From getting perms or relaxers during my adolescent years to wearing every possible protective style I could to avoid people seeing my real hair, growing up as a Black woman with 4C hair has proved to be nothing but challenging. After the eventual upheaval of the natural hair movement in hopes to center the importance of accepting and loving all natural hair types, I, of course, took the leap of faith to go natural as well. I knew that my efforts to go natural would provoke a reaction from my peers, unwarranted questions, and a completely different level of ignorance from my non-Black counterparts, but I was willing to experience such things in hopes that this would appreciate the journey even more. Yet, as I continued, I found that finding women with similar hair textures was a greater hassle than before. If anything, finding a hair tutorial for Type 3 was practically effortless.
The Natural Hair Movement has slowly disregarded and forgotten the women with Type 4 hair, perceiving it as unmanageable, unkempt, and undesirable. Influencers and celebrities have been glamorized for having curlier hair textures, gaining attraction to their channels, social media accounts, or overall status. This has proven to create more difficulty for Black women with Type 4 to not only find advice or guidance in their natural hair journeys but also have confidence in a movement that was created for them. Such a progressing issue has created a misunderstanding of what Type 4 hair is, what it looks like, and how it’s managed. Women, who clearly do not have Type 4 hair, insert hashtags to imply otherwise in their post descriptions. As more and more women with Type 3 hair gain representation, women with Type 4 hair are then being drowned out by them. And as a result of this, not only does the Black community continue to glamorize these hair types but simultaneously shun everyone else outside this “preference.”
The deeper issue runs in texturism. Texturism is defined as favoring or praising Black hair with looser, finer curl patterns. Such hair types are generally seen amongst mixed and biracial women yet, of course, this is not always the case. I am not negating the fact the hair texture discrimination has affected all hair types, but when reminded about “California being the only state thus far to pass a law against the discrimination of afro-textured hair,” as stated in an article by Naima Rose, it shows that choosing to wear natural hair is much more than just a personal choice. This does not only affect our daily lifestyle, but also our probability of finding employment. And even in the moments when Type 4 hair is praised, it is normally long or manipulated with products, and never in its natural state. The natural hair movement has evolved to no longer be pro-natural, but rather an emphasis on length and definition.
I am in no way saying that women with looser hair textures should no longer be a part of the movement but there is such a thing as making space instead of taking space. They deserve love too, but when people say that they’re for natural hair, they should mean for all natural hair. Black women of every hair texture deserve to be praised and represented, but we must work to make more room for those who are often glossed over and underrepresented.