As I remove my bonnet from my head and look in the mirror, I see my kinky edges staring at me right in the eyes, sticking up at the top of my head, untamed like a wild beast. Of course, it is my favorite part of the morning: Slaying my edges. So, I gather all my tools for battle. First, I grab not one, but two edge controls so that my edges can be extra slick, then I grab a spoolie from an old eyebrow pencil to shape my edges. Ok, now I was ready. I work from left to right slicking down my edges with one edge control then another. I observe my edges, and my edges were laiddddd honey. However, as the seconds roll by, slowly, I see my edges rising from the dead. This was the second time this week that I had to say, “Wow, that lasted a whole 10 seconds,” and the first time wasn’t because of my edges.
I never understood what the hype was about slicking down edges, but I knew that it was something I had to do in order to look presentable. It is frustrating for me as a Black woman with kinky, coily, 4c hair because my edges do not lay naturally. My baby hairs are non-existent; I wasn’t born with
good
hair. When I wash my hair, I look like Richard Pryor not Elle Varner.
Originally posted by trendinggifs
My hair breaks combs and bristles off brushes. My hair keeps me up until 1am so that it can look presentable for others. However, as I travel the long, continuous path of self-love, I asked myself: “Why do I spend all this time worrying about if my natural hair is “presentable” or not?” The simple answer is society and its European beauty standards. But, who is society to tell me that I can’t look like Richard Pryor on some days and Elle Varner on others? When did European beauty standards become a rule book for me to abide by? All forms of my hair are presentable whether society accepts it or not. My Richard Pryor fro, my curls, my braids, my kinks, my locs, and my twists are all presentable, professional, and acceptable.Whereas, Black women have been told otherwise, not only by society, but also by friends, family, and employers. Therefore, we tend to straighten our hair to please others. I should not have to risk getting my ear burned off and my scalp pinched every second for society to say, “Yes, I will accept you now.”All in all, ladies and gentlemen: Let your kinky, coily, edges, and strands be free. We have good hair just like everyone else. Don’t let society or European beauty standards tell you your edges need to be laid, tamed, or slicked down in order for you to walk outside. Unleash the wild, carefree beast within you by waking up, taking your bonnet or du-rag off, and walking out to wherever you have to go, unbothered because Black hair, in any state, is indeed presentable, professional, and acceptable.
This article was originally published on December 18th, 2017 on Tumblr.