What do you think? [...About Our Hair Issues]

I came across this trailer about our hair 'issues' today. The woman at the end of the video finds that hair is not a significant issue in her recent experience. I find that there's quite a divide --- more women with coily, helix hair who are comfortable natural (meaning without 'texturizers'), and many who haven't seen their natural hair in decades, haven't a clue what it's like, and who can't imagine finding out what it's like any time in the near future. I think they had to invent 'lacefronts' for the unfortunate sisters whose hair got burned out by perm, pulled out by micros, and tugged out by glue, leaving nothing left to 'weave' to. "You can do whatever you like", she says, but we don't make choices in a vacuum, and to significant degree, the outer reflects the inner...What do you think?

A Pill to "Cure" Curly Hair or "I have a Disease"

I have a disease...

...it's called "tricohyalin" and it's genetic. Perhaps you have it too. But never fear, a pill to "cure" tricohyalin is in development...

"..The Australian scientists that discovered the curly gene (aka trichohyalin) are now working on creating a pill that would "cure" genetically textured locks.

This pill would render relaxers, texturizers, and flatirons obsolete--but it could also signal the end of luscious, Tracee Ellis Ross-type curls, forever.

The thing is, if scientists can isolate the gene that causes curly hair, what's to stop them from one day reversing or removing the gene altogether? It's a chilling thought..." Read Tia Williams post on Essence.com

Apparently, the "curly hair gene" might be of help to law enforcement officials as well, helping them determine the hair texture of the assailant from genetic material left at the scene of a crime.

Professor Nick Martin, the scientist who reported discovering the tricohyalin gene several years ago, says it may be possible to come up with treatments (emphasis mine) to make hair straighter rather than relying on heated hair straighteners. According to the online magazine Naturallycurly.com, he claims that further development and marketing strategies are in the works. Last December, he said, “I will be discussing this with a major cosmetic company in Paris in January."

By the way, the company is L'Oreal.


The folks at NaturallyCurly.com aren't too thrilled about it.
They posted this editorial back in 2005:

"When you think of a pill, you think of something designed to heal an illness. That is why we at NaturallyCurly.com are appalled by L’Oreal Paris’ announcement that researchers are developing a pill to straighten hair.

Popping a pill, they claim, could turn curly hair straight and vice versa by changing the hook-shaped hair bulb. The thought that people would be swallowing hormones to straighten their hair is a terrifying prospect.

In addition to the possible health implications of ingesting something powerful enough to change your hair, it sends a negative message to people with curly and kinky hair.

We at NaturallyCurly.com do not believe curly hair is something to be cured. We are not against straightening curls, but do not believe people should feel that they have to do so to be attractive.

We would urge the scientists at L’Oreal to focus on those ailments that truly need fixing."

The National Science Foundation is, of course, on the opposite side of the issue.

They created the video below to praise the potential benefit of genetic manipulation of hair texture. It's discussed within the context of the treatment of a disease of hair growth referred to as "Wooly Hair".

They were politically correct enough to play down the potential market demand from the general population.



A National Science Foundation Promo Video


Would you take a pill to straighten your coily hair?
Or do you think they'll discover, soon after it's release, that the pill causes you to grow a third eye just to the left of the center of your forehead?


Take the poll in the sidebar.


Peace, love and self-acceptance,
DL

The Big (Top) Chop

Well, I finally tired of the bunching and straggly ends...but didn't quite have the courage to do the BIG, big chop...

...so I chopped the top!

I separated a section of hair from my front hairline to just beyond the crown of my head. I then cut off the permed ends. On the locs that had significant bunching, I cut to the end of the bunching or through the middle of the bunched ends.

Then I tried a braid-out.

It wasn't too difficult to braid, since each loc is at least 6 inches or more, but it was hard to get the blunt ends around a bendable curler rod.

It turned out OK. Not too noticeably different, except that the top is a little fuller and less curly.

I think I will be experimenting with a 'cornrow wet to dry set' on top or perhaps a 'Nubian knot set' next time.

Naturally You! Magazine: Behind the Naps!: No, Texturizers Are Not Natural

Naturally You! Magazine: Behind the Naps!: No, Texturizers Are Not Natural
[^the article that inspired this post]

Lately, I've read a few posts on some natural hair sites that mention the use of texturizers to 'loosen the curl' and help with 'manageability'...and other post that make no bones about rejecting 'texturizers' as 'glorified relaxers' - like Nappturality.

Some of you might remember the old afro 'blow-out' kits. Others might even remember 'conk cream.' Well, texturizers are a modern day version of those old blasts from the past...

Is a texturizer just a glorified relaxer?

A way to deceive oneself that one still has natural hair because it still has some curl?

A way to tell the world that the hair of 'mixed chicks' is just a bit 'better' than that of other African ancestored women who have either no European ancestry, or who happen to have a few more generations between themselves and their European kin?

Does texturizing ones hair subliminally reinforce that old Euro-Brazilian saying: white women for marriage, mulatto women for sex, Black women for work?

Or is texturizing one's hair merely a preference, completely detached from, and not at all influenced by acculturation.

I'm particularly interested in reading the opinions of others in light of the preliminary results of the current active poll on this blog. To date, "ease of styling" is the most popular reason given in response to the question, "Why do you straighten your hair?"

Feel free to weigh in.


Hotep