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

[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.