Blaming Black Men for Black women Straightening Their Hair.

Get Well Tameka.














Being that the Something Screwed Crew continually use various social issues as tools in their personal unshared war against black men, it was inevitable that the trend of black women perming/straightening their hair would become one of their lame weapons. Our friend Grata is among those using this excuse to further her disdain for black men. The discussion over on her blog is comical, yet exemplifies the mentality of those who pathologically must find some external scapegoats as opposed to looking within.

The discussion started with this very simple and simplistic statement referencing Chris Rock:

"Exactly. Why does he encourage his wife to wear weaves? If black men told black women their natural hair was ok, the women would be fine with it."

Now lets understand that apparently (or allegedly) Chris Rock's wife wears a weave. According to Grata, her wearing a weave automatically means that she is wearing it because he encourages her to do so. Now what contradicts this is the fact that Rock is currently doing a documentary on the pathology of hair perming. So I guess that Rock is trying to show every black woman, except for his wife, that perming is unnecessary. See how comical these folks are? If I said that if black women told black men that being intellectual was ok, the men would be fine with it, Grata and her cohorts would go ape crazy.

Now as I try to do often, I will attempt to show some research on the subject as opposed to the spouting of the flawed perceptions of a few black women who practically hate black men. What one will gather from the research is that among the reasons why black women perm their hair, the notion of appeasing black men's desires is near the bottom and often not even included. Typically, the easier manageability and the desire to conform to white standards for a professional look are the main reasons. This is explained here:

"For Black women who work in professional settings where they are frequently the racial minority, deciding on a hairstyle -- a presumably simple and personal decision -- is both a constrained choice and a formidable dilemma.²¹ Black women frequently must choose between hairstyles that conform to the norms and expectations of their White colleagues or hairstyles that are central to their African-American, African, Caribbean, or other racial or ethnic identities. This choice is complicated because in our society, long straight hair has generally been considered the gold standard for attractiveness,²² and the expectation of a straight conservative hairstyle is clearly present in corporate organizations."²³

And here's more:

"Although there are probably many reasons why Black women choose to conform to dominant aesthetic standards in the workplace, we argue that Black women conform primarily because they seek to minimize the perception that they are different from their colleagues and because they want to avoid the pitfalls of stereotyping. Moreover, by conforming, they can preserve their professional images, avoid negative career consequences, and fit in with their colleagues. A Black woman's choice of hairstyle plays a part in obtaining such conformity."

And this goody:

"Although a direct causal relationship can not be explicitly established, it is likely that the popularity of chemically relaxed hair persists among Black women because of perceptions of the ease of hair maintenance, prevailing norms of beauty, and the popular belief that long straight hair is more attractive than tightly-curled hair."³¹

So as you can see, there is no reference to what black men desire. For anyone who has observed life, it is quite apparent that women are less influenced by men with regard their attire and look than the reverse. More women today have tattoos than men, yet I doubt that many men have expressed a sexual preference for tattooed women. Black women are more and more getting tattoos on their arms and necks, yet I doubt that these are done to attract men.

It has been said in the past that men dress to impress women while women dress to impress other women. Such ideas also apply to women and hair. Consider that at any hair show, the majority in the audience are women and gay men. And most of the guys realize that in manly discussions of physically desirable women, what you hear discussed are butts, breasts, thighs, lips and faces. Hair rarely comes up. Any guy who says that he would turn down a fine, pretty woman because he dislikes her natural hair would immediately be suspected of being gay. Now lets take a look at history:

Pam "Foxy Brown" Grier is one of history's most desirable black women. In her heyday, it was quite common for her to sport an Afro. Did this in any way turn black men off from her? Of course not. Black men TODAY look photos like this and still drool over her.

Was anyone turned off from 'Thelma" with this look. Hell naw! Most of us love her.

And guys. How many of you would be turned off from this young lady due to her hairstyle?


The answer is quite apparent. ZERO.

Now lets read some opinions from other, more sensible bloggers. From Stuff Black People Hate:

"Men are particularly prone to accidentally setting off the straight-haired woman because, unless you don’t have any hair, we’re perfectly happy no matter what the hair looks like - so we don’t really pay attention. We don’t give a shit if you wear it up or down, or feather your bangs (whatever the hell that means), or put it in a french twist (whatever the hell that means). All we care about is that a.) the hair is there, b.) it’s not a wig, and c.) it’s free of dirt, insects, food, and stank. Save your $150 and buy some friggin’ crotchless thong panties for us to rip off instead. Dammit."

Lets hear from Claudette Jameson:

"I can’t stand it when black women who are “napptural” and proud think that they need to put down, or assume that women with relaxed, weaved, or textured hair have something wrong with them. That they are denying their black roots. I believe that they are actually celebrating and uplifting them just as much as a black woman with natural hair. I don’t know if you realize it or not, but an African American (can’t think of the name right now) did invent the relaxer. Lacefront wigs are usually handmade by black stylist. Beverly Johnson does have her own line of hair. Do all of these people have complexes as well?"

"I’m getting tired of this. I LOVE MY RELAXED HAIR!!! I’m not doing it for no man, because I hate my natural hair texture, or because I was brainwashed by some white folks. I’m doing it for me, and to make me happy. Why don’t ya’ll get on people who dye their hair too? They not staying true to their natural hair color. This is ridiculous!!! Why can’t black women be free to love their hair, no matter what style it’s in, without the blacklash?"