Natural Hair Misconceptions

Edited by Megan Gibson.

The term ‘Natural Hair’ is often used to refer to curlier hair textures that haven't been altered with relaxers. In a time where many discoveries are being made and people are arguably becoming more comfortable with who they are, it's no surprise that the lines between what is natural, and what is not, are blurry. As well as the inevitable misconceptions are deciphered. Though not the same but similar, I will be using the terms ‘natural hair’ and ‘afro hair’ interchangeably. As somebody passionate about all things of natural hair, I stand by the idea that it's valuable for people to understand the landscape properly, so in this article, I’m going to introduce you to three common misconceptions.

“Afro-hair is the strongest”

Afro-hair is known for its versatility, and to many, its ability to handle different forms of heavy alteration. Like many other aspects of POC identities, natural hair has been something that has been historically forced to conform to European ideals. Since having proximity to Eurocentric features was idealized, more women were pushed to alter their hair physically - straightenings, wigs, or chemically: bleaching, texlaxing, relaxing. However natural hair is truly the most fragile hair type, especially type 4. Coily-er textures get dryer and therefore are more vulnerable to damage; as hair gets tighter and tighter in its coils each loop becomes a weak point as it is hard for the hair cuticles to accommodate the shape and be simultaneously flat and hydrated with sebum.

“Natural hair doesn’t grow as long as straight hair”

It has actually been found that healthy hair (without any conditions), regardless of race, grows an average of ¼ inch to ½ an inch per month. Yet many of us would agree that natural hair doesn’t grow as long as straighter textures. Why? We can attribute this circumstance to two main things: shrinkage and length retention.

Shrinkage refers to the amount the hair reduces or coils in on itself, for the tightest of coils it can shrink up to 90%. Though it may be confusing and even frustrating to have the apparent length of the hair disappear it is a sign of healthy hair and is just part of the package of dealing with the beauty of natural hair. For more people with natural hair than not, this is one of the biggest reasons for their long (stretched-state) natural hair looking so mini when coily.

Length retention is a term that is used to explain the length of hair that remains on your head once it grows from your scalp. As we explored in the previous misconception since afro hair tends to be super fragile it struggles to retain length, a.k.a it experiences more breakage. So whilst both somebody with curly and straight hair would grow ½ an inch in a month, somebody with coiled hair would be more likely not to see all that length added because it may have broken off easier.

“You shouldn’t alter your natural hair “

This may appear contradictory to my previous point, but this is a more individual take that can vary from person to person. I believe that since people with natural hair have been held to certain standards for so long, expressing yourself however you see fit is only just. I would only encourage people to do two things: reflect and learn.

Reflecting would be for people who feel a need to straighten their hair or wear a wig, for example, to ask themselves why they feel compelled to do so. Sometimes people just want a change, and other times people have aspects of themselves they haven’t spent time with. This can be helpful for some.

Learning would be like understanding how the respective alteration would impact the health of the hair, and deciding if that's something you value. For example, if I wanted long hair next year, I may not choose to straighten my hair bimonthly as it has the potential to weaken my naturally fragile strands and limit my length retention.

Conclusion

These three misconceptions are just a pinch of the many surrounding natural hair. I hope that you were able to take away one new thing, whether you have natural hair or not.