Natural Hair Communities Obsession With Length & Unpacking Discrimination On 4C Hair
Hey ya'll this is a video explaining Texturism that I did for Ericka Hart & Ebony's Black People tell Black History Month
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Hi welcome to maya's world hello y'all. My name is maya. My pronouns are shive, and today i'm gon na be talking about texturism for black history month and i'm so thankful that erica and eb are putting this together, because texturism is something that we really need to talk about before we talk about texturism, i just wan na. Let y'all know i am really sad because i made this video once and it was 20 minutes of me giving my heart my soul, my jokes and the whole thing the audio didn't work, i'm going to show you what i saw. Are you not embarrassed? This is really embarrassing. When i tell you i wanted to the way i cried, you know i'm a cancer, i'm very emotional, i was, i literally had to go out, go for a walk, get a coffee, i cried, and so this is my second time doing this whole work again and I'M really gon na hope that i'm bringing the same energy i brought in the first video. So if i am please, you know, i'm saying just boost me up in the comments. So the first thing that i'm gon na do is we're gon na define what texturism is because a lot of people have the concept or the definition of textures, already [ __ ] up so texturism is the preferential treatment of looser hair, looser curl people. So you know when we talk about definitions of things, i feel like um, it's really important to focus on who that leaves out and who that discriminates again. So if texturism is the preferential treatment of looser hair texture, then it literally means the discrimination of kinkier hair. Textures yeah, so most people come to understand what kind of hair texture they have by using this system coined by someone called andre walker, which tells you that there's like a four different grades of hair, there's one a one b, one c: two, a two b: two C, you get it all the way up to four a four b four c. So four c is by his definition, the kinkiest hair texture and one is the straightest. But let me tell you something i found out about this man, andre walker, who is a white passing person, because even though he coined this term he's texturous as hell, because he literally said i'mma quote you, he said: kinky hair can have limited styling options. That'S the only hair type that i suggest altering for professional relaxing. So i also know that using a system coin by somebody, who's literally textures, as [ __, ] and like white passing - is really problematic, but i think most people kind of know about their hair texture from using the system that he's created. So, for the sake of this video we're going to talk about the system that he did so let me talk about these hair grading system. The 4c is the one that's supposed to be the kinkiest yeah, so that's the one that we should actually put focus the most attention on, because that's the farthest on the hair spectrum. So i have 4c hair and i define my hair as kinky, and i also say my hair is nappy um. If you are not black, you should never ever say that word right and if you you are black, i feel like there are some people who find that way to be really offensive, and i understand why, because that term was used as like a way to degrade. Um people who had nappy hair - i have had to kind of reclaim that word myself, because so much of my life, i always heard people use the word nappy as a way to hurt my feelings and it wasn't until i had to come to terms that there's Nothing wrong with having nappy hair, like that's just a symptom of anti-blackness, that i started to really use that word for myself. So like, for example, i hate when people say my hair is curly or they're, like oh curly, haired girls, because, like my hair, is not curly and if you actually like look at my hair pattern for as much as you can see, i really have like it's. It'S zigged and there's like no curl pattern in the way that we defined that and um my hair, naturally mattes yeah so like i have free form locks, which means that my hair is 4c hair texture and it is so nappy so kinky that it literally clumps Together, my hair is like the nappiest or the kinkiest hair texture that one can have so there's a certain discrimination that happens when you have really really kinky hair, especially depending on what kind of intersections that you have that combine. On top of that, right, like the natural hair movement, i feel like really became big around like 2009-2010, and i feel like what really catapult catapulted that was um. Chris rock's documentary called good hair, which is really problematic in itself, because i feel, like black men shouldn't, really be speaking about the ways in which um black women have to wear their hair and black non-men have to wear their hair because um, especially the way he Did it because i feel like it was like low-key kind of jokey, but prior to like the natural hair movement becoming very big? Most people was perming their their hair and straightening their hair and, like it was skin as unprofessional to have an afro or your natural hair to work right. So the natural hair movement was really pushing to make it normalized to have natural, hair and natural hair styles. Like box braids micro, braids, all them stuff to be really normal in the workplace right, but what they didn't tell you was natural hair movements, natural hair movements also really embedded in white supremacy, as it would be. Yes, like the people who have euro-centric features and eurocentric hair are always gon na be put to the forefront of like the image of natural hair. So when we think about natural hair, what ended up happening with the natural hair movement was that people who have hair textures like zendaya, who have hair textures like amandla. You know i always imagine you're, like i don't know if y'all ever seen the target but target always be putting on these biracial people and the bible should always be having these little ringlet curls. So it was definitely given that that 3c mixed girl, uh assault, assumed hair texture. Yes, so like that became the the image of the natural hair movement. Is these like loose curls and then they started to sell this, and then the capitalism comes into it. Yeah because, like everyone's like, oh we're just going to be selling products so that everyone feels like they have to have their head like this, and they don't have their hair like this, then their hair is unkept. I feel like the darker. You are the nappier. Your hair is the more there's an assumption that you have to assimilate to work even harder, just to be seen as like acceptable. So when it comes to like the 3c uh hair texture becoming the face of the natural hair movement, this is really problematic for a few reasons, because 3c was never not in fashion honey like when we go back to the 60s, like people who had 3c people Who was mixed race? They was always encouraged to have their hair out. They have never been um discriminated against for having that like loose hair texture that hair texture has always been praised in society. You know if you go back to the 70s and look at them. Afro looks a lot of them. Girls are people who have a looser hair texture yeah like a lot of the people in the 80s, who we also see had a looser hair, texture 3c, so 3c hair has always been represented, because that is the image that aspirationally. We think of