Is natural hair just a fad?

The other night I was talking to my mother about hair. At the time I was concocting some new deep conditioner recipe since I ran out of AO HSR and my hair was terribly dry. Anyway, she said that she thinks natural hair has a become a fad just like everything else fashionable. While I think natural hair become more popular I don't think it's going away anytime soon. So what do you all think?

Wearing my natural hair is a lifestyle of choice for me, and the best decision I ever made and I don't see myself going back to relaxing my hair. My natural hair is apart of me and I love me some ME. I don't think natural hair has become a FAD...and I have noticed more and more naturals everyday which I think is great... at least they/we are taking a step... giving it a chance if nothing else.

Actually I think wearing hair straight is the fad. I think we have it mixed up. If we grew learning to embrace and take care of our curls and pass that on to our children we probably wouldn't wear our hair straight. I think that the normal would be natural and wearing straight hair would be the fad.

yea i agree becoming natural was a choice i made for MYSELF..this dude on my campus said the same thing today, he was like 'I saw 3 girls with afros today is that the new thing now"

Marci Pie wrote:Actually I think wearing hair straight is the fad. I think we have it mixed up. If we grew learning to embrace and take care of our curls and pass that on to our children we probably wouldn't wear our hair straight. I think that the normal would be natural and wearing straight hair would be the fad.

+1 Especially the bolded.

I guess that as naturals, if you're a parent, it's our job to pass on this knowledge to our kids.
I don't have kids, but if I did I would never chemically alter their hair.

I don't think it is a fad. I do believe that we have been conditioned to believe that life is easier and you are more attractive doing everything you possibly can to alter who you are, whether it be your hair, speech or skin color. This is the hair that we are born with. How could that be a fad?

Marci Pie wrote:Actually I think wearing hair straight is the fad. I think we have it mixed up. If we grew learning to embrace and take care of our curls and pass that on to our children we probably wouldn't wear our hair straight. I think that the normal would be natural and wearing straight hair would be the fad.

I didn't think about it that way. I also chose to remain natural because that's how I feel most comfortable. My mother is sporting a low natural hair cut also. She was referring to all the hype that natural hair has been getting recently.

I don't think it's a fad. But, I do get the feeling that some folks do, even some of those wearing natural styles. For instance, I saw two young (early 20s) women in Walgreen's. Both had their hair out & wild. (We are all waiting at the pharmacy, so had time to check them out..hahaha.) It seemed (to me) that their hair was for shock value or an attention-getter...they wanted to be noticed. It seemed like wearing pants with the butt out would have given them the same feeling! LOL Now, I could be wrong, but that was my perception.

I've also known chicks who change their hair (wig) from kinky to straight, depending on the men who may be in attendance. If Black men...they GO STRAIGHT AND LONG! For all others, the kinks will do. Hmmmm!

As for me, natural hair is me! If I do straighten, it'll only be for a hot minute to piss off my friends who called my hair nappy...gotta let 'em know how healthy hair grows!

I don't think it is a fad overall, I think some women change their hair like they change their underwear, and for them its a fad, you know the type straight to kinky, bald to weaved up, blonde to black.

But in general, I think its becoming more popular because black women are becoming more aware of our options. There are many women who dislike the process of relaxing (the burning, etc) and know that their hair is being damaged because of it, but do not know what else to do. With the advent of Youtube and the "blogosphere", we are learning that we don't HAVE to relax if we don't want to and that we do have plenty of options.

@bludini1- I agree that wearing your hair the way it grows out of your head can't really be considered a fad

I don't think it's a fad, unless you think that having healthy hair is a fad-lol. I chose to go natural because the chemicals were doing a number on my hair. Years and years of chemicals on top of chemicals, weakening my hair strands just proved too much for my hair. And it was unfortunate, that it taken me this long to realize it! But, I think I made the best decision, in improving my overrall health, I thought, why not include my hair too-back to it's natural state. I'm not interested in even using a flat iron. I really want to see my natural curls All in all, I think it should be a personal choice. Just for the record, everyone I've run across and that has seen me, say that "oh wow, you cut your hair. You went natural. I'm seriously thinking about going that route." And then they have the 20 questions, in which I most happily answer. Especially referring them here

I think all the hype around being natural is more because people thought it would just be a resurfacing of the 60's/70's then it would all but disappear again. Now that people are learning how to take care of natural hair and different ways to style it in it's natural state, it's not a fad. Now being natural isn't about showing militance, but embracing the original you. I think as more people make the decision to wear their natural hair the media frenzy will calm down.

I believe that more people are becoming educated about it. Think about it. All sources that include folks like us doing some inside sharing, like online hair boards, You Tube, etc. is what helping so many, including myself. We are not getting info from the "professionals" in fact, we don't even (at least I don't) trust them anymore because we know how to handle thangs ourselves!
I was a natural until I turned like 17 and I was a "press and curl" natural at that. I bet if i was more educated then like I am now, I would not have bowed down to getting a relaxer like it was a rite of passage or something. (And listened to my momma when she said I didn't need all of that) Education is key. Knowledge is definitely power.

