How you wear your hair can have all kinds of perceptions attached to it.  Hairstyles, like clothing, are symbolic;  mourners wear black to a funeral, and perhaps for a time thereafter; an elaborate up-do hairstyle is usually for a formal evening occasion; black tie is strictly formal, regardless of the occasion; business casual means no tie is required; a prom usually means a gown and fancy hairdo; a backyard cookout means shorts, jeans and pigtails, if you like.

In the professions, you will be appearing in front of a judge, other doctors, nurses, high-level management or executive peers.  If you want to be taken seriously, you dress the part.  While it is your right to wear your hair the way you’d like, what about the rest of your “professional costume?”  Whether you like it or not, the entire package is what people see.  To preserve your credibility, you need a good dark suit, conservative shoes and a hairdo that compliments the overall impression.  To put it another way, even if you went in with a relaxed conservative bob, if you were in jeans and flip flops, it would not complete the professional appearance.

The plain fact is that people judge you on what is right in front of their eyes.  It is silly to assume that they will judge you on your good heart, good intentions or sincerity.  They can’t see that.  Be yourself, but be conservative.  If you become Steve Jobs, you can wear jeans and turtleneck everywhere you go–otherwise, be prepared to look the part you are trying to play.

This is a very volatile subject. I’ve worn my hair natural for about 1/2 of my working life. For several of those years, I had dreadlocks. I was fresh out of college, job hunting, and starting my locks (so they were short, furry & crazy). I did score a decent job eventually. Change in management placed a gorgeous, Black Haitian woman as my boss who sported a sharply styled relaxed short cut. She never said anything to me about my dreadlocks, but did voice dismay at another Black co-worker who went back and forth between wearing weaves and her own hair. This co-worker wasn’t fazed…but if it were me, I would have been upset by it.

I went back to relaxing my hair and landed two positions since then. Last year, I stopped perming my hair, so now it is a mix of natural and permed hair. For simplicity sake, I’ve been wearing weaves and wigs. A month ago, and two months after being on the job, I opted to get braid extensions put in. The place where I work is full of White men, and I walked up to one to start a conversation and he looked at me blankly. It took about 2-3 minutes before he realized who I was. He didn’t hesitate to say that he had no idea who I was because I had changed my hair so drastically.

My mother and sisters are a bit more adventurous when it comes to their hair…but I’ve learned from them never to apologize for wearing my hair whatever way. A Japanese co-worker asked me why I need to “do so much” to my hair. I explained that due to damage and the general nature of Black hair, it takes a lot of work to get it looking the way it does.

So I don’t have any first-hand proof, but I do feel that how Black women wear their hair is still an issue in many workplaces.