because it looks like it's farthest away from blackness. So we're going to talk about textures and we're going to talk about anti-blackness and going back to the roots and going to the nappiest hair, the kinkiest hair texture. And we really need to be seeing how those things are are working because with the natural hair movement, natural hair movement is incredibly colorist. It'S incredibly texturous and it's also a feature is features so a lot of times when you do see 4c hair. That is nappy. The person who will be modeling will be light skin yeah. What we are seeing a lot of is 4c people who are fat and dark skin and many other intersections that they have. You know and that's why it's really important for us to have like that. Top down and look for the most marginalized groups like where are the 4c dark skin fat, disabled people making content? That'S what we really need to be checking for. So when the whole natural hair movement happened, um, it often pushed to the forefront people who have looser hair textures, who are more racially ambiguous as being the norm for 4c hair and then a lot of companies that have historically been anti-black. As [ __ ] decided to capitalize on this movement, and they themselves want to then be like. Oh look just buy these products and, like you, will also have good hair, because now good hair does not mean straight anymore. Good hair just now means like a 3c 3b hair texture, and so that's really interesting too, because whenever the natural hair blogs will show someone with 4c hair, which is very rarely especially if they're dark skin, you always have to be checking for dark skin 4c people. Whenever they do want to show it, they always want to show us having to put so much products just to have our hair seen as acceptable, and it's just like. If i come out the womb and my hair is like this, you tell me, i got ta. Add products just to chase something. That'S not me like that's like really [ __, ] up and there's always this expectation within blackness within dark skin within nappy hair that we need to do more, that we are born flawed and we are 100 percent not born flawed. We are born whole and these companies are flawed as [ __ ] and these natural hair gurus that tell you that you need to add all these products to be seen as acceptable assuming okay, you know what i'm saying is a place in hell, for you is A place in hell for people who do that because it's just like why are you praying on very vulnerable people, there's already a lack of representation of people who have nappy hair deep, dark skinned? People who are have to continuously hide their hair because arterial texture isn't being shown. So let me talk about natural hair movement. We really need to be checking for dark skinned, nappy-headed people because they are the ones who are facing the brunt of texturism colorism uh futurism. All these things so and then another thing that we need to talk about. On top of the white supreme euros, white supremacy, eurocentric like idealization that we have is also this concept of length a lot of times. Whenever people want to show 4c hair, they want some people have 4c hair. That'S very long. I don't like this long concept is really embedded into the ways that we think about gender as well, because we feel like womanhood femininity should be long yeah so like. If you don't have long hair, i feel like they don't want to show you within 4c and 4c hair like we need to also be checking for people who have short nappy hair because, like that is okay like and you know, whatever people say like how long Is your hair? We always are like trying to measure it out like on length and people would be like? Oh, my hair is nappy, but when i stretch it out it's this long, but it's like. Why are we always thinking about having to stretch it out? Like that's just the hair texture, it is and like even the concept of like thinking length goes this way when our hair really goes this way. So um someone has said to me under one of my pictures. They was like well, your hair's, so pretty blah blah, but i wonder what it would look like straight and i just think this is a really flawed way of thinking about things, because i don't want you to look at me and imagine my hair is straight. Like do y'all look at white girls and think like, i wonder why her hair looks like nappy. No, you don't you know what i'm saying like you, don't imagine what kinky hair would look like on on straight hair. You don't imagine them like back combing and, like you know what i mean, so why do you expect me to have to straighten my hair like once again? It'S this expectation, this hyper um criticalness, that's always given to people who have very nappy hair and who are often very dark skinned like it's just this like hyper awareness that um that we just are consistently having like flawed, and i really want us to really think About that, because every single time we make comments like um, you're unkept, you don't take care of yourself. You need products like you're, telling me i'm not enough, and when that happens from your own people, that really says something about it and it's really a double edged. Sword yeah cause anti-blackness, like you think you stabbing me saying: anti-black [ __ ] to me, but you stabbing yourself too, and it may not be in your generation, but it'll definitely be in your kid's generation, because if, if we are treating black people with nappy hair, Terribly, what does that say about how we view ourselves and and what does it say about how we view our future? It'S almost like, we don't want people to have nappy hair like a lot of people's worst fear is having a daughter or having a non-man child that has like uh, nappy, hair, and it's like. Why is that, like? This is really like controlling our people? Our obsession with like length our obsession with a looser curl pattern. Our obsession with constantly manipulating our hair is really destroying um, the the beauty that can happen when we were actually just able to accept and sit with the fact that blackness is beautiful, blackness is beautiful. Nappy hair is beautiful, dark skin is beautiful. All these things are beautiful. This is not something that we should have to be constantly trying to shift to look closer to eurocentric standards of beauties like [ __ ], that, like honestly, [ __ ], that, like you know, black people have always had to do so. Much just to be seen as professional. Meanwhile, bobby can roll out of bed, he can smell like corn chips and he can get hired for a job make it make sense, and you want me to have to be doing way more, just to be seen as bobby and nappy. Hair is just so [ __, ] beautiful, and i really hope everybody understands that and if you continue to make fun and mock people who have nappy hair. Oh i tell you, the hell will be hot for you, that's all. I have to say so. Thanks for watching have a great day and see y'all later
Comments
Brittany Williams: This is why I take issue with people who say natural hair is hard or being natural is expensive. When the natural hair movement really first started, it wasnt about curl definition, length, or slicked edges. We all used products we made ourselves and was fine with having fluffy/poofy/undefined hair. It was only when our self hate got the best of us that we started buying every gel, custard, and creme and styling our hair for ours to get shiny bouncy curls, on top of buying edge control. The natural hair movement wasn't stolen, it was willingly given away.