I could answer this question two ways. In general, no, because there are so many women that switch because of the havoc chemicals wreak on their hair. They search for alternatives and wind up natural. They find out that they can actually still have beautiful styling options as a natural. There are those who find that they love the feel of their hair better natural. So natural hair is here to stay. But as far as specifics, I think it depends on the one wearing it. There are always going to be those ladies that go for what's hot right now. There are a lot of celebs wearing their hair natural at the moment. It's hot and that's all some care about. But, if and when the pendulum swings the other way, I'm certain there will be many ladies that are going to opt for what's current.

When I think back to when I went natural, it wasn't really all that cool a choice at the time. But that never really moved me. I was more interested in hair health. Once, when I was a sophomore in high school (around 92) I saw this one girl wearing twists. They were about shoulder length unstretched. No particular style. She'd wear them just like you'd wear straight hair-in ponytails or out or curled or not. And she had a head full of them. And she loved them! She talked about them with such pride. We asked her about them and she'd tell us they were the same twists her mommy used to put in her hair since she was a kid. And all of us looked at her like, what's wrong with her? She thinks that's cute? The problem was they were dry looking (not even a sheen), so it just didn't look appealing at the time. None of us thought they were. They weren't dirty or anything but I remembered thinking that if they were on my head I definitely wouldn't want to touch them. Then in college, I remember this one girl that wore a puff. And again, it was the dry look that I didn't like about her puff. It didn't have much definition. It looked hard. But I might have been able to get past that if it wasn't so dry looking to me. Again, unappealing. It wasn't until recently (as in maybe the last ten years or so-if I can go that far back) that you started seeing all these crazy, creative-looking, fly braid, twist and fro styles AND the hair products that cater to them so well. Now that we have knowledge and tools to care for our hair properly, twists and puffs look amazing! Even simple twists and puffs look amazing and healthy. They have sheen. And they almost invite you to touch them and wish you had some of your own. They look so beautiful that they can cause some envy in the relaxed community too and convince some to go natural. Not to mention that with a natural style, the hair generally stays at its optimal health. Healthier hair that is properly cared for usually looks really good. I'm sure if the girl I had met in high school was wearing shinier twists, or a crazy creative design, I would've been interested back then. At the time, it just didn't look all that great to me. So, I didn't know what she was so excited about. Then the girl in college, if her hair had looked somehow softer or had a little sheen to it. I might have tried it then. Not saying that these ladies didn't take care of their hair as well as they knew how. They just more than likely didn't have the right products for their hair because they weren't being made then. The products they used were probably marketed for kinky hair, but were probably very dulling considering most of them had dulling ingredients in them and who knew anything about clarifying build up then? They also probably didn't know about putting oil in a shampoo to make it more kink friendly. They probably were never introduced to the concept of co-washing. But now, our little girls will grow up seeing some fly natural styles. They'll see kinky textured hair being groomed with hair products specifically designed for kinky hair types and styles that look nice and are healthy and soft. They will know that they have more options than the only one many of us were seduced into thinking we had. So while I think that there will always be those that will go for what's hot at the moment, I still think natural hair is here to stay. And maybe if they still want to wear it straight, they'll press it or try something else less drastic than a relaxer.

I don't think it's a fad. For me I decided to go natural because my hair fell out and I figured that IF my hair came back I wasn't going to relax it anymore. I grew up believing that I had to relax or straighten my hair in order to deal with it. Up to a few months ago I was considering getting locs because I didn't know how to care for unrelaxed hair. It wasn't until I got on the internet and did some research that I decided that I wanted to leave my hair be and see how we would grow. I think people are realizing that just because you're natural doesn't mean you're militant, or write poetry or are mixed and have "good hair" so you don't have to relax your hair. I think I see a movement where people are really looking into themselves and embracing who they are. I'm rambling and probably don't make sense... sorry
To answer your question it's not a fad.

For some it may be a fad but for the ones tired of chemicals or wanting to be true to themselves it is a lifestyle change. My daughter is also natural so I'm sure this will be passed on as well. It does give women of color more choices with the influx of products out now for our natural hair. I have always wanted to be free of chemicals and couldn't be before so I'm guessing for many women it's something that will continue on and hopefully on the rise.

Yeah, it is a fad for some.

It is not a fad for me. I finally grew up and is taking on my own natural hair.

Not gonna use the relaxers as a scape goat anymore... it's just me and my hair in its natural state.

Too bad damage was the reason I made this decision. I will never go back to the days of old again.

I definitely see a point to what your mom was saying. There are alot of young ladies who want to do it because others are natural, not for a purpose other than just wanting to jump on a bandwagon because it seems cool. Ive talked to some girls who you can tell are just doing it because they realize one of their friends gets more attention because shes natural, so they want to get some attention too. Of course we have the naturals who sincerely go natural for their own reasons..but theyre are those bandwagon naturals, so I see what shes saying...

