HAIR RAISING ISSUE

     Solange Knowles Before and Now

I was inspired to write this blog after seeing and reading the comments regarding Solange’s decision to shave her hair. I personally do not think there is anything wrong with it, but the comments have been less than complimentary. For example US artist Bow Wow apparently made his thoughts clear on Twitter saying…

“Man these chicks losing they mind, they all look like they going through something. These chicks look f*ckin retarded with this bald sh*t man. These chicks losing they mind!"

Isnt it a shame that going natural, back to roots, is considered as “going through something?” This has bugged me and so I want to look at this from the other spectrum of this hair debate, as I could argue that the need to stitch and glue hair to your head to swish it like it’s yours is someone “going through something.” It’s not viewed this way by the masses because we have been conditioned from an early age that long hair is more desirable, attractive and the misconception that it is easier to manage. Put your hands up if you had a Barbie doll when you were younger? Did you wish your hair was like Barbie’s? I did and I tried numerous times to create this look by putting pyjama bottoms on my head and flicking it about like it was my real hair. In frustration I ended up cutting the dolls hair short because I didn’t and couldn’t look like her, so although she was Caucasian, I made her look like me. Please note I was 8 years old.

We are subjected to a range of media images that depict and dictate to the masses what is beautiful, but whose ideals are we conforming too? Somewhere down a very long road we have lost not only our perception of what beautiful is but also a sense of self as we fit our unique features into European ideals. I have identified 4 types of weave that seem to be populating the streets of London...

• The Mop - The weave sits on top a nest of natural hair
• The Horse - The hair is so long it looks like a poor horse somewhere is missing a tail
• The Train Track - The tracks of glued in weave are visible for all to see
• The Helmet Head - It is obvious that the hair is a wig or a weave cap as it is either to dry or to shiny and looks like it has been plonked like a helmet onto the head.

Yes, people looks like this and see this as more desirable which baffles me. However there are also many people out there that make a weave look like it’s their natural hair, congratulations to you, but the question still remains, is there something more going on other than rocking the latest trend?


I am not here to preach. I have worn a weave twice, stitched and glued. My reason? I wanted to see what my hair would look like long as my hair has been short since I cut it when I was 17. It’s been a short cropped, Ella Fitzgerald inspired style since then. I am sure you too, at some point did it for the same reason of change. The majority of people I know, including myself, have relaxed hair which does not grow as fast as natural hair or as fast as our Caucasian counterparts, so I understand that weave provides a magic service. However, is there something else going on when a weave makes a permanent settlement on the top of your head? To such an extent that the health of your own hair is substituted for the appearance of the fake hair.

There will be I’m sure numerous answers. My intention is to provoke thought. We have been bombarded with these images so much that it has become the norm, so to truly understand the extremity of all this I am going to show you an opposite extreme on a different level.

Millions of Caucasian people every year risk gaining skin cancer due to sun worshipping. Their reason? They want to be browner/darker, have a glow. Many spend hundreds a year on fake tan products and tanning booths. In layman’s terms they are buying paint in bottles to change the colour of their skin. Doesn’t that sound absurd? If you think this is very different and in no way the same as what many are doing, I would have to disagree, as they are both image related and far removed from what they are born with.

Yes I hear you, relaxed hair is not natural, it is chemically processed and if not looked after it can damage, however personally I view this to a less extent than weave wearing, purely because I am straightening my own hair rather than adding to it.

Unlike India Irie who sang “I am not my hair” it is evident that for many their hair represents who they are and the majority speak through their weaves, which are getting longer and longer. So what constitutes as beautiful and attractive? The answer will be individual but then again am I naïve to assume this? Well I must be because a vast amount of people are following one type of look. Therefore there is a mark that has been set which consciously or unconsciously is being followed. I would love to explore this on a much deeper level that surpasses the changing fashion and hair trends to begin to look at image, identity and the power of media representations on a deeper level.

So has your opinion on Solange’s hair changed if you judged it negatively like Bow Wow? The Cassie half shaven look seems to be the new trend right now. How many will level it out by shaving the other side? Perhaps Solange is creating a new trend for 2010 which effectively will allow followers to embrace their natural locks and remember or redefine what constitutes as black and beautiful.


Related Posts:
1. The Weave and I




© 2009 Lisa Bent