The second in the series of four women’s hair epiphanies that I’m discussing here is told by an African-American woman, Chee, who talks about pressure to have straighter hair than she could ever hope for naturally. She calls the first relaxing service a black girl’s “rite of passage into womanhood.” Eventually, Chee rebelled and did a 180, chopping off 21 years of relaxed hair growth in favor of a tiny-short, non-haircolored, completely natural afro. She had not anticipated the reaction her new look inspired from both friends and strangers. People assumed she’d become more of an activist for African-American causes. Yet she hadn’t changed at all.

I relate to Chee’s story. After I’d finished chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, as soon as my hair had grown back enough to provide head cover I stopped wearing bandanas and wigs. Suddenly people started paying attention to me in a different way. I realized that my hair communicated the image of a more daring person than I am—perhaps a radical feminist or fashion pioneer or free spirit, certainly someone confident in her facial features.

I let my hair grow so that I could be me, and now Chee has arrived at an in-between point of partially relaxing and coloring her hair when she feels like it. If you can identify a woman’s political self-image, you’ll be of great help in choosing a hair design that makes her comfortable in her own scalp. Read the whole Chee tale by clicking here.

Photo: Hair by Irene Meikle for Mizani.