It's all about why I shaved all my hair off: Short Hair Don't Care
June 01, 2017
About a month ago, I made a big decision. I decided to shave my hair off.
Anyone who knows me knows I like my hurrrr. The Brazilian and Peruvian locks are never too far and I love my pieces. For many years however, my natural hair has been suffering. The more I wore extensions, the more it ruined my hair. The more my hair was ruined, the more I had to wear extensions. It became a vicious circle.
I am someone that is a bit of a control freak and it got to a point where my hair was controlling me. And so, I made the decision. I was going to shave everything off, start again and grow my hair back to a healthy state. My plan was to wear wigs and look after my hair underneath properly. This was the practical, functional part of the story.
Hairstyle before and after
But then I decided to take a brave step and wear my hair as it is. I had to admit to
myself that hair extensions was my armour. My Peruvian weaves played a huge part to make me
feel prettier and more feminine. This of course goes the same for most women
but as a black woman, I started to feel uncomfortable with being so dependent
on extensions. Especially as my natural hair was getting no love or attention.
So far, the change has been a journey. I can’t say I love it every
day, I can’t say I’m owning it, I can’t say I’m confident and I can’t even say prefer
it. However, though I feel bare (especially when I’m not
wearing makeup), I'm finding the experience liberating. I get up and go, I'm spending less money and it feels great not
to depend on hair straighteners or curling irons.
Personally, my thing is about choice. I love the natural
hair movement, I love that black women are being better represented in the
media with natural hair styles and I love that young black girls are rocking afros
and natural styles with confidence. But my movement is about being able to wear
my hair as I choose. I’m mentioning this because I am getting a mixed reaction about my new look; from friends, family and as a single woman from guys. Don’t get me wrong a lot of it has been positive and supportive, but some have been negative too.
A shoot I did soon after I shaved hair off to mark the moment
It’s interesting how perception of black women changes based on how they wear their hair. Though there is a small positive change, there is still bias against natural hairstyles, especially in the workplace. If we wear weaves/wigs, there's a perception of us being superficial, high maintenance and unconscious. If we shave off our hair or wear it short, we're feminists or lesbians. I’m not saying this is the only opinion and I am generalising, but based on my experience, this is a lot of the perception.
I want the choice to wear my hair how I want without being judged but unfortunately, this is unlikely. I am the same person with same views and values whether I wear a wig, weave, have braids or chop all my hair off. Some people have hair styles to make statements but I don’t. As a young black woman into fashion,beauty and evolving styles, I want the freedom to do what I want with my hair without being judged... by anyone.
#LetMeBeMe
0 comments