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Before I joined Twitter, when I only had Woke Facebook, I once made the mistake of asking a group of therapists how unprofessional they thought it was to show up to a session with wet hair.
Honest question. Asking for a friend. That friend being me.
Guess what happened next?
Honest question. Asking for a friend. That friend being me.
Guess what happened next?
Why, I got schooled on the white supremacy of the question, of course.
The question, obviously heavily influenced by, well, my own hair type, showed a lack of regard & understanding for different ethnicities’ hair styling needs.
The question, obviously heavily influenced by, well, my own hair type, showed a lack of regard & understanding for different ethnicities’ hair styling needs.
I hadn’t adequately researched how black people’s hair responds to moisture differently, how brown people’s thick wavy locks take hours to dry, or the role water plays in keeping a look in place for some people.
By asking if it was unprofessional to come to a session with wet hair, I was flaunting the white privilege inherent in having long, straight hair that can dry naturally in a couple hours or be blow-dried in 15 minutes.
I was also allegedly putting people down for having different hair styling needs or looks. Apparently, even if someone’s curly hair is best coiffed when wet & looks gorgeous that way, now I’ve gone & made that person feel bad about herself & her hair’s professionalism.
Notably absent was any guilt tripping over how my question showed a lack of regard for bald men. Apparently not all questions have to be inclusive of men when you’re talking to a group of therapists.
I grew up surrounded by black people & somehow it still hadn’t occurred to me to think through their unique hair styling needs prior to asking my egregious question. How ignorant. But any opportunity to be schooled on racism & white privilege shouldn’t be missed, right?
…or not?
Have we gone astray?
What’s wrong with this picture?
Have we gone astray?
What’s wrong with this picture?
Yesterday I asked my partner, a bald man, the same question. I was running late to work, needed to wash my hair & didn’t have time to dry.
He said if he were a client, he wouldn’t notice.
He asked if the client was male. I said yes.
He said, “he won’t notice.”
The end. 🤷🏻‍♀️
He said if he were a client, he wouldn’t notice.
He asked if the client was male. I said yes.
He said, “he won’t notice.”
The end. 🤷🏻‍♀️
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