I know im not a band wagon natural, Im pro wearing your hair however you want to...

@BrownSkinDiva Band wagon natural is exactly what she was talking about

@Umph,sonance Well said, i think its great that there are great products that caters to our hair and hair styles that prefer to be as chemical free as possible.

@WhosThatRedHead Agreed "I think I see a movement where people are really looking into themselves and embracing who they are."

All of you are so right about the options. If it wasn't for the internet I don't what I would have done. Seriuosly, it's not like I could walk into my public library and find a section dedicated to natural hair care and hairstyling that would be comparable to what's available on the net and this site

nattyblog wrote:I could answer this question two ways. In general, no, because there are so many women that switch because of the havoc chemicals wreak on their hair. They search for alternatives and wind up natural. They find out that they can actually still have beautiful styling options as a natural. There are those who find that they love the feel of their hair better natural. So natural hair is here to stay. But as far as specifics, I think it depends on the one wearing it. There are always going to be those ladies that go for what's hot right now. There are a lot of celebs wearing their hair natural at the moment. It's hot and that's all some care about. But, if and when the pendulum swings the other way, I'm certain there will be many ladies that are going to opt for what's current.

...
They also probably didn't know about putting oil in a shampoo to make it more kink friendly.

I didn't know you could do that! And, all this time I was wandering why watered down shampoo still stripped my hair. I'm so trying that this weekend. Thank you

Marci Pie wrote:Actually I think wearing hair straight is the fad. I think we have it mixed up. If we grew learning to embrace and take care of our curls and pass that on to our children we probably wouldn't wear our hair straight. I think that the normal would be natural and wearing straight hair would be the fad.

bludini1 wrote:I don't think it is a fad. I do believe that we have been conditioned to believe that life is easier and you are more attractive doing everything you possibly can to alter who you are, whether it be your hair, speech or skin color. This is the hair that we are born with. How could that be a fad?

Cnicoles6 wrote:I think all the hype around being natural is more because people thought it would just be a resurfacing of the 60's/70's then it would all but disappear again. Now that people are learning how to take care of natural hair and different ways to style it in it's natural state, it's not a fad. Now being natural isn't about showing militance, but embracing the original you. I think as more people make the decision to wear their natural hair the media frenzy will calm down.

all of this!

i haven't had a relaxer since 1997 or 1998. it was never about being a fad for me. it's a complete lifestyle change. embracing the me that i see everyday!

ITA with all of you ladies. When I had my locs, I dealt a lot with "bandwagon loc'ers". Ppl who wanted locs bc it was the cool thing to do (i.e. Football players and rappers did it, so I got a lot of young men inquiring about how to loc and the quickest way to do it) the loc extensions and coating braids in beeswax, ugh!! But anyway, like all y'all said, it all depends on the individual.
Btw neems, try castile liquid soap, particularly dr bronners if you want a squeaky clean that won't strip your hair.

queenshakirah wrote:ITA with all of you ladies. When I had my locs, I dealt a lot with "bandwagon loc'ers". Ppl who wanted locs bc it was the cool thing to do (i.e. Football players and rappers did it, so I got a lot of young men inquiring about how to loc and the quickest way to do it) the loc extensions and coating braids in beeswax, ugh!! But anyway, like all y'all said, it all depends on the individual.
Btw neems, try castile liquid soap, particularly dr bronners if you want a squeaky clean that won't strip your hair.

Oh I know a couple of people that jumped on the band wagon for locs. Let's just say they cut them or combed them out after a few months when they realized it was going take years to get length and thickness.

I've heard of using dr.bonners. But I also read on Natural Haven's blog that you should stay away from using it in my hair if you have hard water.

Interesting. I'm gonna have to look into that. I use it sparingly since I've become a PJ lol but it was my HG product when I had locs. Thanks for the info!

I dont see it as a fad at all. Also straigth hair and perms is still what 80% of black women have so perm is the fad actually. I think women see others with natural and it inspires them to do it too. I don't think it's a FAD but seeing other women comfy with their hair texture makes others brave enough to do it as well.

also just think about it..Who would really do natural hair as a fad? Natural hair is way harder to manage in my opinion because your hair is way harder to manage....lol Just like if my hair was nturally straigth I would not opt for a huge chemical afro if it was a fad....lol...I just want my afro hair because it is what God dealt me. And I think it is sooo soft and wonderful to touch.

Good question though

ive never seen it that way , never thought about it , just b.c its not like - " ooooooh everyones going natural and it looks so fly , im bout to grow my natural hair out ! " its more like looking at others and maybe being inspired you know and doing something for yourself or just wanting to try something new - many reasons . and its funny b.c girls get perm and feel like they need it to look like everyone else and to look good . smh i think perm is a fad ! lol