Denise
The Good and Bad about Good Hair
By Denise Metoyer
When Chris Rock came out with the movie “Good Hair” which chronicles the lengths to which African Americans go to care for their hair, the comedian struck a nerve among the city’s African Americans. In a series of interviews, people who saw the movie and also some hair care professionals expressed their opinions. “
The definition of good hair is hair when it is in its natural state . The texture of hair that you are born with is good hair. Hair that has not been processed with chemicals is what I call good hair,” said Alphonso Alexander owner of Showtime Hair Salon in Brooklyn.
Chris Rock decided to do this documentary after one of his daughters said she wished she had good hair. Her statement implied that because her hair is coarse and thick, it is bad hair.
At the Showtime Hair Salon in Brooklyn. Photo by Carolyn Ho
The movie featured a variety of African American stars such as actresses Nia Long and Raven Symone, poet Maya Angelou, civil rights activist Al Sharpton and other African American celebrities. These stars all shared on the big screen their experiences with hair and all its essentials. The documentary movie walked its audience through the process in which African American women spend time and money on their hair. The movie has raised some eyebrows as well as deep emotional feelings that plague the African American community. It is about hair texture and the myth that straight hair or curly hair is better than kinky hair.
The versatility of black hair and hairstyles worn by black women appeared to have come under criticism in the movie “Good Hair.”
There has been a backlash of mixed feelings and some feel that the movie was so critical of the hair weaving industry that it has cost some financial constraints on the weaving business.
“Customers have seen the movie and they started to think more cost effectively and are now hesitant at getting weaves. I think the movie was bad for business. Times are already hard and I have to cut back but now I have clients who do not want to spend money on a weave after watching the movie,” said Sandra Hurd , hairdresser and manager of Gye-nyame Hair Gallery, an upscale salon in Brooklyn’s Park Slope.
Hurd said the average cost of a weave ranged anywhere from $150 to $1,500. “There are lace weaves, then there are the weaves in which we braid the hair and sew it in,” Hurd said “The weaves that are sewn in usually cost $300. I charge $150 for service and the hair alone can cost $150. I work with pride and I want the best for my clients, so the best can be costly.” When asked why she thought hair was so important to women, Hurd replied, “Hair is the beauty of a woman. Hair brings out a woman’s beauty.”
(Photos by Carolyn Ho; Produced by Denise Metoyer)
Unlike Hurd, some said they felt as though there was no secret to African American women and their hair because it is talked about publicly. Gabriel Freeman who had just finished watching the movie at 42nd Street Cinema in Times Square spoke of his experience. “I am a man who has went through a variety of hair styles. Yes, men change their hair too,” he said.
Freeman said he started off as a child with an afro who then went to a crew cut. Freeman’s biggest challenge was when he wore dreadlocks in the 1990s. “Often nowadays, dreadlocks are more of a fashion statement, but when I wore them, the perception was that I had bad hair and it was tangled,” Freeman said
Asked what he thought of the movie, Freeman said the movie goes beyond hair and really deals with the self hate that a lot of African Americans have carried with them throughout history. “ Why is everything associated with us as blacks considered not acceptable?” Freeeman asked. Freeman said he always wondered why is that some Blacks deny the natural state of their hair and why is it that hair imported from India and Korea is marketable but if there was hair imported from Africa with a more coarse texture—it would not be marketable.
Freeman said he was once bald as well because of a mishap when cutting his hair. As of now, Freeman sports a very short haircut and he said he finds that people can see the texture of his hair and so he has been told that he has “good hair.”
Jacqueline Segui, spoke of “Good Hair” at the Regal Cinema movie theater in downtown Brooklyn. “I think the phrase good hair is an unfortunate one. By making the statement good hair you have already made the proposition that there is bad hair.”
Segui also said she felt this sets up a level of judgment from a person’s earliest years and sets up how they are viewed by others and how they in turn learn to view themselves.
Segui further commented that the use of the word good hair in terms of how it relates to the differences in textures of black hair has determined what we as black people consider beautiful among ourselves. “ The softer the hair, the looser the curl the better. “
Segui also said that there is this beauty burden especially placed on black females to have straight long hair and she feels it can lead to differences in how children are treated which in turn can lead to serious self esteem issues.
Video: Watch the Weave (By Anna Zhu)
Onica Cupido, a passerby on the street, had not seen the movie but had strong opinions about the term good hair. Cupido, who is an African- American mother raising a half Korean son said, “I don’t like the term good hair at all. All hair is good. Most people use that term to mean hair that has been processed so it’s straight or when someone is mixed and their hair is of a softer texture.”
Cupido admitted that she has an issue with her son’s hair. She further said that she had hoped her son would have hair texture closer to hers. “ His hair is a mixture of his dad’s and mine. It’s thick like mine and a bit wavy but soft like his dad’s,” said Cupido.
Cupido also shared her opinion of high- priced weaves. “I wonder why women feel that need? What really is the driving desire for them to do that?” Cupido felt that when people shop for something it is to fill a basic need, food, clothing, personal beauty items. “ To spend all that time and money on a hair weave is insane. But maybe the pressure to look a certain way is what motivates these women.”
“ What’s the need to provide something like this…also why is it marketed to the minority community? Sometimes you have to see the story behind the madness,” Cupido said.
