Alrighty gang...I'm gonna try to wrap up my series on the Heads UP! event. I took sooo many notes. Edit! Edit! Edit!Commercial break: Thanks to everyone that responded to the second post!
The panel was awesome, awesome, awesome! To keep from rambling, I am going to list some key points and list the panel members. Click on their names for further info. Make sure to give me your feedback!
Never knew what "bad hair" was until I went natural
-Wow! As someone who never really thought in terms of "good hair" and "bad hair", I noticed that once I started wearing natural styles, people talked about my "good hair". People always compare their hair to mine not knowing that I have a kinkier texture than their own.
There is no lightskin privilege.Lightskin women's hair is used not only as a weapon against browner sistahs, but as a weapon against them.
-I NEVER thought of the plight of lightskin women in this whole ligtskin/darkskin drama. The example used was that a brother prefers lightskin women over brown. He is not dating the lighter woman because of who she is internally, but because of her more European appearance. Eek! There was a woman on the now infamous "Good Hair" Tyra episode that explained that she dates lightskin men exclusively so that she can have light children with "good hair", not because of attraction.
Studies have shown that neurological damage can happen to the unborn children of the cosmetologists, not the women getting the perms.
-Self explanatory. If you are preggo, PLEASE apply perms in well ventilated spaces.
It's not about permed or natural hair, its about health!
-We tend to pit the curlies and permies against each other. But at the end of the day, my 'fro is not a statement of Black pride, but the decision to keep my hair as healthy as possible. A panel member discussed the stages of of a curly girl, the first being a "Nappy Nazi". Let's honor everyone's decisions and not attack each other ladies. ITS JUST HAIR!
