Texturism
Texturism is the discrimination against tightly coiled afro textured hair in favour of looser hair types. Texturism has it's roots in slavery but it's still alive today. When Solange Knowles became the face of Carol's Daughter's natural hair care brand, it put her hair in the line of fire for criticism. Some social media critics said that Solange's hair looked 'dry' and 'unkempt' and some people complained that she didn't style her hair in defined Twist-Outs. The criticism against Solange's hair was rooted in texturism because the critics expected her to manipulate her hair to hide it's true texture.
In 2011, Rihanna Tweeted the cover art for her single Man Down and a fan replied to the Tweet asking why Rihanna's hair looks 'so nappy'. Rihanna responded by saying: "cuz I'm black bitch!!!!" Rihanna's unapologetically Black comment can be contrasted with Nicki Minaj's rap lyrics about 'nappy headed hoes' needing a perminator. In 2007, Don Imus was fired for calling the women on the Rutgers basketball 'nappy headed hoes' while reporting on a basketball game. DL Hughley discussed Don Imus' comments on a talk show saying: "They weren't hoes but there were some nappy headed women on that team." He then proceeded to say that they were some of the ugliest women he had seen in his whole life.
In an interview with Vlad TV, Apryl Jones was asked what it was like 'growing up mixed...being half Black, half Asian'. Apryl responded by saying that it was difficult because when she lived with her African American grandmother they stayed 'kind of like in the projects' and there was a lot of 'Black, African American kids'. Apryl said that she was the only Mixed girl in her school, before saying that she 'was the only Black girl with like the nice hair'.
Chris Brown was criticised for saying that he only wants to sleep with Black women with "nice hair". Chris Brown was in a highly publicised relationship with Karrueche Tran who has an Asian mother and a Black father, so people assumed that Chris Brown was referring to women like Karreuche when he spoke about only wanting Black women with 'nice hair'. Chris Brown responded to the criticism by calling his critics ugly, mocking women who wear lace front weaves and ridiculing women's edges. In the song 'Ayo', Chris Brown sings about his preference for women with 'real hair' and the video features a scene where a man pulls a Black woman's wig off.
Blue Ivy often wore her hair loose and free and she was the subject of a lot of texturist comments. Whilst co-hosting for BET's 106 & Park, Karrueche Tran read a joke about Blue Ivy's hair not being combed. She quickly apologised but she still received a lot of backlash on social media. Apparently, the joke had been written by a BET writer and Karrueche was reading from the script.
Method Man once told an interviewer that he didn't like 'peasey afros' and 'dreads'. He received a lot of criticism for his comments with many believing that he was suffering from self-hate. Method Man responded to the backlash by saying that he was joking. He didn't seem to understand the significance of his comments and how they could impact the self-image of young children with afro textured hair.
After Jay-Z released The Black Album he sat down for an interview with Sway who questioned him on his lyrics about 'wavy light skinned girls'. Jay-Z replied by indicating that he also had a preference for dark skinned girls with 'baby hair'. Jay-Z seems to have matured with age because he embraces his own afro textured hair on the song 'What We Talkin' About' as he raps: "Check out my hair, these ain't curls these is peas, peasey head still get paid I'm combin' through G's, please".
I took this picture of my hair back in 2016 after placing my hair in more than 600 micro braids which I then grew into braidlocs. When my Nigerian friend saw the picture he joked that I wouldn't be able to get a comb through my hair. His joke was texturist because it implied that all hair is supposed to be combed.
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| @akon via Instagram |
Akon highlighted the issue of texturism when he featured on India Arie's single, 'I Am Not My Hair'. In the opening verse Akon sings: "And my hair, I tried it all I even went flat, had a lumpy curly top and all that crap, now just tryin' to be appreciated, Nappy headed brothers never had no ladies." Like Akon, many Black women are probably 'just tryin' to be appreciated'. Movies, television shows and music videos rarely feature women with afro textured hair as the love interest. This sends a message to young girls telling them that their hair isn't desirable. Considering this, I'm not surprised that some Black women choose to wear straight wigs on a regular basis.
Beyoncé was featured on the cover of Sophisticate's Black Hair Magazine after the release of Austin Powers In Goldmember in 2002. She looked absolutely stunning with her hair in various afro styles so I was surprised to read that she had received negative reactions from people. Beyoncé told the Magazine that people had told her that her hair looked 'ugly' and they had ridiculed her for wearing her hair naturally.
In 2012, I published a free online bookazine to promote loving acceptance of afro textured hair and I featured interviews with some of my favourite natural hair YouTubers. I posted the interview with Pretty Dimples on www.afrotexturedhair.com along with a post discussing the concept of "Good Hair". God didn't make a mistake when he created afro textured hair so it's nothing to be ashamed of.