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Do white people care how black women wear their hair?

Do white people have an opinion on ethnic hairstyles

  • As long as said ethnic hairstyle looks kept, I don't care

    Votes: 5 9.6%
  • I think ethnic hairstyles such as afros and dreadlocks are unprofessional

    Votes: 3 5.8%
  • I think straight hair looks better on black women

    Votes: 4 7.7%
  • I've never even gave it a thought

    Votes: 44 84.6%

  • Total voters
    52

herenow1

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In the blogworld ppl are commenting on Michelles hair at different events and it sparked this question. If Michelle wore her hair with an afro and a headband, or had manicured locs, or didn't have a relaxer, or didn't use heat, would the world look at her differently? Would people automatically assume she doen't take pride in her appearance?
 
I like braids. And natural. And straight. And curled.

The only black hairstyles that I don't like are a jheri curl (because all that oily crap is just NASTY) and dreads (which always look dirty).

You need an other option on your poll.
 
The fact that some hairstyles might be associated with certain races or ethnicity is irrelevant and not a free pass to look unprofessional. I think certain hair styles or even clothing can be considered unprofessional depending on the type of business. For example a a afro, mohawk, spiky hair,leather jacket with chains, jeans with holes, a t-shirt that says I **** on the first date and a ****load of piercings can be considered unprofessional in corporate business world, while a neatly trimmed hair and business suit are appropriate.A business suit and neatly trimmed hair would be considered unprofessional if you worked at a music store, Hot Topic, a store that specializes in urban clothes and certain other stores that sell an image. A woman showing up in Hajib to work as a waitress at Hooters would be unprofessional in that environment. Showing up to formation dressed up as a hippy when you are in the military would be considered unprofessional(unless there is a training exercise that requires that you show dress as a scumbag for some training simulation).
 
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I don't like fro's, never did. Makes the white or black hair look unkempt and too dry. Never have seen a person with curly hair that looked good unless it's really close to the scalp short. The dreadful locks are just that, it speaks for itself.

Most black people know that straight hair looks best, and they go to extraordinary lengths to get it. Ever notice white women always go for the curly perms when they get old? Prolly cause it's easier to care for, but it still looks bad.

The black men look best shaved or close to the scalp like Obama. He does need to get rid of the pleated pants, however. Flat front pants look best.

I think Michelle Obama's hair is beautifully coiffed, and she is beautiful. She's too good for Barack in MHO. I'll bet her Momma thinks so, too. I wonder if they've ever talked divorce. First AA couple files for divorce while still in the White House. I always thought Hillary was going to divorce old Bill, and she didn't, so I'm not doing so hot on my bets.:3oops::lol:

I had a black woman doctor once, and she had one of those new fashioned, black hairdos. It was really curly and spiky. She looked unprofessional. It made her look too with it, but not in a good way. JMHO.

I believe if Michelle went Afro it would look unprofessional. It looks like a hairdo for people who don't care, and you have to be extraordinarily beautiful to pull it off. I wouldn't like it on our First Lady, but on anybody else it depends how well she is dressed otherwise. Afro says casual to me. Laura Bush had better hairdos than Hillary, but Hillary is on and off with the hair. Sometimes it's ok, and sometimes it's not.
 
I'm not offended so much by ethnic hair-styles as by ethnic language distortions...

By boyfriend didn't axe me to the dance so I hit him upside the head with a frying pan.

:doh
 
I should have posted some example pics. Here's a slideshow of beautiful women w/ well kept locs. I had a friend who had nics locs who told me it was a myth that they don't wash their hair(altho some ppl choose not to) as she washed hers quite regularly.

Slideshow

A few pics of non-relaxed, non-heat applied black hair styles

[[url]http://www.the411onhair.com/image-files/black-woman-photo-face.jpg/img][/url]

[img]http://www.concreteloop.com/g_images/new/yaya2.jpg

seventies-hairstyle5.jpg


short_hair_1_large.jpg
 
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What's the point of this thread?
 
