A Weave Is Not A Protective Style; It’s Just A Weave
Likewise, what used to be about freedom from more European-centric standards of beauty, which meant forgoing all the unnecessary manipulations we put our hair through in an effort to match, or exceed, those standards – has now turned into growth challenges; angry rants about “shrinkage” and stretching; saturating our hairs with products in hopes of “defining curls” and behind the back selfies of women tugging at a small section of their hair and measuring how close it is to reaching BSL, or bra-strap level. It seems that many women don’t just want healthy hair; they just want lots of hair. And I’m not talking about big kinky, curly hair like a Tracy Ross (but that too) but also long hair, the kind you can swing about like your name was Becky. It’s a sad thing to say but the more I observe this heightened emphasis among naturals for “length” and “protection,” the more I realize that many of us have carried much of the same baggage along with us into what was supposed to be a liberating movement.
It’s true whether or not folks are willing to admit to themselves. And no cutesy, made-up technical term is going to hide the fact that many of these weaved-up naturalists are no different than Shay Shay and her best girlfriend LaQuanita, who trek over to the neighborhood Korean beauty supply store and haggle with them over 18”inches of 100 percent Brazilian. They, like our “protective” stylers, want to wear a weave because they want long hair and their nappy, possibly short, hair won’t enable them to have it. Long hair, don’t care. And think I’m lying or misrepresenting? When was the last time you’ve seen someone with a “protective style” get a short nappy weave? Rest my case counselors.
It probably shouldn’t bother me as much as any of the thousands of other contradictory ways in which we choose to live (present company not excluding). But for the last month or so, I have watched as several well-meaning womenfolk, try genuinely to raise both the contradiction and overuse of the term protective styling issue in these hair groups, only to be ostracized and demonized under the hair-slur of Hair Nazi. More than anything, I wanted to write a post to let those sisters know that you’re not crazy or delusional or hating. Many of us have yet to get past the stage of our “transition” where we stop equating length with strength, healthy condition and overall beauty. That’s why we have to exercise some patience even as we continue to set the record straight about the joys of embracing one’s own curl patterns as our personal biology and genetics intended.
Alternatively for my weave-loving sisters: Who cares if you wear a weave? People stopped tripping about that sometime in the late 80s into the early 90s. If I was rocking a weave I would not hide behind Negro-correct terminologies like “protective styling.” I would wear my weave loudly and proudly, testifying to all of its lengthy, straight and flexibility of styling choices it allows me to achieve that I couldn’t achieve naturally. Seriously, it is truly okay. Just don’t try to con the rest of us into accepting your weave as some sort of amendment to natural hair. Truth is, that weave stopped being natural the day it left the head of its original owner.
