In a hair care world where “straight, shiny and easy to manage” is the ideal, women with naturally coarse hair struggle with issues ranging from damaging products to limits on what activities or pastimes can be enjoyed considering a hairstyle.
“It’s not socially acceptable to have black hair,” said Black Women of Achievement member Sharitha McKenzie, “Like there’s a certain way you’re supposed to look.”
McKenzie, a freshman student of color, said one focus of recent BWA efforts has been the battle with the image of “ideal” hair and how it affects the black woman’s pride. Members had planned on hosting a BWA Hair Care Day for youth and other community members of color at 6 p.m. Friday in the Multicultural Center, she said.
However, the event conflicted with the Oregon State University Juneteenth Celebration, hosted by the Eugene-Corvallis chapter of black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. Many members of BWA are also members of AKA.
“We wanted to promote maintenance and self-esteem building for women who struggle with their hair everyday,” she said. “Some people don’t understand how much of an effect it has on the lifestyles of women of color.”
McKenzie said black women used to resort to grease as a treatment, which clogs pores and doesn’t allow the hair to grow. Two preservation tactics she said she has used for hairstyles are sleeping on her face and staying out of the rain.
“It prevents black women from doing things they want,” she said, “Especially if you don’t have a perm or a relaxer.”
McKenzie said the dilemma of hair care for all women is that the very chemicals that straighten, shine and relax the hair from day to day actually severely damage it in the long run.
“A lot of people wonder why black women usually have short hair,” she said. “The problem is so simple and so complex at the same time.”
Conditions caused by certain styling techniques and products that pull excessively on the hair, such as straightening and perms, result in breakage of the hair shaft and an undamaged scalp, which causes the hair to split and break off at short lengths instead of grow.
“Every hairstyle has a consequence,” she said.
E-mail reporter Caron Alarab at [email protected].