Hair Typism

We need to talk. Really, we do. This needs to stop! Sit down, I got a lot to say.

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Alright, I've done posts before about how I feel on hair typing (read the most recenty one here), sometimes it's helpful, sometimes it's not. But there's one instance when hair typing isn't useful at all, that's when it causes a divide in the natural hair community. I know some of you have had great use of hair typing during your natural hair journey. If you are one of them then good for you! I know that some of you use your hair type to choose products, styles, routines, etc. this is what the typing system was made for. 

But, if you use the hair typing system to cause a divide between yourself and other naturalistas you need to stop right now! Having natural hair is about embracing your own hair. Your own! Whatever grows out of your scalp naturally is exactly the way it's supposed to be. We all have hair envy and hair crushes, that's not what I'm talking about here. What I'm talking about is the issue of people thinking you cannot relate to or learn from someone who has a different curl pattern than you. It's bs! Just because you have 3a curls doesn't mean you cannot learn from someone with 4c hair! Yes, the curls/kinks may not look the same, but it's about knowledge not about curl pattern.

We all have our own personal journey in life, but during life we also have teachers that teach us things about life. Does that teacher have to be exactly like you? No! Let's give you an example; in nursing school the one teacher that taught me the most was a British white lady who hadn't worked the floor in several years. From the outside you may say what can she teach me? But when you move past the exterior it's all about knowledge. Same goes for my personal hair journey; I've learnt lots for naturalistas all over the world, some with similar curl pattern to mine, but most of them with a different one. If I would have chosen to not relate to someone with a different curl pattern than mine I may never have figured out how to care for my curls. 

So when I hear that people, women, say things like "But you have kinky hair, mine is curly" or "I'm not attending a meet up, your hair is nothing like mine" then I get pissed off. No! You've missed the point! The point is not to learn how to care for my hair, it's to learn how to care for your hair! To learn to love your hair the way it grows out of your scalp, to understand it, to appreciate it. It's a part of you! You wouldn't say "I won't work out with that personal trainer because my body would never look like his/hers" so why wouldn't you be open to taking advice from someone who's hair is nothing like yours?? 

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Personally I'm sick of all these divisions we make amongst ourselves in the black community; shadeism, thinking one country/tribe is better than the other, etc. Enough already! I think the natural hair community is a great way for us, women of color, to unite, learn from each other, grow together and have each other's backs. It's about helping each other to love ourselves completely. So don't cause division, be open and learn from each other!