Natural Hair Horror Stories

September 30, 2014

I know before I even begin to write this that many of us can relate to each other when it comes to people wanting to touch our beautiful natural hair. As we walk with our afros piled high on our heads or our twist-outs cascading around our shoulders, it is understandable that many people will be curious about our newfound confidence in wearing our natural hair. Here are a few of my experiences with other people’s curiosity about my natural.

Coworker Confusion

There was the time I spent 2 hours in a car driving with some co-workers. One of my colleagues who has a bi-racial daughter began asking me for hair tips and comparing my hair texture to her daughters. She described mine as looking course, specifically she said, “It’s like cotton.” Seriously, that really happened! She then decided she wanted to see what my hair felt like and reached right for my twist-out without even asking first! To her surprise, my hair was actually soft, and did notfeel like a cotton ball!

Stranger Danger!

I remember the first time I wore an afro after going natural 3 years ago. It was summer time so I thought, ‘why fight the humidity, I’ll just let my hair get BIG!’ It was a glorious afro and went perfectly with my “Love Your Roots” t-shirt I just purchased. I left the house that day on my way to a family cookout, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I wasn’t in the store for 5 minutes before a white man came right up to me and saidat the top of his lungs, “Oh, I love your hair, sista!” while he fluffed my afro! I was shocked and confused and wanted to hide under a rock as everyone in the store looked over at me while this man pet me like an animal.

Kids Say the Funniest Things!

A few months ago a funnier than tragic incident happened. It happened after a church service. The whole service, my little cousin who was sitting next to me, kept looking at me funny. Finally, when service ended she came up to me and said, “Why don’t you straighten your hair? I think it would look better that way,” she says this while gently rolling one of my twists between her fingers with a grossed out look on her face. Keep in mind that my hair was really cute that day; I had a perfect twist-out. So, I replied, “Well, I like it this way. Don’t you think it’s pretty?” she comes back with, “Well, no. You should ask my mom how she does her hair, HER HAIR is pretty!” then she just walked away. I guess she set me straight!

These are just three stories (among many others) that come to mind! I am trying to take it all in stride and laugh about it instead of staying stuck in a state of shock and amazement. Each day gets better and I am trying to see it as people admiring my confidence. In some cases,however, it reminds me of how far we still need to comein understanding natural hair. Either way, I am enjoying all the experiences, good and bad, that come with being my true natural self.

What are your hair touching horror stories?

Contributor, Jane Lorraine, created Honoring Our HAIRitage as a platform to tell our own story, re-frame the negative messages about natural hair, and spread a more positive view of African American beauty by starting with understanding our history.