Despite all this, equating natural hair with good and straight hair with bad is not helpful. As Willi Coleman reminds us, somewhat affectionately:
Used to be
ya could meet
a whole lot of other women
sittin there
along with hair frying
spit flying
and babies crying.
Because, if I’m honest, I remember “hair frying” with something approaching a tiny degree of affection myself. That very particular smell of freshly relaxed hair, the sizzle as the straighteners finished off the look—I can’t deny that it reminds me of how fly, how unstoppable I would feel sashaying out of that salon. The power of Coleman’s poem exists in the tension between the pleasure and the pain of relaxing our hair. I appreciate that she challenges the binary system that defines natural hair as “conscious” or, in more recent parlance, “woke,” while straightened hair is imagined as the default setting for self-hating, internalized oppression. This distinction is not as obvious as it seems. Within a traditional West African aesthetic, the idea of artifice was often highly valued, and we know that hair was rarely, if ever, left out in anything resembling a natural Afro. The range of styles and textures that can be achieved with Afro hair—from relaxer, to weave, to intricate braiding patterns—is evidence of the expertise and creativity that black people, particularly black women, have demonstrated through their hair over millennia.
The extent to which hairstyles conform to European beauty standards is of course not immaterial, but we should also keep in mind that an enduring characteristic of African cultural practices is their seemingly inherent ability to adapt responsively to changing circumstances and the new realities of the environments in which they take place.
This Afro-diasporic cultural tendency does not merely copy, rather it innovates, melding the old with the new and creating something entirely original in the process. Black women might wear their hair straight, but that fact alone does not manifest a slavish reproduction of European aesthetics.* The hair may be worn in gravity-defying constructions or in unnatural colors. Often the price paid for this innovation is the label of “ghetto,” until it is appropriated and becomes alchemically redefined as high fashion.
The temporary decline in black American hair salons, brought about by the “natural” look of Black Power, may have represented the loss Coleman speaks of, but these salons were not the first time in history that black women came together in service of dressing their hair. We know that women gathered to braid their hair in spaces that functioned similarly to the hair salons, where their descendants would meet centuries later to straighten their hair. Whatever the style, whatever the social convention or prevailing aesthetic, hairstyling has been an essential component of a strong visual language that has been passed down through the generations across Africa and her diaspora.
But what exactly is it that we are talking about when we speak of relaxed hair? It’s an innocuous term for a brutal process. This use of euphemistic, gentle language for practices that are anything but sets the tone for how hair and beauty products would be sold to black people over the course of the century since the relaxer was invented.
Despite having my hair chemically relaxed for about fifteen years, I knew or cared little about what was going on on my head. Although I had an awareness that it was toxic and associated with multiple and significant health problems, I remained undeterred. I knew that chemical burns were a recurring reality. After almost every relaxer, I would be left with at least a couple of scabs on my scalp. But these were almost badges of honor, testimony to the fact that the relaxer had taken. Because I associated these scabs with straighter, softer hair, I did not perceive them as negative. I, like most of my peers, conveniently ignored the links between cancer, fertility issues, and the development of fibroids and the chemicals used in straighteners. The cognitive dissonance required to do so horrifies me now, but the stories that we construct to justify all manner of violence we perpetuate against ourselves (and others) are frighteningly powerful. Nonetheless, I’m going to turn now to look at a process whose details I chose to overlook for all those years.
IT’S A DOG’S LIFE
In 1909, Garrett Augustus Morgan was in his Cleveland, Ohio, workshop experimenting with a solution to ease friction in the sewing machines in his tailor’s shop. When Morgan’s wife called him to dinner, he unthinkingly wiped his hands clean on a piece of cloth. Returning to his workshop, he was astounded to discover that the fabric was standing straight up! Curiosity piqued, he applied the mixture to the fur of a neighbor’s dog.
Rover was transformed. Lo and behold, the first documented evidence of a hair relaxer being used! Not the most auspicious of origin stories, but it is what it is.
Morgan established the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company, and the wealth generated from his hair-straightening business allowed him to go on to invent the gas mask, the traffic signal (that’s right, invented by a black dude), and the self-extinguishing cigarette.
The technical term for the process we refer to as hair relaxing or perming (yes, just like perms for Caucasian hair, but the intention here is to straighten, not to make curly) is “lanthionization.” Relaxers deform the elliptical shape of the hair, breaking down the chemical bonds of the hair shaft and restructuring it in a new way. Hair can be relaxed professionally in a hair salon or domestically with over-the-counter relaxer kits. Similarly to applying hair dye, the hair that has been treated grows away from the scalp, requiring a retouch every eight to twelve weeks so that the regrowth is the same texture. Section by section, the solution is applied to the base of the hair shaft with a little brush. The “cooking” process alters the hair’s texture by damaging its protein structure. As a result, over time, the hair can become weakened, resulting in brittleness and breakage. Relaxing has been known to trigger alopecia in many, which results in hair loss and baldness.
Next, the hair is rinsed. Different formulas exist, but the relaxers must be alkaline, so the hair is neutralized or acidified with a suitable shampoo immediately afterward. Hair conditioner is important, as the process strips the hair of its natural oils, again contributing to potential problems.
Cosmetic products are not strictly regulated. As a result, many brands of hair relaxer contain phthalates, which are listed in a number of US states as chemicals of high concern, because they may disrupt endocrine (hormone) systems and can have adverse effects on development and reproduction.
I didn’t know any of this when I was pregnant, but I do remember thinking, Now feels like the time to quit this mess. I also recall my stylist discouraging me from doing so. She explained that if there was ever a time I needed to feel good about my appearance it was now. Disturbing advice and a clear example of the way in which straight hair is associated with confidence and self-esteem.
THERE AIN’T NO BLACK IN THE UNION JACK
By the mid-twentieth century the US had a long-established history of hair straightening, but the situation in Britain was somewhat different. Relaxers weren’t readily available in the UK until after the postwar Caribbean migration. Beryl Giddens, an early migrant, recalls that when she told her uncle about her plans to migrate from Guyana to Britain in the 1950s, his primary advice was hair-related: “Walk with your pressing comb.” At this time, Giddens explains,