Gee Gee: I feel like black people’s obsession with length comes from how it is usually thought and stereotyped that black women can’t grow long hair so we strive to prove them wrong and fit their standards
Kim Possible: I stopped being friends with people who say “they want to see my hair straightened” while I wore twists/braids. It is so offensive and when I did wear straight hair I was treated like a celebrity. It really messes with your perception of worth and your beauty. Nowadays I’m just over it all and embracing my hair and want it to be healthy and moisturized
Ariana M: When I used to drive school buses, I went to pick up some kids from a school for the deaf to take them to a field trip. A little boy with locs got on and saw my locs and was like 'wow' so happy to see someone with hair like his. I dont know sign language but the way his face lit up was so heartwarming. I cherish that memory so much
Latrice Kelly: Someone smarter than me said colorism walked so texturism & featurism could run. I’m so glad you broke down how the natural community pushes all these different methods (curly girl, anthony dickie, maximum hydration) and products to pursue an esthetic us 4C girls aint ever gonna achieve! #StawpIt #WeAreEnough
Danyelle Jones: I shave my head. And the first insult I get called is bald headed. As if I didnt know I shaved my head.
TAZ TAP: I appreciate you young women loving your hair, bodies, color and personality. Living in your “Truth”. You are helping me love my hair and color at almost 50 years old. Dark skin, 4C/Kinky hair, wide hips, big nose and lips “Don’t Care”. Yes, love it Beautiful Queens.
Tyra Rose: When I first went natural everyone kept asking if I would straighten it or how would I make it look “professional” Natural hair is acceptable and professional because it is what is naturally occurring for us.
Aurora Watt: I just want to announce as a fellow female in the military. They are currently changing the dress code to allow women of color with textured hair to wear their hair in more versatile hairstyles other than a bun. Stay tuned! I’m so happy!
BoweryDoll: Young sister...you are a gift to this fractured world. I'm old enough to remember when Walker became famous for styling Oprah's hair and his proud creation of that ridiculous scale. Over these past decades, he has only helped deepen the shame and self-hate so many Black women have struggled with. I'm from Chicago and I watched her change from wearing a beautiful short natural (that's what afros were also called when I was growing up in the 70's) to being transformed by his questionable gaze. It was unreal to see the stampede of Black women who tried to hunt him down to get Oprah's newest chemically manipulated hairstyles. I wrestled with so much self-hate in my youth about my short, thick, kinky hair. Finally starting my dreads in 1995 was utterly life-changing for me. I've heard that disturbing "ooh, your dreadlocks are so long...your hair would be so beautiful if it was straightened" line so often from far too many sisters over years. I wouldn't let go of my freeform dreads and kinky roots for all the creamy crack and long, silky weaves in the world. Sorry to give you this novel, sis. This vid (like so many of the ones you create) really struck a nerve for me. Stay safe and well and keep dropping knowledge. It's healing...and priceless
Abigail Brenai: The only thing I disagree with is the darker someone is the nappier their hair. There isn’t really a correlation between the darkness of someone’s skin and hair texture.
Brittany Faye: Girl, he didn’t even have 4c on his chart. Texturism at its finest.
mscardioqueen: It's those constant length checks that get me. Or the shrinkage comments. I just want black women who have chemical free hair to just relax and enjoy your hair and the process. That's it!
Effie Dios: for real! what i've started to realize the most is that people don't like "unkept" Black women. Black women are always expected to have their edges laid, looking sleek, etc.
Jadaria A: im a lightskin black girl and i was born with 4c hair. when i went natural and stopped trying to fit in by straightening my hair at my white majority school i started getting comments like “guess she didn’t get the lightskin gene” or “she got that dark skin people hair” when my hair got longer and i was comfortable with wearing it out.
Lena's Lovely Locs: Ok, first off... your hair is EVERY F*CKIN THING, queen! I agree with your sentiments....I'd rather have my hair referred to as kinky vs nappy...its just so many bad connotations surrounding the word nappy. Thanks for this video ❤❤❤
Leah: Yesterday I was video chatting with my friend, and was coming through my hair, and she said "your hair would be so long if you permed it" I was like ughhhh STOP my hair is fine just the way it grows out of my scalp
Domdizz: The only thing I disagree one really is saying black women have an obsession with long hair or “neat” looking hair. Why is it when any other race of women like these things it’s okay? Black women like longhair and we automatically get bundled up with trying to be white or not loving our hair etc. I feel like black women can not enjoy anything with out someone judging and trying to unpack some deeper meaning behind it.
Ashley WW: I currently have my hair straight and I notice how I act with it, how I feel about myself in the mirror and how I see it as "manageable". The work on seeing my natural hair as normal still continues.
Inotila: I had to share this.... You've got to love Mayowa for sure. Thank you for telling it like it is girl.
unkown: I'm going to share something, I was going through anxiety and depression and the way that I fix that was I started meditating going outside in nature going outside and getting Sun and now I don't have depression or anxiety anymore . I recommend this to anybody who's going through depression right now to meditate and go outside into nature or get some Vitamin D from the Sun . All I'm saying is that the best way that I dealt with my depression is I started meditating and I meditated and I connected with something called the super consciousness. When I was going through with this anxiety and depression meditating was the best thing that was to ever to happen to me. Good different ways to meditate you don't always have to sit in a in a sitting stance position , you can by going on walks you can meditate by listening to Nature , there's different ways you can meditate. But that is what helped me and I hope this message what's able to help somebody impossibly changed their life in a positive way . Peace and much love to all of you , 222❤
JD Bailey: I also notice there isn't much representation for 4c hair that is thin and low density as well. Starpuppy is the only one I can think of.
