For as long as Black women have existed, there has been someone telling us what we should or should not do with our hair. And not just that, they often have the audacity to assume how much we love ourselves based on said style.
The latest to do so, actor Isaiah Washington.
Earlier this week Washington took to Twitter to express his feelings about the emotional toll experienced by Black women who wear weaves.
While his tweets (yes, there was more than one) didn’t explicitly state that wearing a weave is a form of self-hate one can easily make the inference.
Of course, Black women were quick to set the hair policer straight.
One of the celebrities speaking up about the subject is Vanessa Simmons. The mom and Yummy Extensions ambassador wants the policing of Black women’s hair to stop, and ASAP!
She told ESSENCE that, “if a woman wears a weave it does not mean she doesn’t love herself. It’s just our way of expressing ourselves. And I feel like people need to understand that we aren’t running from who we are or think that we’re another race.”
After a big chop at 26, Vanessa had to learn how to properly care for her natural tresses, which she’s been doing ever since. Part of that is wearing protective styles like cornrows, under wigs and weaves.
“Changing our hairstyle is fun, and that’s what it’s all about — feeling good about yourself and being confident. I think the idea that we hate ourselves based on a hairstyle is the worst hair myth ever,” she says. And we couldn’t agree more!