I love-love-loved this post and this is something that has been on my mind, also, as of late — mostly because I kept seeing women on TikTok talk about how their natural hair was "too difficult" to style and that naturals need to stop "shaming" them. For me, I think desirability politics have a lot to do with the idea that we even have to wear our natural hair in a *certain* style (and ofc that ties entirely into the idea that type 4 hair is not beautiful in its actual natural state).
Like what you were saying about manipulation, the reality is that natural hair IS so easy once you make peace with what you've been blessed with. For instance, a wash-and-go or 6-section twist-out literally takes a half-hour to 45 minutes once a week and can last for that entire week, as long as I rock my bonnet in the PM. I know because I have 4b hair and both easy styles work great for me, shrinkage and all.
Relatedly, I remember seeing another TikTok where this young woman was saying she struggled to feel sexy in her natural hair, and in the comments, a lot of women were agreeing with her, saying they feel much hotter in a straight or wavy weave... and stuff like that breaks my heart. Because, again, I feel like women aren't really putting in the critical-thinking work — they aren't asking themselves *why* they feel that way. Shit ain't normal, y'all! I really want our community to free itself from desirability politics and the blatant eurocentrism they're centered on.
In the words of Forever FLOTUS Michelle Obama, "hey queen, girl you have done it again!" As a proud 4C natural, I thank you for this piece.
I love-love-loved this post and this is something that has been on my mind, also, as of late — mostly because I kept seeing women on TikTok talk about how their natural hair was "too difficult" to style and that naturals need to stop "shaming" them. For me, I think desirability politics have a lot to do with the idea that we even have to wear our natural hair in a *certain* style (and ofc that ties entirely into the idea that type 4 hair is not beautiful in its actual natural state).
Like what you were saying about manipulation, the reality is that natural hair IS so easy once you make peace with what you've been blessed with. For instance, a wash-and-go or 6-section twist-out literally takes a half-hour to 45 minutes once a week and can last for that entire week, as long as I rock my bonnet in the PM. I know because I have 4b hair and both easy styles work great for me, shrinkage and all.
Relatedly, I remember seeing another TikTok where this young woman was saying she struggled to feel sexy in her natural hair, and in the comments, a lot of women were agreeing with her, saying they feel much hotter in a straight or wavy weave... and stuff like that breaks my heart. Because, again, I feel like women aren't really putting in the critical-thinking work — they aren't asking themselves *why* they feel that way. Shit ain't normal, y'all! I really want our community to free itself from desirability politics and the blatant eurocentrism they're centered on.
Anyways, keep doing what you're doing. xx