Yesterday I went to a private viewing of an exhibiton called Pelo Malo, which is Spanish for 'bad hair' that is a term used in Latin American countries to coin people with curly or Afro-Caribbean hair.
The artist Jennifer Kaplan-Ortiz has used her photography and art to capture aspects of this hair,
This exhibit discussed how women are perceived through their distinct hair types,while touching on themes of beauty, along with racial and gender issues currently felt by women globally.
I had three favourite art pieces of the night (some which you can buy), the first as a close shot of hair being blow dried, the second was of shelves of manikin heads with different wigs on, some where even bald and my third was two burnt tiles that had burnt hair glued and painted to it, this to me represents heat damage, hair dye and hair glue.
It was a very interesting night, there were two guest speakers on the night, both being Black British natural hair bloggers, who told us about their hair journey, how they felt in society and then took to the floor with questions.
ideas and thoughts were touched upon that I had never thought about myself, one of the biggest things I took away with me last night was the discussion on hair and the job sector, many felt that they could never go into an interview with the natural state of their hair as they wouldn't get the job, society see natural hair as messy, unprofessional and to them it demishes our appearance, I got into conversation with this one lady, who said straight that she would never let her fifteen year old daughter go to an interview with the natural state of her curly hair (whom I met and has the most gorgeous curly hair), because she felt that the employers would judge her in a matter of seconds based on her hair and not accept her, she would advise her daughter to straighten her hair.
One of my friends asked the two bloggers whether they felt that the world would flip, where natural hair, curly hair would become the in thing rather than straightened hair, they said maybe as we have made a difference since the early 1900s where no evidence can be found of women walking around with curly hair or afros, but in my opinion I feel like it won't, yes the world has slowly started to accept it as so many people are choosing to love and rock their natural hair, but the media show new trends and buy into it, they go where the money goes right, so how long before the natural hair trend dies out? Do you think it will ever grow to be world changing? I think that society tolerates it, and they may continue to tolerate it, but i'm not sure if they will ever completely accept it.
We talked about being able to move up the employment ladder with natural, curly and afro hair, one of the bloggers mentioned that they met a panel of people not too long ago where there was a black lady with cut short hair who was one of the heads of HSBC, but the lady with the two daughters I spoke to made a valid point, she can wear her hair like that BECAUSE she is at the top, but if we asked her what her hair was like before she reached there, would she say she wore wigs and weaves, had her hair relaxed, confirmed to society so she could grow?
Another thing mentioned was how we feel about her hair, some may have heard the expression "your hair is your beauty" which I know I was told as a child growing up, how many of you felt you didn't look that pretty because your hair wasn't 'on point'? We find it is our own kind who has the negative thoughts, brainwash us so we find a problem more with our hair than many of the outsiders do, I know I have come to work with my natural hair out, and hardly anyone noticed, and I usually always wear a curly wig, I have also come to work with kinky twists in and received lots of compliments and I work in a place where there are only a handful of black people.
It did get me thinking though, if I had applied for this job or others with my natural hair state, would I have been offered the job? I'm lucky in the sense my company hires people from all walks of life so the answer would probably be yes, but if I wasn't here, how easy would it be somewhere else?
How many of you have had parents say "you're going out with your hair looking like that?' and all it is, is your hair is in its natural state, I find it's the friends and family members that seem to have the most issues with your hair than the world you move around in everyday, their negativity grows and embeds in you so it always seems worse off than it is.
This lady who was caucasion mentioned that she had gone to the hairdressers and this african lady was getting her hair done, when they had finished, she said the lady's hair looked amazing, but the lady put a wig on top to leave, she said everyone pleaded with her to leave her hair the way it was, why spend all that time and money just to cover it up and the lady said "there's no way I could go to work looking like this"
Do we really have to keep our hair 'tame' to be accepted, to feel comfortable, to move up in the world? Will society ever see it's beauty and help people with curly hair, afro hair, Afro-Caribbean type textures to feel their natural hair state is their beauty and they are beautiful wearing it?
Only time will tell......
Don't forget to check out the exhibition if you have time (it runs from today until 10th August), I have included links to the exhibition and to her kickStarter video that helped make this possible and a success:
Pelo Malo Exhibition - Anise Gallery : Click Here
Jennifer Kaplan's website: Click Here
KickStarter Video: Click Here
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