S Martin: The obsession is not just in the natural community. It's the entire black community. Also i remember when Chris Rock did good hair. He wasn't speaking on how women _should_ wear their hair....it was more od a fact finding father who cared. So it wasn't really like that. And yes dark skinned people with 4c hair that isn't long are definitely considered flawed and trying to get an unnatural style is pushed on us.
Tangerinesorbet: Someone pointed out to me that Andre Walker’s original hair typing chart doesn’t even include 3c or 4c types. To not include the most prevalent hair types in the natural hair community says aLOT about that guy, anyway.
Celene Express: I think its important to point out that just because your darkskin doesn't mean you have 4c hair and just because your lightskin doesn't mean you have 3c hair normalize that, it'll help break the beauty standard. Texture doesn't = Hue
Penelope: My hair is loose frizzy waves on the top half and curly underneath and I have gotten so many people who tell me to stop “straightening” the top half of my hair and that it is burnt and looks like sh*t..... that’s my natural hair texture..... I’m no longer friends with them. My hair means so much to me and I feel such a spiritual connection with my hair as a lot of woman do and no one so self righteous as to tell me my hair looks like sh*t deserves to be my friend.
Sincerely Yours: New subscriber here and I live for the got tea your spilling mama! Love ❤️ In Venezuela I grew up with my my family making fun of how wide my nose was (it's all in good fun I knew...) but also it was super clear sign of featurism that's still super prevalent in the Latin community. For for some of my female cousins the struggles with getting their hair relaxed from a young age from their parents until it was all burned up and then get make fun of their hair for being bad even harder.
stayforevertrue: I loved Chris Rock's documentary. I feel like humor is a great way to open the doors to a discussion that was needed in our community for SO long. He did a great job of using his influence to help the 'movement' and brought more people into the conversation who may have otherwise not really cared about the topic. And I love that his reasoning behind doing it was because he has daughters.
TDr.: Actually, Type 4-C hair IS the MOST versatile type of hair on the planet. A true stylist knows this.
Marla Goins: I couldn’t agree more and I appreciate you for your critical thought. I mean, the fact that we dread having a daughter with nappy hair signifies that our internalized anti-blackness even controls our sexuality!!! Or at least our decisions regarding procreation. We have to have these real, reflective, vulnerable, deep, difficult conversations about our inner struggles (dare I say perversions) if we ever really want to heal. We all struggle with this varying degrees, and it takes reflection to keep growing in defiance
Janel R: Honestly I get more annoyed than anything when people try and call my 4c hair curly rather than kinky/nappy because it feels like erasure.
Naydrasnowy: I’m gonna have to disagree with your commentary on Chris rocks “Good hair” documentary. It wasn’t a means to put down Black women , or have men give their unwanted opinions on it. It gave insight to how Hair is a big deal within our community. It gave insight on how other races make profit off of the fact, we spend so much time and money buying and doing our hair, using other people’s hair. The documentary in no way focused on men’s opinions only, as it also had the very honest opinions of women on their hair, and how much it means to them. Lastly if the documentary came off as jokey, it’s because he’s a comedian?? That’s his job. The document being humorous here and there doesn’t erase the message he was trying to send to the viewer. Anyways love the video as always, just really wanted to point that out.
hungover puppy: I wish people would understand that when they insult another black person's hair texture, that they're insulting themselves as well.
2damecuteUK: Andre Walker didn’t invent 4C, his original hair chart only showcases 4A & 4B. It was the development of the natural hair community that introduced the title 4C. The original hair chart always discriminated women and girls with tighter or no curl pattern ‘Kinky Afro hair’ which never match up to the type 4A/B categories.
Grown&Unsexy: It's generational self hate... I'm glad more people are talking about how 4c is not as accepted as the others. As bad as it is, I appreciate the natural hair movement (despite its flaw). It's like... phase 2 of many, and I think we're still making progress. Nothing is perfect and it's a stepping stone. I'm a 4c person who just did a wash and go this morning. Your hair looks fantastic btw! <3
Jendayi's Finds: I think the reason why they show long 4c hair is because a lot of people do not believe our hair could grow long.
NappyFro: I am obsessed with length because I’ve never had long 4c hair & now i know how to properly take care of it, it’s growing beautifully & now im obsessed
Jazmin Daneen: I was just telling my friend when you google natural hair styles it’s no black women.... when did we take blk women out of the natural hair movement
Ming Flemming: Always enjoy your videos, the content and analysis is thought provoking and direct. You expressed what I and many others have noticed with the natural hair movement and texturism, still rooted on the European belief of what's acceptable for "black people" as espoused by "white people". Keep the content flowing I love it...bless
MellowJelly: I love when you lean into your accent, I feel like all of a sudden your ancestors are speaking right through you. You are so passionate, educated and speak the truth, and when you lean into your accent I feel like I'm transported to another place and I'm experiencing something amazing and so true. I learn so much from you. Your perspective is incredibly valuable to pushing people and society forward in growth. It's cool to see that you also use they/them pronouns. Your aura is so inherently spiritual and it's really cool to learn how important hair is to spiritual people and spiritual cultures & ancestral lines. Representation is a very serious thing because our hair, skin, and appearance is a huge part of our identity as human beings. I feel like it's based on misogyny when people say caring about our hair is vain, it's built around women-hating and putting women down for their self-expression. The representation of human beings we see in media/society reflects where humanity is at on an ego level because these are the people we are choosing to have as models, leaders, idols, celebrities, musicians, artists, and it all comes around and affects the everyday person. Dark skinned people are bombarded with eurocentric culture in places where they are supposed to be equal and celebrated for being their truest self. we are not there yet. if companies are making products deliberately directed toward eurocentric "norms" that is inherently damaging and it's a reflection of where humanity is stuck in negative cycles of historical oppression and colonialism and so many wrongs have yet to be righted. Keep rocking your amazing content!!
