5 Beliefs About Natural and Relaxed Women That Need To Be Corrected

1. Women only wear weave because they have no hair

The idea that women wear weaves* and wigs because they are “bald” or have undesirably short hair is something that I hear often, but contrary to popular belief- it is generally untrue. Sure, wigs* and extensions* allow you to add ridiculous amounts of length that you don’t currently have but these styles are not exclusive to women with short or damaged hair.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard snide comments about a woman being edge-less or bald because she was wearing a weave; this has everything to do with lack of education and the belief that Black women can’t grow long hair naturally. Obviously this is completely untrue. Women wear wigs* and weaves* for a plethora of reasons-one being hair protection.

Unless you have a leave out, your hair will be completely braided up or covered underneath your wig* or weave-and if installed correctly, these styles will allow growth and/or protecting it from damage. This also allows women to play with hair length, cut, and color without ever having to touch or damage their own hair.

So, No-not every woman who wears weave is bald or edgeless-there are long and short haired women alike who wear weaves and wigs for the many benefits.

2. Women who relax their hair are practicing self hatred

“Natural hair is ugly” has always been something I’ve heard over the years and although the comments were always few and far between, they still stung. Because of this, I’m not surprised that there are a lot of people who see relaxing your kinks and coils as a form of self-hatred.

Admittedly, I know there are young Black women who relax their hair in order to live up to western beauty ideals or to distance themselves from their heritage; I see it every day. However, linking every relaxed woman to self-hatred is not only absurd, but offensive as well.

The truth is, most women got their first relaxer when they were young and continue to get them as adults because it is what they know. Others maintain relaxers because it makes their hair more manageable or they just don’t have a desire to go natural.

Whatever the case may be, all women who relax their hair do not hate themselves and it is unfair to assume that they do.

3. Natural hair isn’t versatile

During my transition-and even after cutting off my relaxed ends-, I wore my hair in a bun 24/7. Working with a completely new curl pattern and having a limited education on natural hair restricted me when it came to styling.

Initially, I thought that being in the dark about natural hair versatility was something that only natural-hair-newcomers went through but it turns out that a lot of people had this idea about natural hair-even if they weren’t on a journey.

This belief alone has led to conversations about why natural hair isn’t appropriate for the work place and other formal settings. One woman even went as far as to ban women with natural hair from her wedding because she didn’t like afros. Ridiculous isn’t it?

Although this idea was-and somehow still is-widely believed, it is completely false. Simply put, Black women’s natural hair is no different than any other type of hair. We can curl it, straighten it, braid it, dye it, and everything else.

4. Relaxed women should stay away from water

Wetting your hair after getting it relaxed and styled is obviously going to affect how long the style lasts. So we cut down wash days and dodge rain drops like bullets, but is it really necessary? No, not exactly.

If you want healthy relaxed hair, it means you are going to have to keep your hair properly moisturized and clear of scalp buildup. This means using water-based moisturizers and washing your hair regularly. In the long run, water will actually benefit your hair.

And about swimming and rainy weather? The real thing you should be worried about is salt and chlorine negatively affecting your mane. Lucky for us, there is a bunch of information out there to help us preserve our hairstyles and keep them salt/chlorine free in the process.

5. Natural hair is not “For Everyone”

Let me start off by saying this: Don’t ever let anyone tell you that what grows out of your head naturally is not for you. With all of these negative comments about natural hair, the most commonly said one is-of course-the most illogical.

Many times, this statement is used as a “nicer” way to call kinks, curls, and coils ugly. Other times, it means that not everyone is cut out for a natural hair journey because of the dedication (and sometimes, money!) it takes to get through it successfully.

Admittedly, the latter of the two is understandable and can be true in certain circumstances. However, using the phrase to discourage women from going natural can very well be problematic; and we are all aware that negative comments and hair discrimination towards naturals is a thing.

Natural hair is not for the people who aren’t ready to dedicate themselves to all of the responsibilities that come with maintaining healthy hair. However, claiming natural hair is not for everyone because you don’t like the way it grows out of their head is asinine.