 |
| Image: IG |
For Maraji, learning to wear her natural hair wasn't something that happened overnight. It began with questions she couldn't ignore and eventually changed the way she looked at beauty, wigs and the expectations many Black women grow up with.
Speaking about her experience, the content creator recalled a time when she genuinely believed there was something wrong with Black hair. Looking back, she said that mindset pushed her to find out more about the hair growing from her own scalp instead of constantly covering it.
"Why are we the only group of people who have to wear another texture of hair to feel beautiful? Why are we the only people who have to protect our hair? Like, put it in cornrows and then wear another texture of hair.
Like, why did God decide that Black people would not have good hair? That was a thought. That was a mentality that was in my head.
That made me want to know my hair. That made me want to understand my hair. So I started wearing my hair.
I started putting it in a bun. It was really short, but I just wanted to wear my hair. I was washing it as much as I could, and then I started to enjoy my hair."
She explained that the more she embraced her natural hair, the more she found herself questioning the idea of keeping it hidden for long periods under wigs and extensions. While she made it clear that she appreciates hairstyles like cornrows, all-back and shuku, she said she no longer agrees with the belief that Black hair constantly needs to be "protected."
"And that was when I started hating the idea of protective styles. Genuinely. Every time I hear that phrase, it annoys me.
It really does. I understand that you might want to put your hair in cornrows. Cornrows are beautiful. All-back is fine. Shuku is nice. Those are beautiful, elegant hairstyles.
But the idea that we are constantly protecting the hair annoys me because no other group of people keeps their hair locked away 12 months a year. The idea that they are protecting it. From what?
Most Africans have the thinnest hair. We cannot afford to be wearing the kind of attachments we are wearing. But we are the ones who do the most when it comes to our hair."
Maraji also remembered an experience from years ago when she appeared on Rubbin' Minds with Ebuka. She said she wore her own hair in a bun with a fake afro attachment, but what stood out to many people wasn't the hairstyle itself it was the assumptions they made because she wasn't wearing a conventional wig.
"Years back, this was when I went for my interview with Ebuka on Rubbin' Minds. Because that day I packed my hair and put on a fake afro bun, people were like, 'Is she Deeper Life?' I'm Deeper Life because I want my natural hair?".
She went on to express her frustration with what she sees as a growing tendency to judge women who choose to wear their own hair, while placing expensive wigs on a pedestal. According to her, wealth and success have little to do with whether someone wears a wig.
"And what really annoys or irritates me more is when I see people who think that because they have the most expensive wigs, they talk down on people who decide to actually wear their own hair.
That's why when that billionaire lady who was recently interviewed by the white guy had shuku on her head, everybody was like, 'Ah-ah, billionaires do shuku?'
Here in Ghana, I meet a lot of rich women. And when I mean they never have a wig on their head, it's always me. Me wearing a wig makes them laugh.
I'm the one always wearing the wig, and the people I'm talking to, who have assets, lands, cars, and houses, are wearing locs. They have locs. Or they have natural hair. Or they have it in a bun. Or they have relaxed hair. Like, it is the one that grows on their scalp.
But me, my whole head is 'rich aunty,' yes."
For Maraji, choosing to wear her natural hair became more than a style preference. It challenged long-held beliefs she once accepted and led her to question why so many Black women feel they have to rely on wigs and hair attachments before feeling beautiful.
#Maraji
#NaturalHair
#BlackHair
#WigCulture
#BeautyStandards
No comments:
Post a Comment