I hope you all are having a great evening. Today, I wanted to talk about dealing with natural hair parents. You're probably like, what are you talking about 1BlessedNatural? I'm talking about this:
You've read up on all the natural hair websites and/or books and decide to go natural. You've also talked to your friends who are naturals. After awhile, you start experimenting with your hair. Some things work and others don't, but you accept it as part of the journey. All of a sudden, other naturals come out of the woodwork giving you advice. The advice is appreciated but you dislike one thing... their delivery! After telling one of your friends who is also natural that you are thinking about coloring your hair, her response is that you should not color your hair because you would no longer be natural. Next, you decide you want to use wigs and weave as a protective styles, but your aunt tells you that you would no longer be considered natural.
In my eyes, your friend and aunt are natural hair parents. My definition of a natural hair parent is a natural who criticizes other naturals for not following their hair advice or maintaining their hair the same way. My sister C and I just had a conversation about natural hair parents not too long ago. I've also seen fellow naturals being criticized and having insults hurled at them on YouTube by people who feel like they are not handling their hair the "right" way. That's crazy!
We've discussed natural hair and negative comments on this blog before, and I think natural hair parents are the other extreme. It is a great thing to share advice and pass on the knowledge you've learned. But it is not cool to shut other naturals down because you feel like they are not handling their hair the way you think they should be. When it comes down to natural hair, there are techniques and products that are widely know to work, but they may not work for you and vice versa. That should be understood. You may find similarities in natural hair journeys, but people are different. As a result, everyone's journey is different. If someone is being overly critical about your natural hair maintenance, try asking them if they're your natural hair parents and walk away. (smile)
Are you a natural hair parent? #naturalhairblog
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I hope you've enjoyed reading my post :-) I would love to hear from you... Let me know what you thought :-)