NyeKeeYah: He didn’t even recognize 4c as a texture the natural hair community added 4c as a category. So basically he chose to intentionally ignore kinky hair completely.
Angela Elaine: I don’t follow that hair typing. I don’t believe there’s only 4 categories. Just like finger prints no 2 heads will be the same. I agree with everything you said about texturism. I’ve seen ppl claim 4C and hair wasn’t nappy at all. IV never liked my hair straight. Which is why I went natural. I love your videos and your insight.
GRASSFED CHARLIE: I have the whole 4C category on my head. I am obsessed with your hair type though and how it naturally clumps. There’s no hair type more unique than 4C fr.
K Willa: Yes....you go IN this goes IN IN INNNN...."Length is measured this way [vertically] when our hair grows this way [up, out, horizontally]"....PREACH! ❤ EVERY WORD!! TURN.THESE.TABLES.OVERRRR
rue80: I agree with her message but tbh as i get older with my "4c" hair i realise it's just hair. I know that's an unpopular opinion but having worn my hair in it's shrunk state for job interviews, work, parties, weddings, swimming etc for the last 6 years, it's not a big deal. I live in the UK but have travelled to other european countries and been to visit family in southern africa(sa, zim, zam,bots,nam) and have had no negativity. The usual comments about combing my hair but that's not negative imo.
Blue Cat: My mom always told me that me and my sisters were beautiful no matter and I truly believe that (because damm we look good) I'm brown skin with medium length 4c/4b mixed hair, my little sister has dark skin with long 4b hair, and my baby sister is sorta two toned she is brown skin some places and dark skin in others but she has long 4c hair.It can be a war in the bathroom doing our hair due to bed head my hair will Matt to my head in the shape of a damm helmet,little sister hair stick up in all directions,baby sister is always frizzed out but it always looks good and feels good, because we feel good about it, fuck the rest of the world!
Charlotte Mokonyama: Length and product obsession... so true, so sad & yes to nappy hair!
Amanda Nicole: I always felt insecure wearing my 4c hair. I was always charged extra and a hairstylist said i have slave nigga hair while talking on the phone. and joked saying to keep this down u need a bucket of perm for this. My hair was always seen as complicated or hard to deal with. Which is still ingrained in me sadly
JONES2: i keep having to remind people that even back in the 60s, many people used chemical blowout kits to get that classic 60s afro. the people who didn't already had a looser texture.
Campbell X: Thank you Mayowa for speaking truth to power. The length thing is so true and thanks for pointing out about about length and femininity and anti blackness. You articulated something I have been thinking about. Nappy hair is beautiful. "Hell will be hot for you." Thanks for that Naija energy too.
Scarlet: I learn a lot from this channel. I'm mixed & mostly worked with mixed & Caucasian kinky hair (which is a real thing, based on genetics - Google uncombable hair syndrome). The thing is, if a person is fair skin & they relax their hair, nobody knows the real texture or even assumes it's chemically treated. A lot of Caucasians with kinky hair have worn wigs & extensions for a long time, & again, it's just accepted & nobody questions it
Genevieve Greene: When I loc'd my hair I always got asked "what ya doing with de hair now?" Because I didn't get them retwisted that often. And I always shrugged and said "nothin" and now it really is nothin cos I combined until it felt right and now I got these congos with the fingers twisted together and dont ask me about it either. I am comfortable with it and it is healthy and that's really all that matters.
Megma: Thank you so much for this video, I recognized myself a lot when you talked about the obsession with the length. I have what that White dude called 4c hair, and it hasn’t been easy growing up in predominantly White folks town. I grew up wishing my hair would be straight or curly like an island girl hair, I remember begging my mom to relax my hair when I wasn’t even 6 years old. Back in 2012, I did my big chop and my hair, my natural hair, my real hair, look short till this day... and I used to often stretch them to have them looking longer. The thing is, even though the “nappy” movement was such a great thing happening to us Black women and Black girls, I feel like most of us have been left off, especially dark skin women and/or 4c haired women. Big brands and even influencers would promote the “natural hair” showing us every type of Black hair BUT 4c. So, I guess the length was our only way to “prove” that our hair was acceptable. Well, F*#K THAT NOW. My hair 4c, my son’s hair 4c, and I’m already teaching him that we are highly favored to have such magical hair: we can try every hairstyles and it would work. The Sun loves our hair so much, loves our melanin, loves our existence. The darker the better, the “kinkyier” the better. ❤️ hugs to y’all 4c ladies reading this, we are highly favored, remember!
Bokang Faith Makhetha: Hey sis. Im from South Africa and my hair is EXACTLY your texture. I started my freeform locs 6 months ago and I am Sooo happy that I came across your page because you've given me that push to continue with my journey. I love your hair so much
Bella Ding Dong: I went natural because I was tired of burning my scalp. Once I went natural I was finally able to grow my hair out. But you have really opened my eyes to the way we talk about hair and length and I want to thank you SO MUCH for that. Sending you love from Alaska
aliveandconnected: Texturism is also the actual attempt to codify hair that comes in 100s of variance. Natural hair "movement" is an internet thing started by 20 year olds who really don't know much. Black women have been wearing their hair natural for decades. All of my closest friends have natural hair. My mother had locs since the 90s. Leaving out natural OGs voices is what ruined the so called movement movement
Kgomotso Moyo: Natural sisters should just love their hair & forget about length . There's a queen out there deep in an African village that knows nothing about mineral oils , parabens , washdays and all these DIY products but her 4C mane looks glorious . The stuff a YouTuber suggests for hair growth is just digital content - watch it & move on because her genes made her hair that long NOT the products ♀️
Randomvidz: Literally 4c hair is seen as “nappy” and “bad” while type 3 hair is addressed as “good hair” it’s so annoying
Ty: I've been saying this exact thing all up and down these YT comments streets for years now. The obsession with products and length and the fucking wash n go is what pushed me out.
