HAIR PRIDE: my hair could cost me my job!

I cannot deny the love I have for my hair, it is a symbol of who I am but it is such a shame that I did not know my real hair texture until last year. Since birth, my hair had been chemically altered to become straight. I did not know how my own hair felt and I didn’t accept it. The scary thing is that I may be forced to wear my hair straight hair to work, to hide myself because my hair doesn’t look professional.

Employers are allowed to apply dress codes for their workers and at times women with an Afro are told to either wear a wig or straighten their hair to look professional. If a woman wants to wear a wig it should be her choice and being forced to alter her natural hair should not be allowed.

Even when women with Afro hair are allowed to wear their hair they get unnecessary zoo-like questions like: “can I touch it, do you wash it/ is it dirty and why is it so poofy? Its hair, not an artifact in a Museum! Although we can’t blame anyone as there is a lot of ignorance in the Afro hair department.

To take care of the hair, certain styles need to be adopted as the hair texture is less likely to retain moisture. This means either cornrows (a form of braiding) or protective styling the hair. However cornrowing hair has been connected with gangsters, criminals: “the bad guys”. Should hair that is associated with crime be used in a professional setting? Why is the hairstyle associated with crime in the first place?

Moreover, African hairstyles which were seen as ugly like cornrows and Bantu knots when done on African women are now being seen as trendy because the fashion gurus deem it fashionable. Just because these styles don’t lean towards a certain beauty standard does not mean that they are not beautiful.

Correct me if I am wrong but I have never seen a presenter on BBC, ITV1, or Channel 4 with Afro hair. Back in 2011, Samira Ahmed a senior channel 4 presenter quit her job after her boss said her hair was scruffy and her hair isn’t even as kinky as Afro hair. (Don’t get any ideas kinky means a high intensity of curls or a tight curl pattern)

About 6 months ago Nicola Thorpe from Hackney who works at a consultancy firm was encouraged to go back home to wear a weave to disguise her Afro hair. She also said she was not taken seriously.

What happens to me then? What will my future look like? Will I be told to hide my hair? If I want to wear a wig it should be my choice but I don’t want to be forced to wear it. I want to be a presenter with my big kinky/curly hair but that might not be the case because job security comes before appearance. Maybe I’ll hide my hair and keep it just for the weekends.

Hair is common to all human beings and it is also a means of expressing yourself. Nobody should be told otherwise. Although an Afro isn’t just for those of African Descent, an afro is big and fuzzy and people of all races have this kind of hair even though it is not as kinky as African hair.

Just free the fro and let it grow, having kinky should not be a barrier to work and wearing wigs or weaves should be by choice not by force.