:: Going Natural - Part 1, 2

Disadvantages of cutting it off
This info comes from K Lynn at http://www.hairfoodforthought.com/physical5.htm. Visit her for more great information for those joining the nappy ranks.

The biggest disadvantages to cutting all the relaxed hair off at once come under three categories: the shock of having short hair, the shock of having nappy hair, and the shock of having short nappy hair. Note that if we lived in a society that believed in true hairstyling choice and didn't lean so heavily on a single hair ideal (long and straight), we wouldn't need to have this discussion.

The shock of having short hair

Most women, regardless of race and hair texture, have a hard time going from long hair to short, particularly if they've been conditioned to associate long hair with femininity. I knew a white woman with waist-length hair who had to cut her hair in stages---first to bra-strap length, then to shoulder-length---before she was ready to go super short. And she had never had a problem growing her hair long…so you know that most black women, who not only associate long hair with femininity but view the growing of long hair as a lengthy and difficult task, are going to have a hard time going the "cut it off" route.

I have noticed that most of the women who balk at cutting their hair off fall into one of two categories: either they have always had long hair and are used to the security and accolades that having long hair brings, or they have always struggled to have long hair and believe the classic myth that nappy hair doesn't grow as fast as less-than-nappy hair. I wish I had a dollar for every discussion forum post I've read from women who fear that by cutting their hair off, they will never have long hair again.

Well, guess what? Nappy hair grows just like every other kind of hair. It may take a while before you and other people around you see length, but it will happen…assuming you understand your hair and are taking proper care of it.

Another common set of reasons I hear women give for not cutting their hair off concerns the shape of their head or face: "I don't have the right face shape for short hair," "My forehead is too big," "My head is too bumpy," and so on. While I'm willing to acknowledge that there are folks who probably shouldn't shave their heads completely, I believe that there is a TWA out there for every kind of head. People tend to think of TWAs as being one-dimensional, when the truth is that if you have enough new growth, a skilled stylist or barber can shape the hair to suit anyone's head…even yours.

Personally speaking, I have yet to see a sister of any shape who couldn't rock a TWA…but part of that may also have to do with the psychological transition I made. Without that psychological transition, you do have to make a leap of faith.

The shock of having nappy hair

You would think that most of us who have relaxed for years would know "what lies beneath," so to speak. No matter how much mental and emotional preparing you may have done beforehand, if you have grown up thinking (consciously, subconsciously, or unconsciously) that nappy hair on women is unacceptable, and you cut your relaxed hair off for the first time, and you have forgotten what your natural hair texture used to be like---basically, if you're like most black women who go natural after years of relaxing---you WILL experience a shock at seeing your hair's texture. It won't look or feel anything like what you're used to.

Hopefully you will have enough information under your belt about hair care such that you can approach your new hair in the spirit of self-discovery…and as you continue to make the psychological transition, you will be able to see the beauty in your hair that our current culture chooses to ignore.

For some women, the shock of having their naps all out in public for people to see is minimal. Other women never get past the shock. It all depends on how well each woman goes through that all-important psychological transition.

The shock of having short nappy hair

This is elementary, really: In our society, who wears short nappy hair the most? Black men. Depending on your personal tastes and style prior to going natural, this little fact may affect you in a big way.

At the time I went natural, I was never really a big makeup-and-jewelry kind of girly-girl, and so it should come as no surprise that, in the first month or so after cutting most of my hair off, I was mistaken for a man twice. Minimalist that I was, even I wasn't trying to pass as a man, so I did increase the makeup and supersize the earrings somewhat. But ultimately, because that wasn't my style, I went back to my same-old same-old---simple earrings, a touch of lipstick---and except for one other occasion in which I was wearing a hat, I was never again mistaken for a man while wearing a TWA.

And then there's the whole lesbian thing, which, again, may affect you differently depending on what type of person you are. (Of course, if you're already a lesbian, all of this is moot.) Understand that you cannot change what other people think…you can only change what YOU think and how YOU see YOURSELF. In my case, I didn't allow myself to be bothered by other people's assumptions about my sexuality simply because my hair was short.

If you're a typical black woman and this is your first time wearing a TWA, you probably were barely walking the last time your hair was this short and this nappy all at the same time. Unless you happen to have a wig and/or a set of scarves that can go with all of your outfits, you're pretty much stuck with it until your follicles produce enough hair that can be straightened or have extensions attached.

This is when you need to focus on the good things about having short nappy hair. Some of these things Lonnice Bonner describes in Good Hair: minimal upkeep, the inability to have a bad hair day, not having to worry about the weather, etc. For me, after 18 years of struggle, the freedom that came with giving in and learning about my natural hair really motivated me to stick with being natural.

Fortunately---and I'm walking, talking, proof of this---hair does grow.

If you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed a common thread running through all of these disadvantages: the need to undergo a PSYCHOLOGICAL change in how you think about hair. I go into detail about this elsewhere.