Tyler Dutch: Our hair coils because we are from Africa and God designed our hair to to grow up (like the trees) to handle the heat of the motherland by keeping our hair off our necks. Everything is by design...embrace who you are!! I don’t even know what hair type I have .. it’s pointless.
Grammy Nominees BTS: You know it's necessary that black women to go through the motions and everything that was hidden or went unspoken comes to light now because the natural hair community is doing its job perfectly. We have issues with our hair and all the texturism and obsession has to take place because we are learning our hair, growing it out, finding the styles we like and don't like as a collective. Let the natural hair movement do what it wants. Even this commentary is meant to take place so let it happen as it should.
Ângela P: i subscribed a few days ago and i just wanna tell you that you're amazing and to keep sharing your wisdom with others. Sending you love and light ❤️
Marnie Brumder: This was recommended to me by YouTube! What she said about that companies are selling her "solutions" as if her natural hair is a problem to be "fixed". For the record, she is stunning and super confident and appreciates her natural beauty which she has in spades! Her natural style is refreshing and MAKES SENSE. No disrespect to others who do change their natural hair, but I feel nature doesn't mess up in terms of style! I feel cheated that more people dont have natural hair styles that are more visible, because they are unique and a style underrepresented. The volume and shapes she gets with her hair is amazing. I hope for a future where she doesn't have to EXPLAIN anything and she can live her life in peace! Glad she has a voice and I/others can learn.
Baetiful96: When I first started going natural I was told by my own family that I needed to "tame" my hair because it was "unkept". It's been and still is a struggle to love my hair but I'm getting there ❤️
cold coffee: girl you’re articulating so many things I’ve been feeling and seeing! so glad I discovered you
Vashti Osborne: You are so fucking awesome. I can't believe that someone is actually saying what I think a lot of the time
Ini Davies: I love your take on this. I have a short attention span for these types of things. After, spending my younger years feeling inadequate because my hair wasn't growing fast enough or wasn't long enough, and wondering why I have to use so many products on the natural hair I got from the womb, I just gave up on all that. Terrible as the pandemic has been, it gave me the chance to just freaking live my life without paying so much attention to how I want my hair to be perceived. Pls, life's too short to be chasing pointless things so imma just enjoy what I have on my head.
Forever Evolving: I don't follow that 1B 4A stuff and never will. If curly hair is the dominant trait why is the curliest hair ranged last on this system? Just seems like another way to place people into categories. We see the same thing with makeup. Why does it range from light FIRST to dark? ..... I can't.
Terri Sargent: Girl you are the bomb, keep up the excellent work. However I much say you speaking especially the part "why are so many black women are so caught up in length", that blows my mind. We're the only and main ones who do it. You length don't make you, why can't we believe that...
Kyla G: Thank you, so much! You have made it easier for me to rock my natural hair. I have been hiding under my wigs for months because of a bad hair salon experience that left me near bald. I have enough now that I am breaking free from the idea that length and a loose curl pattern makes me beautiful. 4c is beautiful and I am wonderfully made!
softxgurl: I just saw a tiktok of a girl saying she was jealous of girls with "natural curls" and just guess who the girls were...
Victoria King: I just want to say thank you mayowa as a fifteen year old I really struggled with accepting my nappy hair, why? Because in this society 4c / nappy hair was seen as bagwire and all the other hair textures was getting praised.
Aleksandra: I'm so glad I stumbled upon your channel, you made me realise some things I wasn't even aware of since I don't belong to the same community. It's so sad to hear about all your struggles, colourism is such a b*tch that's rooted so deeply, but I hope someday it won't be such an issue. Keep up your work, I really appreciate you talking about this and maybe it will be a little step towards a better world, even if it's the tiniest little step, it still matters c:
T. Renee: Yeeeessss!! I came here from the clip on IG and I am HERE for your whole view on the problem with the natural hair community (and in the black community writ large when it comes to colorism).
Melissa Hunt: I recently found your channel and I've been binge watching your videos!☺️ And here you are posting a video! ☺️ Edit: I FREAKING LOOVVEEE YOUR HAIR!! What you said about having products pushed on us is soo true!!! I remember watching videos on YouTube of girls with gorgeous hair and they used all of these expensive products. And I used to buy expensive products and go to the hair salon thinking that it would make my hair look "better". My hair was Sooo damaged!! My hair was literally breaking off! ♀️♀️ And when that happened to me I promised myself that I was going to learn to take care of my hair because obviously all of these products weren't working. And my hair had never looked soo bad! I was called crazy, lazy and even nasty by my at the time hairdresser. 6 years later my hair has never been so beautiful! I do color my natural hair. Little by little I've left the products and I've been using homemade natural products on my hair. And now that my hair is alot healthier and has grown I get non stop compliments on my hair. People that knew me from back then now ask me what it is that I use on my hair and when I tell them they always say " that's it?!". Because we we're made to believe that our hair needs expensive products in order be healthy and grow. And that for our hair to be beautiful it must be long. So people that I know ask me to make it for them. Which I'm glad to do and someone told me that instead of giving it away I had to charge people because I was buying all of my ingredients and putting my time into it. So what I do is I charge from 10 to 15€ it might seem expensive but I live in France and it's hard to find products for our hair. And when you do find something it costs 25 to 30€ which is ridiculous.
