Women are a special breed and it’s
no news that they love to look lovely.
From the crown of their heads to the
soles of their feet, women have
managed to add something to their
God given frame. It is often said that
Beauty is Pain, how true this
statement is: if this statement were
false how else do we explain 2 year
olds being put under hair dryers after
toxic perm creams have been applied
to their feeble heads.
Back in the day our mothers and
grand mums equally loved to be
attractive just as today’s woman, the
difference however is that whiles
their hair choices were chiefly
influenced by their natural hair and
a need to be distinct, African and
proud, current influences include a
need to look westernized and
fashionable as well as expensive.
So the question is why won’t African
ladies and men just leave their
natural hair alone without adding
clicks, weaves, wigs, extensions, glue
and others to their hairs. For some
women, their natural hairs are kinky
or coarse making it difficult to comb,
others maintain they go for the
extensions to make them look
matured whiles others contend it’s a
technique to allow their hair to
breathe and grow whiles they put on
the weaves.
Another school of thought is that wigs
allow you to visit the saloon less
hence reduce the level of harm you
could be exposed to. For such people
who hold this view, a wig is the
equivalent of a cap, guys put on. Its
simplicity allows them to wear it and
head for work or attend other
functions without a hustle.
Whatever the reasons, putting on
weaves, wigs, and extensions is
expensive. Take the United States for
instance, hair business specially
targeted at black women is a 9
million dollar business with some
weaves costing as much as 5,000
dollars with the burden of payment
often falling on husbands, boyfriends
and fathers though some independent
women foot their own bill. In the
Ghanaian case weaves costing as
much as 1,000 Ghana cedis are being
worn by our ladies.
It has to be said that advertising has
done much to orient African and
diaspora women to use relaxers to
relax their so called kinky hair to look
modern and civilized. Brands such as
Revlon, Vigorol, Hawaii, UB, are
really cashing in and making the
most of the situation.
However a warning on a Revlon
relaxer is instructive: Follow
directions carefully to avoid skin and
scalp irritation, hair breakage and
eye injury. Make no mistake about it,
hair business is big business despite
the fact that sodium hydroxide, a key
component in perm creams can burn
the skin of raw chicken in minutes.
T-Pain the musician describes the burn
of a perm as the most excruciating
pain he’s got to endure. The reverend
Al Sharpton who spots a permed hair
describes his experience as “first time
you feel your whole skull is on fire.”
Many women prefer natural weave to
synthetic because they can curl it
without it melting but many are
ignorant about the origin of these
weaves.
India is home to about 1 billion
people and Chennai is the weave
capital of the world. After software
and statues, hair is India’s biggest
export and the source of hair which
many Ghanaian ladies feel so proud
wearing is from the Sri Venkateswara
temple in Tirupati, India. “Tonsure”
is the ritual in which both male and
female shave off their hair to the gods
in exchange for blessings.
These shaved hairs are then gathered,
processed and exported to America,
Ghana and other countries where
they end up on the heads of doctors,
lawyers, first ladies, university
students, house wives and strippers.
In India 85% of the people have had
their hair shaved at least twice a year
in ritual ceremonies.
The big question is could there be spiritual connotation to wearing someone’s hair? The foreign hair lovers quickly point out the fact they pray over the weaves and wigs to cast out any
demon before usage.
In sharp contrast, no one wants
shaved African hair but African
women buy Brazilian, Peruvian hair
whose origin is Indian as well as go
for brands such as Chocolate, Modern
Waves and New Golden which is quite
telling.
But all hope is not lost, there exist a
sizeable number of ladies who prefer
to maintain their natural hair
without adding chemicals to it. Such
ladies assert that they can’t imagine
wearing another’s hair adding that
with their own hair there are many
styles they can do including
dreadlocks, corn roll, afro, gari,
anago, wobibiafe and atsiwhiwhi.
Feel free to declare your stand on the
natural hair vs. weave debate.
SOURCE: elidokosi.wordpress.com
Sign up here with your email
