Don't Touch My Hair

I remember this day like it was yesterday.. I was sitting in my favorite beautician's chair as I watched her pass my boyfriend of ten years a pair of clippers to shave my head. I watched him as he smiled like a Cheshire cat and turned my perfect little pixie into a small pile of permed nothing-ness on the salon floor. After he shaved my head he assured me that this was the right move because I had "high African cheekbones, full lips, and big brown eyes". I personally thought I looked like the tip of a condom but he had been trying to get me to shave my head for months because- Amber Rose. Two months later I found out this same boyfriend was cheating on me so I did what any female would do. I drove to his house, kicked down his door, watch him scatter like a roach from the inside of a Papa Johns box, jumped on his back and choked him from behind. As we both fell to the floor I remember thinking "There's no way your'e going to get away with making me bald and leaving me single." Romeo. MUST. Die. I tell you this story (which happened many, many, moons ago) because It all boils down to this. Women, especially black women, love their hair. I have had 50 million different hair styles in my 31 years on this planet. I've had box braids, sew-ins, a fro, a REAL GOOD wig, A REAL BAD wig, crochet braids, cornrows, a bleached blonde pixie and now I have (my favorite hairstyle ever) dreadlocks. Each and every hairstyle of mine is linked to a different transition in my life. Some have been good times some have been bad. Some are linked to productive relationships and some are linked to some dark times that i'd like to forget. My hair has also been the most expensive obsession ever and I know i'm not the only woman to feel like this. Buying a good bundle is not cheap and I truly believe that if more black women paid Sally Mae with the same enthusiasm and intensity that we use to pay for a young Mongolians natural curl we would all be on our way to financial freedom.

The best decision Ive made with my hair to date was the decision to loc my hair. It cost 85 dollars for a re-twist and I feel fabulous all the time. I workout when I want to and when my scarf falls off in the middle of the night I don't wake up in a panic because my edges aren't perfectly laid. Life on the hair front is actually pretty good. How many of you can relate to having hair identity issues? Check your old Facebook pictures.. you were ugly. Admit it.

~Miss Chas