the (condensed) narrative life of my hair

Recently I straightened my hair for character I portrayed in a play. I hadn't straightened my hair in over 6 years. Crazy. In the space of 2 weeks I experienced all of the emotions (baggage) that come with being a black woman in this image obsessed reality that is my 20s/the entertainment industry/los angeles. I remember in high school being so at war with my hair. I hated the texture. I hated that I could never just "throw it in a pony tail" and get on with my day. I hated having to spend precious time and energy planning what I was going to do next, and then spend even more of my life executing that plan. And most of all I hated the cycle of having to get it done every two weeks, or once a month, and "retouched" with relaxer every 6 weeks, and getting annoyed when my natural texture started to grow in...the madness of it all. It sounds like torture doesn't right?

It wasn't until my senior year that I started to question any of it. When I was making my documentary for Mr. Cohen's TV Studio class: In the Kitchen, A Hair Story. A lot of people thought the title came from the fact that a lot of black people do their hair in the kitchen when they're at home, and yes that's true, I feel way more comfortable washing my hair in the kitchen sink than I do in the shower. But I'm actually talking about something else. The Kitchen is the back of your head, just above your neck, where the hair is the kinkiest and hardest to comb through, as in "Girl, your kitchen is looking kind of rough..." All black women know about the kitchen. Anyway, this critical perspective on the relationship between black women and our hair, made me realize that I have choices. Perms, relaxers, press and curls, extensions. They're not good or bad (and neither is hair--it's very taboo to tell a black woman is that she has "good hair"), but they are optional. So I chose out.

Having straight hair again was a good experience for a few days--a novelty. It's nice to know that with $50 I can change my look so dramatically. I am an actor afterall, so drama that I can manipulate is good. But at the end of the day, it just doesn't work for my lifestyle any more. I do yoga now, and the room gets very humid and sweaty. I like working out in the morning, and not having to think about how I'm going to wear my hair when I wake up. Because I don't wear it at all. Because it's just there, and we have a great relationship :)