I Have ‘Good Hair’ They Told Me - But It Is A Term I Really Do Not Lik

Ever since I could remember, I’ve always heard that I had “good hair.” My hair was long, thick, and somewhat manageable. My mother told me, my family members told me, and I remember getting my hair done at the salon and the stylist even made a comment saying that I need to make sure I take care of my hair, because there are people out there who would kill to have good hair like mine.

I did’t really despise the term until I got a litter older, and more mature. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting complimented on my hair, because I take pride in it’s health and I actively work to make sure my hair is getting the attention and care it needs.

However, I don’t like the negative connotation that surrounds the term good hair. I mean if you want to be completely honest about the term, in my opinion, the term good hair has traditionally been defined as having hair closer to the texture of Europeans, and Caucasians, and that kinky* hair is unacceptable, or should be looked down upon, because it’s not as “good.”

What message is the term  sending to our young girls who have kinky* hair? A few years ago Chris Rock came out with a movie called “Good Hair” and it touched on this very topic. In the film Chris Rock set out to investigate what exactly does “good hair” mean, after his daughter asked him if she indeed had “good hair.”

I saw the movie, twice, and even as a black female who grew up in a black family and familiar with black culture, found some of his findings to be shocking, and somewhat disturbing. Women will pay ridiculous amounts of money for “good hair” and hair stylist’s are capitalizing on this.

I think that everybody who has hair on their head has “good hair.” I mean, there are people out there who are losing their hair due to terminal illnesses and the required treatment for their illnesses, yet some of us are using our energy to make the hair that we actually do have and can grow, “good.”