I am Not Defined by my Hair

“People tend to blame society saying that we have to wear our hair straight because it’s more socially acceptable. I think that’s half true.”

Rachel Radford

Age: 23

Occupation/Field: Global Development

Home: Ajax, ON

Ethnicity: Jamaican/British/ Canadian

Why did you decide to wear your hair natural?

It is too expense to straighten on a regular basis and it damages my hair if I put too many chemicals or products in my hair. I find if you just take proper care of your hair it’s not too much to worry about hence why I am natural.

What do you dislike about your hair?

Oh Gosh…after I wash it, I comb it, I brush it and put it in braids and that whole process takes two hours. It takes a lot of time and energy to maintain and care for natural hair and that’s what I don’t like. My hair is awful in humidity and grows into an even bigger puff ball. That’s the one think I am jealous about people with straight hair. They can just put it up in a ponytail and go. There is a beauty supply(a.k.a. Black hair ) store within blocks of each other in Durham region offering all kinds of products, weaves and wigs because we have to spend more time and money on our hair as women of colour.

People tend to blame society saying that we have to wear our hair straight because it’s more socially acceptable. I think that’s half true. Sometimes when I see an ad on television or an article in a magazine, I see mixed race or women of colour in ads with straight hair. Some think, oh that would look nice on me so it sparks your consumer interest. I think it is much easier to manage if it was finer.

I always see hair tutorials for girls with finer hair textures – White, Indian or Asian on how to blow dry their hair straight and they just jump right into the heat protection application and begin blow drying their hair straight and then using a curling iron to add some curl or volume. For girls of colour – Black or mixed girls, they have to take four to five extra steps to achieve the same look. For example, it could be they had to relax it first, to reduce the kink in their hair, then comb or brush it with a blow drying brush and then flat iron it to get straight hair. And then, you can get into the curls by using a curling iron.

What do you like about your hair?

I like that it is fluffy! My hair is not coarse- it’s thick and soft. It doesn’t get tangled too often. It usually grows super fast.  The African Gold Super Grow product worked really well in my hair. To be honest, I am happy it’s curly! It’s not dull. I don’t have to worry about not having enough volume. And it keeps me nice and warm in the winter. I am not ashamed of my hair. There is nothing wrong with my hair. It’s a genetic trait. I’ve never been ashamed of either of my heritages as being mixed. It’s just how I am.

There is more to someone’s racial pride than their hair. I don’t know why people obsess over it. I feel like if you try defining people by their hair, it groups people together in different classes and does not view a person for their personality or skill set.