at two weeks to the day to ensure that I would not miss my standing bi-monthly hair appointment. This incident got me thinking: why is our livelihood consumed this much by hair when there are so many other more important things in our lives to care for (like our wealth, our health, and our time)?
Perhaps it is time that we take the short cut like so many African women living in other parts of the world do, and simply stop obsessing over hair.
(Photo Credits: iStockPhoto/Stacey-Newman) (Model Used Solely For Illustrative Purposes)
