Natural Curls = Hidden Discrimination

Picture courtesy of Mayra Parrilla Guerrero

I want the great masses of my people to take a greater pride in their personal appearance and to give their hair proper attention. -Madam C. J. Walker

To many people, hair is their most important trait because with it they can express themselves in many ways. Hair is also part of many people’s cultures; during slavery times, many used to braid hair in different designs as maps and many simply used it to store food in it to avoid starvation while being transported to different places.

I am talking about that type of hair that is filled with curls. Curls of all shapes, forms and lengths. Curls that have been on the heads of many but have been the signature of women of color everywhere. Curls that still lead to discrimination. As many women of color are starting to manipulate their hair to different hairstyles that benefit their type of hair while keeping it as natural as possible, they remain misunderstood.

“To be natural is to care for your hair without the help of chemicals. Embracing your natural curls without adding anything that may chemically damage your hair counts as being natural,” said hair naturalist Eve Abraham, 20.

Abraham is a student at Tufts University who, in her spare time, does some of her peer’s’ hair as a way to earn extra cash in order to maintain herself throughout her education. As a naturalist, she maintains her hair free of chemicals. She makes sure her hair receives the proper care and resources it needs in order to maintain her bouncy curls, and even helps out many of her peers who decide to start the natural hair journey by advising them on how to be able to properly care for their hair.

Hair discrimination is one of the many types of discrimination that women of color face. Straight hair has always been glorified, influencing many women to trade their bouncy hair to chemically straighten their hair. This trend became very popular, influencing women everywhere to follow it. Workplaces had the same expectations as a society, and employers expected women to follow the same type of uniform in their hair, restricting the use of cultural hairstyles worn by many women.

“Maybe not recently, but when I was younger, I remembered how people would encourage me all the time to straighten my hair whenever I would wear it out curly,” said Abraham. “I do feel like people judge me, assuming that I am ‘ghetto’ or ‘ratchet’ while wearing out protective styles such as braids.”

There have been many cases of hair discrimination everywhere, and it has only grown after women started to embrace their curls more and more. Famous cases of hair discrimination have come to light, demonstrating how the use of cultural hairstyles and/or curly hair in general, have not been accepted by society.

For instance, several years ago at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden, twins Deanna and Mya Scott were banned from track and many other school clubs and events and given detention over their hairstyles. The twins, who are Black, wore their hair in braids, and the school caused an uproar claiming the extensions the braids were made off were a violation of school rules. This was, of course, considered to be discriminatory because it was insinuating that extensions were only used by Black women.

To resolve this type of discrimination the CROWN Act was passed in 2019 in the state of California, putting an end to hair discrimination in workplaces and schools, allowing women of color to do and wear their hair however they chose. “CROWN” stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” and it was passed to protect women of color along with the texture of their hair. For right now, California has been the only state to put an end to the discrimination of hair in the workplace and school system, however, states such as New York and New Jersey have adopted a subsquently similiar bill to the CROWN Act, and although other states have not, some such as South Carolina are working towards creating some sort of act that would protect natural hairstyles.

But, has hair discrimination really come to an end?

I recently had the opportunity to learn the truth. The CROWN Act has been a step forward to end hair discrimination, but even with this in place discrimination still exist’s against people of color in more creative ways. When it comes to haircuts and finding the right products to care for naturally curly hair, many businesses have capitulated to the difficulty of it all. For example, hair salons charge an obscene amount of money to people who are simply trying to get a haircut, but have to pay more from the regular haircut price to a “specialized” haircut due to their hair texture. Even when it comes to hair care products for curly hair, the products sold are extremely expensive compared with other regular products.

For example, natural hair products such as Carroll's Daughter, Coconut Curls Shampoo and Conditioner, Aunt Jackie’s and Deva Curl can range from $8 all the way to $30, sometimes even more, while regular hair products for straight hair such as Fructis, Chi Keratin and Loreal can range from $5 to $20.

Sure, cutting curly hair without blow drying it must be a lot more work than cutting straight hair, but certain hairstyles that are more complicated to execute can often be more affordable than cutting naturally curly hair. A woman named Khalisa Rae experienced this in an Aveda hair salon when she unexpectedly got charged a $10 “texture” fee because of her natural curls.