I don't give a damn what hairstyle *ANYONE* wears, except in those specific instances where I have to care. If my employee showed up to work with a mohawk, I'd care and it wouldn't be because of their skin color. Otherwise, do whatever you want to do, you make a choice and you live with the consequences, if there are any, of your decisions.
 
Who gives a crap?
 
If you're over 16, any race and have a job or plan on having a job. You shouldn't have braids, dreads, mohawks, fauxhawks, buns, etc. But that's just me. Some things just don't look professional. Erykah Badu having an afro? Understandable. She's an artist. Michelle Obama having a fro? Bit unbecoming of a first lady. Obama's kids having braids or fros? Don't really care. They are kids.
 
If you're over 16, any race and have a job or plan on having a job. You shouldn't have braids, dreads, mohawks, fauxhawks, buns, etc. But that's just me. Some things just don't look professional. Erykah Badu having an afro? Understandable. She's an artist. Michelle Obama having a fro? Bit unbecoming of a first lady. Obama's kids having braids or fros? Don't really care. They are kids.

I don't understand why natural black hair, sans processing, isn't considered professional. Can you explain? I've seen some very nice-looking braids and afros.
 
I don't understand why natural black hair, sans processing, isn't considered professional. Can you explain? I've seen some very nice-looking braids and afros.

To me they remind me too much of some of my less, refined friends in California. I associate braids with gangbanging(Being in a gang. Not the other one) and Fros are for me associated with the 60s and 70s black power movements. It's also a matter of aesthetics. I know many people who have 'afros' and work in very professional environments however to me they simply don't look 'clean'. But it's not a race thing. It's just my own perception of what looks good in a professional working environment and what doesn't.
 
I think most ppl don't have a problem with braids as long as they are extensions, or teeny tiny small. I see nothing unprofessional about this womans hair.

index.1.jpg
 
I think most ppl don't have a problem with braids as long as they are extensions, or teeny tiny small. I see nothing unprofessional about this womans hair.

index.1.jpg

Again, I'm going to have to ask -- what's the point of all of this?
 
Who gives a crap?

You'd be surprised how much talk is put into the matter. Chris Rock and Halle Berry both are coming out with movies/documentaries over this very subject . Chris Rock is doing a documentary called ''Good hair''. It exposes the dangers of the harsh chemicals in relaxers, how constant heat damages their hair etc. It talks about how black women(in general) are only accepted in places if their hair meets the European standard. Black hair is a booming buisness, and black women spend the most on hair products(including fake hair). Here you can see that anything that doesn't look straight or Europeanish, it is not accepted, even though their hair is completely different in texture. Why should anyone be ashamed of the hair God gave them? I've seen black women with a coily defined afro, and they had nice accesories and a nice headband to go with it. Why should she be considered unprofessional, all b/c she is wearing her hair in her natural state...unaltered?
 
In the blogworld ppl are commenting on Michelles hair at different events and it sparked this question. If Michelle wore her hair with an afro and a headband, or had manicured locs, or didn't have a relaxer, or didn't use heat, would the world look at her differently? Would people automatically assume she doen't take pride in her appearance?

I would consider her appearance pretty strange if she had an afro but it wouldn't alter my perception of her as a person or a political figure.
 
Here you can see that anything that doesn't look straight or Europeanish, it is not accepted, even though their hair is completely different in texture.

Where's "here"? I was in corporate America for a long time, working for some very large corporations in very conservative businesses, and non-"Europeanized" hair was never a problem, even if exaggerated, over-the-top styles were . . . and that was true no matter the race.
 
You'd be surprised how much talk is put into the matter. Chris Rock and Halle Berry both are coming out with movies/documentaries over this very subject . Chris Rock is doing a documentary called ''Good hair''. It exposes the dangers of the harsh chemicals in relaxers, how constant heat damages their hair etc. It talks about how black women(in general) are only accepted in places if their hair meets the European standard.

Well, I think if you own a business you are free to decide who to hire. So if you don't like someone's hair I'm fine with you not hiring them. But white people, for the most part, don't care how black women wear their hair. Except for dreads maybe. Because, let's face it, dreads are dirty and gross. But that would apply to white dudes with dreads, too.
 
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