My Natural Hair Can Grow 18 Inches! But it Ain't Nappy.

I came across this hair video today by a young lady who created it to prove that natural hair can grow long with proper attention and care.   I think more black people should know that their natural hair grows just as quickly as anyone else's--the reason why many black people don't have long hair is because they don't know how to take care of it and keep it moisturized enough to retain the growth and keep it from breaking off.

Anyway, so I was feeling the video.  I liked seeing her comparison shots and hearing what she had to say about what worked for her hair.

Until she made a comment that turned me off.  I don't even know the exact minute mark, but she was talking about how you should stay away from stylists that complain about your hair texture and try to convince you to get a relaxer.  Right, right. That's very true because stylists who are upset about having to deal with your hair texture as-is probably won't have the best intent when it comes to caring for your hair.

She then went on to say that she once had a hair dresser tell her that her hair was nappy and that she was offended because she knows that her hair is no where near nappy.   Then she made a little joke about how her hair does not "Snap, crackle and pop" and she snapped her fingers as if in a poetry club.

She was referring to hair that is very thick, kinky, or nappy that tends to pop and snap (along with snapping sound effects) when you run a comb through it.

In other words, she's natural, but at least her hair isn't nappy.   At least her hair isn't like that.

And she's correct. I would describe her hair as kinky but curly, more loosely textured.  It isn't nappy in the same way that I think of "nappy."

But I was offended by that because most black people DO have the kind of nappy hair she's talking about to some degree.  My hair is the type she's looking down on.   And that same attitude within the black community is why so many black women are so ashamed of their hair.   They've been told all their lives that their hair is ugly and "needs" to be fixed, "needs" to be texturized, "needs" to be relaxed because it isn't curly or loosely-textured.

She's doing the same thing that the stylist did to her--passing an insult to women with hair that's more tightly coiled than hers.  Honestly it is kind of disheartening to hear people with natural hair sneer their noses at kinkier hair.  I've had natural people say similar things to me. Things like "I like your hair. At least it's not "straight out of Africa" hair."  or  "I'm glad my natural is like this and not THAT nappy."

I realize the brain-washing that has caused black people to feel this way, but I think it's unfortunate that there's still a hair hierarchy, present sometimes even in the natural hair community.

 (pic source: tcdh.wordpress.com)

I think that she should be proud of her hair (which she is), but black women with kinkier hair textures should be able to feel that they can accept their hair, too, as nappy as it may be.   Every natural or those considering going natural must find their own confidence in their hair but how are people with nappy hair (most black people) supposed to feel after hearing her say that she's happy that her hair isn't like ours?

Other than that, I thought the video was informative and well put-together.  I liked her personality.  Granted, her methods probably wouldn't work for my hair, or other black women on the kinkier end of the spectrum but they could be helpful for people similar to her in hair texture.