The issue of hair has always been talked about in the black community. Black women have been worrying about their hair since childhood. We make hair such a big part of our lives that it’s understandable how we deem it as part of our culture. However, hair has became so important that it might just be dividing us. The importance of hair has made black women victims and influencers of hairism.

Black women have always been subjected to hairism, we just never had a name for it. Hairism is the belief that one hair type is superior than another and can sometimes be affiliated with discrimination against a person because of their hair style and type. A example of hairism is believing that a black woman who chooses to wear her hair naturally is unprofessional or unattractive. While, another black woman who chooses to straighten or relax her hair is more approachable and accepted. Some may think that hairism is an absurd, over dramatic black issue but it’s not, it’s real and needs to be talked about.

For years black women would go through extremes for their hair to be deemed “appropriate”. Relaxing our hair by using toxic chemicals, damaging our hair repeatedly with heat just fix into this image of European beauty. Now there’s nothing wrong with straightening your hair but it shouldn’t be because you see your natural hair as “nappy” or “wild” . We as black women should wear our hair the way we choose and should never be pressured into looking a certain way. Just because our hair isn’t normalized, that doesn’t make it ugly.

Hairism also happens because of the false claims of inferior and superior hair types. When you look at movies and TV shows you rarely see a dark skinned girl with a 4c curl pattern hair. You always see girls with long curly 3c pattern hair and never short afros’. Natural hair isn’t only pretty with a certain type of hair. No hair is better than any other. To get a better feel of here a two videos.

The first describes what hairisim is in a more understandable matter.

defining hairism and colorism by  Careese Gordon

The second shows how hairism is actually affecting black women and the natural hair movement.

Tori Chanel talks hairism and discrimination in the natural hair movement from her YouTube channel.

Hairism is topic a we should be openly talking about. We need to stop allowing it to be swept under the rug as it has always been. We as black women are beautiful and come is many different forms, are hair is just an example of that. Our hair is beautiful and it should be treated with respect.