Read my
new post about black girls and beauty image on the blog Anti-Racist Parent. Those of you who have been reading What Tami Said since the beginning will recognize some parts of this essay from an earlier post I did here on my decision to wear my hair naturally.
8 comments:
Tami,
I left a comment yesterday at Anti-Racist Parent. They haven't posted it yet.
I won't repeat what I wrote, I guess they will post it eventually.
Great piece though! I love your writing.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Have a great 2008!
Thanks, MDC. Moderating is slow at ARP right now, because Carmen is on vaca out of the country.
Can't wait to read what you wrote.
Hello Tami. Great post as always. Have a safe and prosperous new year and I will talk with you soon.
Great post. This is my first time reading your blog. You should note that the link to your blog from ARP is incorrect.
That said, my interest in the whole hair issue has been amplified recently. I have relaxed my hair for most of my life, even though I find it (the process) to be expensive, time consuming, and literally a pain in the neck. But frankly, I like straight hair. Maybe one day I will come to my senses and go natural. In the meantime, I gave birth to a little girl, now aged 3. She has beautiful natural hair -- very thick and curly. I want her to love her hair the way that it is and not follow me down the path that I chose to manage my hair. I realize that this makes me something of a hypocrite but I doubt I am the only one out there.
Her hair texture is so unlike anything that I have ever managed before that I find it very difficult to keep it looking nice. All I know is blow dryers and curling irons. Little by little I am learning how to moisterize, condition and style her hair. I would appreciate it if you could share with me links to websites where I can learn some more about taking care of natural hair. Thanks!
Welcome, Denise!
The mother of all natural hair sites has got to be www.nappturality.com. The site includes a lot of articles, photos and, most importantly, an awesome active forum. I know that there is a section specifically related to handling little girls' hair.
Most black women learn so little about caring for natural hair. A lot of what we know, like using petroleum-based products, is wrong and potentially damaging. And of course a lot of what we learn works against our hair's natural patterns in an attempt to make it straight. I found once I went natural I had to relearn a bunch of stuff. I relied a lot on nappturality.com to get smart about my hair.
Good luck! I hope you'll stop by often now that you have found me.
I think it's good to talk about these issues. I'm new to your blog and have enjoyed your writing.
Recently, I got into a argument in the comments on the posting on colorism. What bothered me was that the commenter with whom I argued decided to focus her outrage against lighter skin women instead of the system that causes colorism.
People are not responsible for their genetic heritage. Some people are born with big ears others with small hands, etc.
To stamp out colorism, we have to change people's ideas. Why do so many women get breast implants? Why are blephorplasty (eyelid) operations so popular amongst Asians?
Bradski,I'm glad you are enjoying my blog. The Michelle Obama article and the comments on Jezebel and here concerned me, too. The answer to colorism is not demonizing people who fit more easily into our culture's beauty standard. And it is not assuming every partnership involving a light skinned person is based on colorism on the part of the darker partner.
What we need to do is challenge Eurocentric beauty standards and reject the homogenous attractiveness peddled by the entertainment complex.
"What we need to do is challenge Eurocentric beauty standards and reject the homogenous attractiveness peddled by the entertainment complex."
I agree completely. The fight has to be against the ideology and not people who through fate find themselves having a particular phenotype.
The fight has to be educate against bigotry, to help people value their own beauty.
Was there really a need for Kanye West's mother to have plastic surgery that led to her death? No. It was elective surgery to shape a body to fit a societal norm.
An intelligent, caring human being died. That the tragedy.
I think plastic surgery can do incredible good for some people, repairing wounds. But, it can also be just another horrific tool to ensure conformity, slicing and dicing flesh and soul to create a different beauty to replace another one.
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