Haven’t been writing much- Negative Imagery in fictional books.
I am a busy bee let me tell you. School is kicking my tail end. Next semester remind me not to take 5 classes. Want to see what I have been working on? This is part of my database homework:
Yeah boyyyeeee! Database city! You don't have to understand it. Just as long as my teacher does (that in my incoherent babblings) we will be okay.
I wanted to talk to you guys today about something that kind of seriously bothered me. Negative imagery of natural hair in books.
Now, I know there are a lot of books out there that show us and tell us how to embrace our hair. Case and point:
And this is fine and dandy, this is great! But what about, every day books? Books you just happen to pick up and read for fun.
Lately I've been on a Vampire/Zombie kick. Don't judge me. I enjoy the books. There is a series currently out called "House of Night" I started reading them a couple of years ago. They are by a mom and daughter writing duo named PC and Kristin Cast. Here is a photo:
Picture from Here
I happened to pick up the first book in the series yesterday for a re-read. It is called Marked. When I read this before, I wasn't on my natural hair journey, so I wasn't as sensitive to the imagery. Here are some passages:
I was just getting ready to ask for more of an explanation when a girl rushed up and, with a big huff, slid herself and her tray into the booth beside Stevie Rae. She was the color of cappuccino (the kind you get from real coffee shops and not the nasty, too-sweet stuff you get from Quick Trip) and all curvy with pouty lips and high cheekbones that made her look like an African princess. She also had some seriously good hair. It was thick and fell in dark, glossy waves around her shoulders.
For the record, I would like to say that the main character in this book is a Caucasian, female, age 16. I have never heard a Caucasian female use the term "good hair." It is sort of a derogatory term that African Americans have seemed to coin. Hmmm.. Let's check out another passage shall we?
Two girls were standing behind her, dressed in much the same way. One was black, with impossibly long hair (must be a really good weave).
So in the first couple chapters of the book, you learn that all vampires have long hair. It's one of the things that they do; their hair just grows impossibly long. Why does hers, have to be a weave?
I could go on and on about this, there is a passage in the book about someone having hair that looks like "It never has the nerve to nap up."
It makes me tired, and it makes me sad. What about you? What could be done to combat this imagery?
Don’t give advice to someone who doesn’t want it.
I write a blog. I write a blog about natural hair. I follow the natural hair hashtag on twitter (@mrsckugs if you want to read my randomness about life). I ask people for their thoughts and advice. I give my thoughts and my advice on my blog. You may choose to read it. You may choose not to. I am not going to tell you how to live your natural hair life. That isn't me. I am fairly newly natural (a year next month). What right do I have to chase down a relaxed hair woman and tell her she is living her life wrong!?
I am not militant with the natural hair. I love my hair now. I like being able to style it and do things to it that I was not able to do when I was relaxed.
I ran across this video on twitter today in the natural hair hashtag. The woman has a point. I will give her that. I live in Indianapolis, there is not a big natural hair movement here. I've never had women run me down and tell me what I should do with my hair. I once had a hair dresser tell me my hair was a hot mess before he chopped a shit ton of it off (*sniffle*). Just watch the video, you will see what I mean. Due to cursing, this video is NSFW.
Good Hair by Chris Rock.
I requested this movie from the library several months ago. The way the library in Indianapolis works is that there are several branches. A lot of times they won't have what you want on the shelves. You go into your account on the computer, request what you want, and they send it from another library. The central library is downtown, and while I have never been there, I am guessing that is where the main quantity of books are stored.
Anyway, I have had Good Hair on request for several months. I was somewhere around number 60 to get it. It finally was available to me yesterday. My husband and I sat down to dinner in front of the television and watched it.
For those of you that do not know, Good Hair is a documentary that Chris Rock made. The idea was spawned by his little 3 (at the time) year old daughter. She came in the house and asked her father "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?" He was baffled at this statement.
He then proceeded to make a documentary. He talks about relaxers, weaves, natural hair, and the African American hair industry as a whole
A lot of the information I knew already. For example, a lot of the African American hair product industry is ran by large primarily White companies. The beauty supply shops are primarily Asian owned. I knew a lot of the hair came by India. What I did not know however, is that Indian women get their hair cut off in a religious ceremony. That hair goes to the highest bidder within the hair merchants. Another fact I did not know. Some people (beauticians) dealing in weaves make as much as doctors!
What kind of impacted me the most was the high school seniors talking. They were saying how natural hair as far as afros go, do not seem professional to them. They said that if you walk into a law firm, looking for a job with a huge afro on your head, you won't be taken seriously.
That statement gave me pause.
I consider myelf an IT professional. Since I have big chopped though, I have not had a job, I have not had an occasion to test this issue. I know for a fact though, smaller afros are considered professional, and even matronly. I have had interviews though, and some of them have gone really well. Could it be that my hair is the cause for me not getting a job?
Another thing that struck a chord in me was the little girls getting relaxers. One little girl, she was about 6 years old..maybe, talking about she's had relaxers for a long time.. and her mom gave her a texturizer once and it burnt off all her hair and so after that she started getting her relaxers professionally done.
A dermatologist was on there talking about how she gets phone calls and visits from moms who do not know how to deal with their childs hair, and so at age 1 1/2-2 they want to give them a relaxer. Your childs hair follicles are still growing and changing. Giving them a relaxer at that age can perminately damage their hair, their follicles, everything!
I am glad that I have had relaxers. I am glad that I am now natural. I feel like that when I have kids, and if I have a girl, I know what needs to be done to give her a healthy head of hair. I know what needs to be said to give her the confidence she will need to have in her hair.
All in all this was an interesting documentary. It was also hilarious because Chris Rock is just silly at times. It kind of opened my husbands eyes a bit as well.
Espionage Cosmetics
