Do You Have Hair Envy?
I have. Sometime I
look at someone else’s hair and I think, “Why not me? If only my hair was longer and my curls
looser and bigger.”
Hair envy can be good, if it is a motivating factor to
properly caring for your hair. By
learning about the other persons hair, we may find new products that work for
us, or we may begin to protective style to retain our length. We may even be exposed to new practices that benefit
our hair. But, natural hair is an
investment. The pay off - be it healthy
hair, full hair, or long hair - can take years!
(Why oh why didn’t I big chop after my daughter was born, when I had the
chance?) So, because our goals are so
far away, we envy those who have already been there, done that. But there is a dark side to hair envy. Hair
Hating. It doesn’t have to be that you
covet someone else’s hair. It could be
that you judge someone else’s hair.
“Why is her hair so dry looking?”
“Her fro is so uneven!”
“Why isn’t her hair growing?”
“Her twist out is a mess!”
“Why does she constantly protective style?”
Have you ever thought these words, or for our bolder
readers, said them out loud?
Let’s be real, we have all Hair Hated before. Its normal to compare ourselves to
others, and as humans, we all want to come out on top. But remember, as you are hating
on others, they could be hating on you too (holds up mirror).
Being natural is hard enough. I expect women with straight hair to hate on me because I am going against the status quo (I am proudly wearing the hair that they make concerted efforts to eliminate). But from other naturals, this type of behavior is self serving and destructive. So instead of trying to tear our fellow
naturalista’s down, let’s try to build them up.
Share your regimen. Share your
products. Share your love of hair. Let’s all attain our goals together.
Enjoyed this article; very on point! Thanks for sharing this perspective.
ReplyDeleteI think that it doesn't matter whether your hair is relaxed or natural or anything in between, we tend to admire and yes envy something a little different than what we have. It has nothing to do with self hate and everything to do with the grass sometimes looking greener on the other side.