Son T.i.: Love thisss. Was just talking about this recently that when kinky hair grows you can tell by its volume not it's length. It grows outwards not downwards THANK YOU for explicitly stating that
JA Girl_Vendetta: I recently found your videos and I’ve been binge watching. I love these topics and your confidence i live with my bf and his mother and I went natural three years ago and she always used to call me hair “hard to deal with”, “dry” and all these horrible things WHILE she would be combing my hair (because I didn’t know how to do it yet). And mind you, this woman has the same texture hair as me!!! I know she was coming from a place of self hatred but I couldn’t help but cry all the time back then until finally I made up my kind to really learn my hair and love and appreciate it and she’s never touched my hair since that day!! I really wish I had your videos back in the beginning of my journey. I appreciate you!
jenna H: Sad thing is the damage be done so deep it's hard to reverse it. Been natural for 5 years now, love my hair, but sometimes I still have that same negative thinking that was ingrained years ago. It's not impossible to reverse though, I believe in y'all ❤️❤️You are beautiful ❤️ You are enough ‼️
Mrs. RockKitty (VixxVoodooKitty): Lol you know it’s funny I was just asking my husband where the hell did all this 4c, 4a hair texture type came from...The ignorance in the black community is getting worse and it’s sad. We as a people can never get together because we let other people’s foolish thought process take over... Usually if people see you with locs they want to know when you cutting it off, or how long are you gonna keep it? And I hate that...like I don’t go around telling anyone what to do with their heads..If I chose to keep my locs till the end of time that’s what I’m going to do..I have zero desire to go back to straight hair do to perms, weaves, braids etc...it’s a pain in the ass and been there and done that. I’m good and happy with my locs.
Chelsea Katsidzira: i went to get my first silk press before valentine’s day. i’ve been 4c natural since 2018 and i was excited to see if it would come out the way it did on ig. i was so wrong some things just aren’t for us and i realized i felt pushed to do this to “see it straight.” thanks for the real talk. realest channel on youtube. i knew there was something special about your channel the second i saw it!!
DJ Pound Puppy: So refreshing to see! For three years, I wore a beautiful afro. This was at the beginning of the natural hair movement on YouTube. I felt disillusioned with my hair after all that time. I got shit from everybody IRL and then I'd go online and see that I couldn't style it like other naturals. I didn't want to straighten or stretch it or take all the time on my hair like those women did. So I got a texturizer. That was a poor decision. I soon began to resent my hair because the texture got straighter and straighter with time. Now I have freeform locs. I love when non-brown folks ask how I loc'ed my and I tell them I simply let it grow. It inspires a look of awe that I have NEVER SEEN from people in my own tribe. People who look like me. That's sad. They are laying down edges and getting sew-ins in record numbers while claiming to still embrace their own hair and I simply cannot relate. I was blessed with what I have and I think it's cute.
Plant Perfect: I am in love with your hair! The only kind of hair I want is healthy hair, healthy natural hair.
Sunflowerlightlove: Hey you! You brought up a great point about the documentary "Good Hair" by Chris Rock. He stole the idea and concept by Regina Kimbell because she had a documentary, called "My Nappy Roots: A Journey Through Black Hair-itage" that came out in 2005. It's really sad to see how the natural hair movement has taken a turn for the worst. I remember it being so exciting and new in 2010 for me where we were all here to learn about natural products, making our own products, and embracing our hair texture. The writing was on the wall for me in 2016, when the whole Shea Moisture controversy thing happened. https://www.thewrap.com/chris-rock-sued-ripping-hair-doc-8347/ https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/chris-rock-sued-5-million-accusations-stole-concept-new-documentary-good-hair-article-1.380612
Elle: I never believed that whole "you need a lot of products to make your 4c hair look decent" bs. I never used creams and stuff on my locs only a spray moisturizer but it was usually for the smell. Now that I'm natural again I try to avoid tutorials pushing the use of 20 different products for one style! I'm also not patient enough to spend 1-2 hours on my hair unless it's braids♀️
heyitscate: Always living for your content and literally admiring your speech and conviction ✨ thank you so much for existing exactly as you are ✨
Isadora Mello Costa: I stumbled until your channel today, and as a Brazilian who's very mixed I took the back sit and listen. At first, there was some hard truths to swallow but the more I listen to you the more I see that the flaws are in me and in society, not your speech. Thanks for spending the time and emotional labor to put this videos together!
Ming Flemming: I have been one of your earliest subscribers and I noticed since your last video on your adverse experience from the natural hair community, your subscribers have grown, also the video is getting high views. Congratulations you deserve this ❤
Joshua Gordon: Lol I love that my YouTube suggested you to me. Love your energy and message, we all gotta be on the watchhhh for this anti black mindsets, I don't have 4c, but 4b hair and not "doing my hair" (twist out or braid out smh) gets me so many comments about what I should be doing with it. People be crazy with their cult favorite toxicity lol.
Danielle Belize: Greetings. Even with my 3Cish hair and not dark skinned-self, I appreciate you. Black is beautiful-period and we all have to focus on hair health and love for our hair types. There are some things that you can do with your hair that I wish I could with mine. The grass is green on all sides, but honestly, I find less helpful products for my hair type b/c it's not kinky enough. The products marketed for my hair type tend to be trash. Best wishes in your journey. -D
Iris innocent: I feel like with so much pressure to make our hair presentable when a person has 4c hair we always asking to straight it up so it can look longer. this type of mindset stick in our brain and we always have to prove to people that our hair can be as beautiful as any other hair types, it just needs to be- long.
