Black Hair Admiration - This Indian Chick Wants My Hair! - For Long, Healthy Natural Kinky and Curly Hair

Black Hair Admiration - This Indian Chick Wants My Hair!

23/10/2013

I know lots of people have experienced negative attitudes to our hair so I thought this positive story was worth sharing:

I am at a hair salon having my hair done.

One half of the salon has a black stylist and the other half has an Indian lady waxing people's facial hairs.

About an hour after I've been there the Indian lady approaches us and starts touching my hair. I don't mind people touching my hair if they ask or if they are a friend but on this occasion but she was neither! I look up about to say something but I can literally see the admiration dripping from the young, Indian lady's eyes so I say nothing.

Before I can ask anything she says "I wish my hair was like this" - she has very long, bum-length hair but she says it's boring because she can't braid, twist or style it in all the ways we can. Having been working in a black hair salon for a while she has gained an appreciation of just how malleable our hair is and she greatly admires that.

Even before I went natural I always appreciated all the cool things I could do with my hair but seeing this lady's reaction confirmed to me that there are many other people out there who do too even if we're not aware of it.

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Tima

22/10/2013 04:35:56 am

I have had the same happen to me twice. I have been my naturally curly self for almost 20 years. I have a best friend who is Indian. She admires my hair. In the earlier years of our friendship, she asked to touch my hair. Once she touched it was surprised at it's softness. Now years later, my eyebrow groomer, who is also Indian told me she admired my hair. She said she loves its versatility and beauty.

D.E.

22/10/2013 05:24:44 am

That's a sweet story.
I would give her a gentle note, though that people can be very sensitive about someone other than the stylist touching their hair without asking.
Still, it's nice to hear a story about someone from a culture that tends to inspire the highest degree of 'hair envy' appreciating Afro hair!
Funny but a few weeks ago while reading about the wonders of henna, I had this pseudo daydream (I am a writer w/ a vivid imagination) of a beautiful Black women with healthy, beautifully hennaed naturally curly hair (okay that woman was me, I've always wanted to visit India-LOL) being asked by random people if they could touch my hair ('Good Hair' in reverse) as they're not sure if it's real (given all the misinformation that's been disseminated about our hair). My hair is growing but it is not the length of wonder, length is not as much of an issue right now. But still I wonder what the reaction would be if a group of poised Black women with beautifully coiffed natural hair traveled en masse to the land of manufactured hair. Hopefully 'Good Hair' wasn't seen in large numbers over there, or I can imagine the reaction.
By, the way, I've dated Indian men and they actually loved my natural hair.

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Black Hair Admiration - This Indian Chick Wants My Hair!

By Heather Katsonga-Woodward

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