What message are we sending our daughters?: Let's talk about it

Image Source

Hello lovely people,

This weekend my sister did something that I completely disagree with, and I thought I'd get you wonderful people to chime in and give your thoughts.  My niece (who will be 2 in May) recently started playing soccer.  Well, on Saturday morning she missed soccer because my sister had started taking the braids out of my niece's hair, and didn't get finished in time for soccer.  So I said, why didn't you just leave the braids in and take them out after soccer.  However, she declared that her hair looked too bad to leave those braids in.  Well, I was shocked and appalled that hair kept my niece from getting out, moving, exercising, and having fun.  Now not to come down on my sister, because this type of phenomenon is something that I've seen repeatedly, and have been bothered by each time (and since I'm not a parent I can't say what I would have done in this situation). 

In working at after school programs I have witnessed multiple little Black girls being told to not get dirt in their hair while playing.  I've also seen one little girl get in trouble when being picked up by her mother because she got dirt in her hair.  Also, I've seen staff working at an after school program tell a little girl that she couldn't play on certain equipment out of fear that she would get dirt in her hair which would lead to a very unhappy parent at pick up time. 

Now, all of these scenarios really bother me because it is sending the message, in my humble opinion, that it is more important to make sure that your hair is maintained "properly" than it is for you to have fun or to exercise.  Although I'm sure this isn't the message these people are trying to send to their daughters, in reality it is exactly what is being communicated.  To me, this is punishing little Black girls for doing what it is that children do, and for doing something that everyone else is being allowed to do freely.   

So, I'd like to hear from you all, especially parents.  Do you think that these types of scenarios send the message of hair/beauty comes before fun and exercise?  If you're a parent have you ever done anything similar?  Let me know....

That's all for now,

Tootles

"style a day" challenge update

High mock bun with a simple Black headband on an old twist out.  I loved this style.  My hair was out of my face, it was easy to assecorize and the bun was very loose so that there was no headache involved

Hello there lovely people,

Well, I survived my "style a day" challenge.  The challenge was good because it made me try some new things.  However, I didn't like feeling compelled to wear a different style each day for a week.  Perhaps the challenge would feel a little less strict if I did less new styles per week.  One very nice thing about my challenge is that I found new styles that I quite like.  Actually, I ended up with the problem of having to change my hair each day because I found a couple of styles I wanted to repeat.  Two of my favorite styles (which came from Naptural85) were a high mock bun and a bohemian infinity twist.  The high bun was achieved by using a large elastic headband to pull all of my hair up toward the top of my head (I doubled the band so it would be tight enough to stay).  I then tucked the ends under and secured with bobby pins pinning around the headband in a mock bun.  I really liked this because I like buns, but they give me a headache from the tension.  The next style, the bohemian infinity twist, was achieved by making a slight side part and then making a flat twist around my head to the opposite side.  Once on the opposite side I ended the twist with a bit of hair left out (so I started the twist on the right side of hair and left a bit out on the left side).  At the end of the twist I two strand twisted the end as normal.  On the other side I made two flat twists going down and then braided the two flat twists and the large twist that came from the other side together.  This last style I really liked and it really did look bohemian.  I think I'll like it even better when my hair gets longer.  

So, I survived my style a day challenge, and I'm glad I did it.  I don't intend to do this particular challenge again, but maybe I will try a style a week challenge for a month.  I think in this challenge I will wear at least one new style a week.  

Let me know if you have tried any new styles that you really enjoy. 

Tootles