Una corriente de mujeres naturalistas reivindica su derecho a mantener su pelo rizado

Protests in South Africa against a school that forced black students to smoothed their hair

My hair and me: "Everyone seems to want the hair that does not have"

"I'm going to tell you one thing, White is desperate to get a skin tone similar to black, and black kill for White's hair,".And so it is.One of the most shocking clashes when arriving in Africa is noticing that the preconceived idea that women have such unthinkable Afro -style hairstyles for Westerners is not something so common.The reality is that the dreadlocks that Bob Marley put so fashionable in the 70s and the impossible hairstyles of the members of Bonnie M or Jackson Five, are a mere illusion in African lands.African hair has its peculiarities and keeping it beautiful is not always easy.

It does not grow much and it is difficult to comb, so that extensions and wigs are key elements in the beauty of women.On average, an African changes hairstyle every two or three weeks, dependent on its purchasing power and whether it has wigs or not.A synthetic wig will allow not having to suffer pain in the hairdresser to braid all the hair and have more comfortable, manageable hairstyles that do not force him to pay so much attention to the care.However, cultural roots are completely lost when they see an African with a hair as smooth as a Japanese.

Many have enriched themselves with the insecurity of women regarding their curls.According to the latest data consultant data, Euromonitor International, more than one billion dollars in shampoos, relaxing and hair lotions were sold in South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon in 2013, and believe that the liquid hair care market for liquid hairAfrica could grow around 5% in 2018.However, this report excludes the large dry hair market, which encompasses the extensions and wigs made of synthetic fiber, yak hair or human hair whose annual gains reach 6 billion a year.

The debate about African beauty has gone through various scenarios.The chasted beauty canon is trying to look 'western'.But while many are stubborn in Beyoncé's hair, who probably abuses extensions like any other African -American, there are those who claim African beauty as it is and prefer to follow the example of the Oscar -winning Lupita Nyong'o, who runs away fromThe extensions and synthetic wigs and prefers to leave their hair as it is: shaved or with a shy tendency to the Afro.They are African naturalists.

Three weeks ago, several students from a school of Pretoria (South Africa) were forced to smoot.After a demonstration of parents at the door of the school, the Pretoria High School Girls -only for Blancas -, the provincial government immediately suspended the section dedicated to the hairstyle of the students in the Code of Center of Center of the Center, which set at 10 millimetersin diameter the maximum dreadlocks.

Im Learning How To Cook and I Just Made Sum Bomb Tortellini 😌

— Carlos Perez Tue Jul 27 04:06:20 +0000 2021

The 'Afro' is beautiful

One of the very many that the colonialism brought was to criminalize natural hair, making all women feel inferior to the females of other races.The established beauty ideal is, in general, a long smooth mane, regardless of the provenance of women.Decades later, African inheritance is a source of pride, and hair is a clear example of it.The African naturalist movement advocates returning to African traditions, giving prominence to curls and avoiding the use of any skin bleach in the skin.

These women prefer to let and try to tame their natural hair, instead of subjecting their hair to chemical treatments or putting synthetic or human hair extensions.And more and more are those that prefer to show an Afro image, which translates into great self -confidence.

It is evident that the continued use of abrasive products to control rebel hair damages the scalp and, in the long run, hinders natural hair growth.Braids are also very painful.A hairstyle with extensions usually costs between three and five euros in a beauty salon in Nairobi (Kenya) and allows women to keep the hairstyle a couple of weeks without combing it to comb it.

"We all grow with the idea that we will have to submit sooner or later to treatments to domesticate our hair, because it is what is always done," explains a stylist from Nairobi.But now, thanks to movement, groups on social networks and the exchange of experiences with photographs and through blog tutorials, curls are increasingly a reason for pride.

Websites as Africanaturalists.com offers new adherents to the trend advice on how to tame their rebel curls, how to take care of their hair and those of their daughters and what products are the most suitable for each hair."Some women were tired of spending so much time and money on hairdressers.While others ended burns in the scalp, in addition to having lost enough hair because of the painful chemical processes, "they say.

Skin bleaches

But not only hair is subject to nonconformity.So is skin color.The controversial Michael Jacksontrajo both good and wrong for the black community.His skin whitening treatments were pure extremism, but they gave wings to whom they wanted to mitigate the blackest skin.

His sister Janet Jackson is another example of African -American who has reduced the intensity of the color of his skin, as well as the singers Rihanna and Beyoncé, whose tones have been visibly clarified from the beginning of their races to the present.Without the need to spend a lot.

Three years ago, a study by the University of Cabo de Cabo revealed that one in three women in South Africa whites their skin for various reasons, but the main one is that "they want a whiter skin because it makes them feel more beautiful and safe" ".

The majority of those interviewed by the study defended that this treatment was a personal choice and does not differ from "becoming surgery or implants";Another trend that naturalists criticize for the western submission that hides behind, and that affects both men and women.

The World Health Organization (WHO) then published a report indicating that Nigerians are the largest consumers of such products: 77% of Nigerian women use it on a regular basis, followed by Togo's women (59%), South Africa (35%) and Mali (25%).