Time to rethink the social stigma around different hair types
Curly hair emojis might talk about inclusivity, but that alone wouldn’t shatter through the hair bias.
Hair counts as the most important thing for many of us and makes us who we are. For a lot of women around the world, makeup and clothing are secondary to their identity. But how do we respond when bias is slapped over our identity? For most curly-haired people, it means rushing to straighten their hair.
Unfortunately, the world has attached a long string of biases when it comes to curly hair. Ask yourselves – is it so challenging to shatter through the biases of hair texture? It’s both a yes and no.
Years of social conditioning have led curly-haired folks to compare their hair with straight and silky hair, which has also been the beauty standard for years. But now is the time to free your curls of heat abuse and embrace them as they are!
Detangling Hair Bias
A pan-India survey revealed that 87% of Indian prefer long and straight hair on women. These stats naturally open doors for curl shaming. What’s more disappointing is curl shaming is pretty much a prevalent phenomenon.
Even when you see FMCG brand advertisements, never have they featured curly or wavy hair; it’s always the straight that gets the preference. Hair bias appears even in workplaces for many afro-origin individuals across borders. It’s shameful how the media trends perpetuate a specific hair type as the beauty standard.
Your Curls Deserve More Â
If you ask curl-haired individuals how they start their day, most would reply – “with straightening products and flat irons.” Aren’t most of us curly-haired folks guilty of doing that? Remember, 60% of this world population is curly-haired, so it’s pretty standard if you have those bouncy and beautiful waves!
Don’t let others rule out what hair type suits you the most. Those heat-based styling tools might seem the need of the hour, but trust us when we say they’re just burning the bridges for you. You can wear your curly hair naturally and still rock any festive, party, or cool dude look. Rather than spending on expensive straightening sessions at salons, invest in quality curl care products to help you build an apt hair regime.
Bridging the Gaps Â
Another thing that adds to the hair bias is the lack of training and education for hair stylists to work with different textured hairs. Only a few professional stylists are adept at properly handling and treating curly or wavy hair.
Simultaneously, this gap in curly hair training also leads to how curly hair folks experience salon services. Not only experts, but most salons do not harbor the right products or tools for this hair type. The way forward is to enhance the self of the salons with the right products and introduce the requirement of curl expertise for stylists. We need to erase the stigma from all touchpoints to beat hair bias.
Stop the Heat Torture
Acceptance is undoubtedly the first step toward helping curly-haired folks from undergoing heat treatments to straighten their hair. It is essential to liberate people from pre-set notions of beauty.
The change of mindset is slowly developing, but the cause can truly be successful when curly is just seen as another hair texture and not a weird hair type. Curlies, it’s time you realize that what you have is no less than a gorgeous crown!
