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Someone new to the topic of natural hair might read dozens of natural hair blogs, peruse social media and watch videos on the topic and think that the movement towards wearing one’s hair natural – without the accoutrements of relaxers and flat irons – is all about changing one’s hairstyle; period. What’s all of the excitement about? It’s just hair.

But they’d be missing the crux; the underlying reason behind why black women are shunning relaxers and other hair straightening tools in droves and choosing to embrace our natural hair. There is a lot of history behind our hair.

Yes, women do want freedom from…

The dependency on relaxers

Hair and scalp damage

Temporary and permanent hair loss

Spending hours at a salon

We also want to…

Walk in the rain without a care in the world!

Enjoy physical activity without worrying about “sweating out our expensive perm”

Spend our earned earn dollars on anything else but our hair.

Preserve our bodies from damaging chemicals and reclaim our health.

These are all very legitimate and worthwhile reasons to sans the relaxer; but it still doesn’t get at the depth of the emotions that influence women to accept and embrace their natural hair texture.

For some of us, it’s really just not that deep. It’s a hairstyle, period. But, for many women are embracing the trend towards natural hair because…

We are proud of who we are as a people. We are choosing to grab hold of our identity and our pride in our culture by making a conscious choice to celebrate our innate beauty and not alter our appearance.

Author: Dianne

“Changing attitudes about natural hair” is what we do at Natural Haircare News. Through informative articles, podcasts and videos, we go beyond just sharing the latest advice and tips on kinky, curly, wavy haircare – We shake things up and focus on the realities of wearing our hair natural.