Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair, opened Friday to mixed, but frequently positive, reviews. Read the full post.
Oct 12
2009
12:20 PM ET
Good 'Hair?' Hardly. How Chris Rock gets it wrong
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I think people should do with their hair what works for them. My mom never relaxed my hair growing up and I wear my hair natural. My hair was butt length and I cut it recently to bra band length. My hair is wash and go so I don’t spend hours on my hair. My texture is combination wavy, curly and a few coily. I love my hair and find it easy to manage.
However, others may not find their hair easy to manage and should have the choice to do as they choose with their hair without being ostracized. Each person has to find out what works best for them.
Also, I know several white women and latino women with relaxers in their hair and I know several black women with naturally straight hair as well (for some reason people always think their hair is relaxed and they have to tell them no; this is my natural hair texture.)
Hair textures sometimes have very little to do with race. Just go to some naturally kinky or curly hair care websites and you will find many women of different ethnic backgrounds with similar hair textures sharing ideas and products they use and like for their hair care.
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I just watched the documentary “Good Hair” for the 2nd time and I couldn’t watch the entire film. I agree completely with the writer of this post. I am an Black woman with an okay grade of hair and its without a relaxer or weave. Chris Rock is painting black women as having our priorities all screwed up. Most black women I associate with do not have weaves and half of them don’t use relaxers. I feel Chris Rock was trying to make black women look bad. To make a documentary and not do the research is just crazy to me. At one point while he was interviewing black women in one of the salons he was asking them what they did for a living and acted like he was shocked when one woman said she owned her own buisness and another said she was a teacher and in grad school as if black women cant’t have careers and education beyond highschool!!! Unbelievable!!
I just saw the movie and it made a point but they only touched on on this for a minute. When I was young I wore my hair naturally curly. Once I started trying to get promotions and going into management I noticed I was more accepted if my hair was straightened. Also my husband like my hair better straightened. My daughter wanted her hair relaxed at the age of ten because she didn’t like her hair and I was completely against it. She’s an adult now and struggles with her hair as I do spending hours straightening it. She is gorgeous when she puts it in a bun with her beautiful cheek bones and eyes. But then a boy will tell her you should do something with your hair. All the men in the movie talked trash about the weave but they all want someone with long straight hair. What about that?
Is there a soundtrack…Who is the musician for the last score?
2 Thumb up for this article!
For some of us, it’s not that deep. I relax my hair because it’s easier for me to do. Maybe that’s lazy, but there you have it. It’s not self-hate, it’s not a desire to be white. My hair is very thick (even with having a relaxer since the age of 10), and my relaxer gives me more manageability, it’s never been bone straight, because I prefer some texture and fullness. I have managed to maintain long hair (unless I cut it into a short style) because I’m not constantly fooling with it. My hair for me is fun, but not a burden nor an obsession.
And I’m sick and tired of these doctors singling out Black women. I’m almost ready to call this behavior unethical. ANY over-manipulation of hair will cause traction alopecia. That includes too much combing/brushing or blowdrying (something many white women do daily). Yes relaxers are chemicals. And the miss use/overuse of them can cause breakage or hair loss. But so does hair bleaching and dying. Where’s the expose on the dangers of white women “going blonde”? You can’t tell me that the chemicals in relaxers are any worse than those in hair bleach and dyes. And I know white kids who have been having their hair dyed since they were 5 – why isn’t anyone accusing white mothers of child abuse? And there are just as many non-Black women who wear weaves, “extensions”, or whatever they want to call them. Do the Kardashians hate themselves because they wear weaves, too?
Sure we should all embrace our natural selves. But throughout history cultures have embellished themselves with make-up, jewelry, and even hair pieces. Why does a black women with a perm and a weave get this level of anthropologically and sociopolitical scrutiny?
There should’nt be a definition of “good hair”. I’m Indian and even though I have that “Indian Hair” but my hair isn’t good hair either. My hair is flat and I actually want to to put weave in my hair so I can add more volume. So what exactly is Chris Rock trying to say? Like I stated there isn’t a definition of “good hair”.
Excuses!
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Get over it. If you are so focused on what other people may think, then YOU my friend, got bigger issues. This article made me laugh. Everybody is different, dont expect the views of a film to be a biography of you, the viewer. Seems like you were too focused on the negatives and what you didnt agree with in the film. BTW I didnt agree with E.T GOING HOME! But it is what it is.
Alynda Wheat,
I could not disgree more, with- 1. & 3. & 6.- generalizing to far to many people, 4. & 7.- when it is a dangerious to both how people view themselves and especially, Black people, and physical health, then everyone should be concerned and time to ban relaxers and educated that we are all beautiful!
Now, that I think more about what I posted it should have read,
Alynda Wheat,
I could not disagree more, with- 1. & 3. & 6.- generalizing to far too many people, 4. & 7.- when it is a dangerous to both how people view themselves and especially, people of none-dominate cultures of this country, and physical health, than everyone should be concerned and time to ban relaxers and educated that we are all beautiful!
I do not have enough education about White people relaxing their hair, beyond perms- which I really never had and do not THINK damages people’s health.
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