Tray: Andre Walker needs to have his cosmetology license revoked for that statement alone because type 4 hair a.k.a Kinky hair is literally the most versatile hair there is... We can literally mimic any other texture but any other texture can't mimic our unique hairs natural state.. I love my type 4 hair the versatility is endless especially when its healthy..
Love Life: I love your perspective on beauty standards especially as it relates to hair. I grew up in a family of Lighter women with straighter hair textures. I had some really ignorant comments directed toward me by my own family. I felt so proud and relieved when the natural hair movement for my generation began And although we have a long way to go some progress is better than none. I hold out hope and faith that 1 day we as black women can love ourselves for who we are and not Faced on some bullshit European standard
Marsha Horsford: Loved this video... my sisters and I all have different hair types because my Grandfather was mixed; my Grandma however, kinda looks exactly like you so i love your videos, anyways we always get that type of criticism because one has "better" hair one has "curly hair" one has "nappy hair" and its just bullshit because hair is hair and we need to learn to accept our hair. People like stereotyping others in the Caribbean as well. I think that people need to also learn that hair is different and lengths grow in its own time.Too many people on here acting like growth and texture can be acquired through many bullshit textures and chemicals.
ZimboCapetonian: When I firsts started learning about maintaining my hair, I remember feeling some type of way about the classification system. But I watched a video of people I admired and they gaslit me into thinking the blatant featurism wasn't there. Now I'm part of a natural hair group that puts out content and since I joined I have struggled to really engage and I didn't realise that it was because of the bias that is rampant in the community that looser textured hair is more beautiful. I'm living in Cape Town and here the mixed race people are called 'Coloured'. They and other light skin people have become the face of the 'Movement'. I have been to a few natural hair events and majority of hair used in demos or in campaigns was the looser textured hair. It has made me almost completely disengage from the natural hair movement and events that happen around it. Edit: sent this video to the group chat. I have decided to start a fire and watch it burn
Johnna Taylor: In love with your content. Seriously refreshing and freeing! I've been binging since I found you! Thank you for DROPPING KNOWLEDGE!!
CindyPlays: Thank you so much for adding subtitles to your video!! Accessibility is so important especially on educational videos such as this. ♥️♥️♥️
Latrice Lewis: The amount of work to figure out that my dark skins is beautiful and to believe it took sooo looong, but my hair fits the "preferred" type so I never had to think about it until I had my daughter who has kinkier hair and light skin. Its so hard to convince someone to love their texture when both her brother and I have straighter hair that grows down as oppose to up. I'm going to share this video with her and continue to learn ways to support her.
Kofoworola Grace: I’ve honestly learned a lot from watching you. I’m glad J found this channel
N Harber: Our culture likes to code blackness as being unclean. I have had run ins with several employers who assumed that my curly hair somehow means I'm not clean. I have 3b/c hair and I have had a boss threaten my employment because I wore my hair down and curly. She pulled me into the office and gave me this weird lecture about how I need to smell my hair every day to see if it's clean. I wash it once or twice a week and co-wash in between. My hair is clean. Sure, I don't wash it every day, but it doesn't need it. She then went into a spiel about how she gets it because she has "unruly" hair too (she doesn't. She has 2a hair and is Mexican. To call her hair wavy is a stretch) and all it takes is 10 minutes in the morning to smooth it out with a hair dryer. Yeah my hair doesn't respond to a hair dryer favorably. If you want to try and fight off Chthulu with a round brush, be my guest, but you're going to have a bad time and you are going to lose. My friend who also worked there had 4c hair and I asked her for her thoughts and she said "No shit, you got that too? Yeah that's why I wear wigs to work now. You know what they say - if your hair is nappy, the white folks ain't happy." And what a shame because her hair was beautiful - some of the shiniest hair I have ever seen, obviously well cared for and maintained. But she felt she needed to cover it because of the unfounded assumptions of bigots. That wasn't the first time I had run into that, I have had other employers assume I don't bathe because of my curls - even when most days my hair is wet in the morning and smells like coconut and hibiscus. I also had a little white girl in grade school ask me "Why do you crimp your hair every day? It doesn't look good and it will fall out if you keep doing that." When I told her I don't crimp it, and that that is just how it grows, I literally got a "Yes you do. You don't have to lie. We can all tell. And it looks stupid, so I don't know why you think you're getting away with it." Followed by a comment about how I don't shower well. A follow up question got "My skin looks like that too when I've got dirt on it. You need to scrub better so it won't look like that." From this girl, and she went on to explain that my skin is dark because it's got mud and dirt caked on it. That was 2nd grade, and her opening about my hair should have clued me in that she had no idea what she was taking about, but to this day it's seared into my mind. That was probably the last time I wore my hair down natural until several years after I graduated high school. That exchange also earned me some chemical burns because her confidence made me think I actually was dirty, so I went home and lathered up, and sat in the shower for a good 30 minutes with soap all over me, trying to wash off my blackness. My mother is white and it had never occurred to her that she needed to explain that my father is African American and that his influence on my appearance was nothing more than a curl pattern and some melanin, and that those have no bearing on being clean because at the end of the day she isn't racist and it never crossed her mind that that was a potential explanation for something that should be a non-issue. It wasn't the girl's fault. She was a kid and kids are still learning to be humans in the world, but you would think she's seen a black or mixed person before at some point, and would know that people come in different packaging. Her belief that everyone is white like her and that people who look different are just dirty is more a sign of a problem with the culture around her telling her that there is only one right way to be, and everything else is wrong.
MaiKo: I want to say everything you say in the video makes sense. I’ve been obsessed with my 4c hair to the point where I spend most of my time taken care of it. You name it I tried different hair treatments under the sun.