The Tightly Curly Hair Site

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm almost never interested in "beauty" sites, but haikujaguar highlighted this one which is all about Tightly Curly Hair. My hair looks a lot like the author's hair -- just lighter, with somewhat wider spirals. But long squiggly spirals like that, yes. Last time we checked, it was past the bottom of my butt when wet. Dry it's shorter. I usually keep it braided because otherwise it grabs things all day. But it's nice to let loose the showy curls for special occasions.

Comments

[je-reviens.livejournal.com]

She is gorgeous and has beautiful hair!

I remember when Mariah Carey first came out. She told an interviewer that (at that time) she always had to do her hair herself for appearances and photo shoots, bc no one seemed to know how to style super curly hair (she is biracial).

Of course now that she has millions of dollars, she pays people to dye it very blond and straighten it every day so she looks like a Barbie doll. But not everyone has that kind of money.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

... or desire. I wouldn't want straight brassy hair.

Re: Hmm...

[je-reviens.livejournal.com]

If you were born and raised as a biracial child you might want to look like a white girl.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was. My parents included what bits of Native American heritage have been passed down to us. Though the hair points Africa-wards. I've been hassled about this hair; most people with nappy hair get that at least sometimes. *chuckle* But it can protect itself pretty well, and people tend not to mess with it a second time.

I'm eclectic, and mostly indelible. If outside pressure was going to wear off bits of me, it would've happened long since. I spent a fair amount of time sitting in the hall outside history classes. Didn't stop me from learning the full spectrum of history, much to the chagrin of the teachers.

As one of my black friends put it, "You can pass for white ... until you open your mouth."

Of course, not everyone is made of spit and gristle. For some people, fitting in is all their heart desires, and if their body doesn't match the shape that society expects, they're miserable. Lots of variations on that. One reason I favor tolerance is to make the world livable for more people.

Re: Hmm...

[je-reviens.livejournal.com]

I dunno E -- I grew up in the 'hood and my mom still lives there in our family home, and I went to a city high school with 5000 students, of which 45% were black and only 25% white. So you always seemed pretty white to me. I've been to your house, never heard one bit of hip hop! Then again, maybe you got what passes for flava in Central IL. You probabaly know waaaaay more about orishas than your typical midwestern country girl!


btw - did you see the news from Iowa? 1st midwestern state to legalize gay marriage! if you posted, sorry I missed it -- been super busy. 11:30 pm and I still have to write this paper for class tomorrow. And I am soooo tired rt now.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

It's not the body that clocks me on heritage, unless I've stuck a pencil in my hair. It's the culture, and that's spread out across religion (voudoun), cuisine (I go into an African restaurant, I look for goat), literature ("A Negro Speaks of Rivers"), music (African drumming and X!osa lyrics) and so forth. And that's just one thread. There are threads of Cherokee and Lakota and Irish and Sumerian and so forth as well.

There are people who look mixed and are mixed. There are people who look brown and act white. There are people who look one way, but they're mixed too.

Heritage ... is what you make of it. I hold little pieces of the languages in me, that cradle the shape of my soul. English isn't enough for all of it, though it's the most mixed language in the world, but for maybe a few of the creoles. If you don't live a culture, it dies out. But as long as someone still holds a part of it, it lives. I have my parts, and other people have theirs, and that's how the world works.

[flutterbychild.livejournal.com]

My hair's curl pattern is a lot tighter and kinkier, and it took me eighteen years to not feel the need to straighten it so that I more closely fit someone else's aesthetic, one that was inappropriate for me personally, culturally, and psychologically.

There is a lot of emotional and psychological baggage attached to hair.

[je-reviens.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering... if that is the case primarily for those whose hair doesn't "fit" only? My hair definitely "fits" (societal standards of beauty -- as in, I've been told more than once I hit the genetic jackpot in that area) and I've never experienced any emotional baggage about it. Do you think this is from arrogance over never having to worry about it or not experiencing being an "outsider"?

Like being a thin person and not knowing how it can hurt to be fat, or something?

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

That's one possibility. I suspect there's some randomness involved, too. Families or other surrounding people can be more or less tolerant of whatever features a person has. Sometimes people just invent stuff to fuss about.

[flutterbychild.livejournal.com]

In a very basic sense, that could explain it...but think about it in terms of entire ethnic groups and cultures who are viewed as "other" in American society, and how they can be made to feel like the "other" in their own communities.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

One thing to remember is some of that "other" aesthetic may be due to jealousy. grin I'd kill for long, tightly curled hair, instead of the straight locks I was born with. Heck, that's why I get a perm, and it never holds the curls the way I wish it would.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Between this site, the advice from longhair and my new hair sticks, I feel like I'm set for my hip-length goal. I'm at waist-length now!

Oooooooo!

[mr-dean-show.livejournal.com]

nice!

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*makes a note of this website, since I'm currently mushroom-headed*