Understandably blown over the surprise fee, Rae took to Twitter her disatisfaction

“So I just got charged $10 extra at Aveda salon for the “textured” hair fee. The woman at the counter said, “It’s because we have to use extra product. It’s not meant to be discriminatory.”

Is it just me or is that not okay?”

Her post became viral and struck quite a debate on Twitter where many expressed their outrage with the hidden fee. Many came to Rae’s defense expresing the discrimination behind the fee. In the end many came to the realization of the exclusivity in the beauty industry regarding hair texture, where they also expressed the immediate change salon’s must adhere to in order to create equality within their customers regarding their hair.

“They showed me there's really no equality existing now in the beauty industry,” said Rae during her interview with Glamour.

Upon questioning the fee Rae was told it was because her texture used a lot of product and that was why the fee was added. Calling the fee a “texture” fee is extremely discriminatory, insinuating that only people with curly hair texture are the ones who use up all the products.

“I have heard of texture fees. Personally, I don’t charge my clients extra based on their texture. I do feel as a stylist that we should be able to manipulate hair no matter the texture to the desired style,” said professional hairstylist in Boston, Yatta Voyard, 21.

Upon working with women of all hair types at her mother’s hair salon called Best of The Best Hair Salon, Voyard has understood the different types of circumstances in regards to hair and the amount of work it takes to maintain it but at the same time she has made sure her clients receive the same treatment in regards to pricing due to their textures.

“I do feel that the fee is discriminatory, especially as a Black stylist. That’s why I do not practice it,” said Voyard.

This discrimination occurs becausethe world has not been able to accept natural curly hair. For women of color, having their natural curls out and about is way more expensive and a lot more work compared to having other protective hairstyles such as braids or extensions.

It may not be visible to the naked eye, but for many racial discrimination is still a big problem. The main people who get affected by these standards are women of color who are born with naturally curly hair.

“I feel that in society, especially in the media, you’ll barely see a 4C [curl type] girl advertised. You will see girls who have a softer curl type such as 3A,” said Voyard. “I think the problem also delves deeper into the issues faced in the black community such as internalized hatred and colorism.”

In 2019, a woman named Patricia Fulford posted a photo of hair care products mostly used by people of color, locked in a Walmart in New York. Understandably, she called the manager and complained about it. But after the photo went viral, she had to delete it due to the racist comments she received. Many said that Fulford and people of color in general were the reason behind locking up the products, claiming they often steal the products.

Even if this was the case, locking products that are mostly used to care for curly hair is very discriminatory, especially if the products are mostly used by people of color.

Comments such as “Your hair is so beautiful, have you ever thought about straightening it?” “Your hair resembles a poodle’s hair.” “Have you ever thought about a chemical relaxer to tame it?” prove that curly hair isn’t normalized in society. Even simple comments like “Can I play with it,” or “Can I touch it,” can be interpreted as if people of color are animals wanting to get petted, and this has to stop immediately. These comments are just another example of all the work that still needs to be done in order to completely stop hair discrimination.

Online magazine Fashionista has touched on the subject of the progress society is making to normalized ethnic hair. They shared research conducted by Dove where they discovered that Black girls receive their first insult regarding their hair typically by the age of 8.

“Meanwhile, Black women are 80% more likely to change their natural hair to meet social norms and expectations at work,” wrote staff writer, Ericka Franklin.

Of course, there has been some action that has been taken to prevent this type of discrimination such as the Dove Self-Esteem Project and the CROWN Coalition created by Dove that helps women feel more comfortable with their natural hair textures, but unfortunately, there is still a lot more work that needs to be done. Even with all those policies and support groups, girls are still being punished for wearing their natural hairs at school, and many women still go through hair discrimination at their places of work.

I cannot stress this enough. There is still so much work to be done. For women of color with natural coils and curls, our hair is our crown. To consider our hair a “crown” has cost us so many years of discrimination, humiliation and health issues in order to straighten what has naturally been given to us, so to keep moving backward and not respecting the beauty of all types of curly hair in 2020 is not acceptable. We must change this by being the change and, once and for all, normalizing all types of hair equally.