Before you came to the curly side

Before you came to the curly side what did you think of people who wore their natural hair? If you've never had a relaxer did you ever think you were missing out on something?

Initially I guess I didn't pay much attention. By initially I mean when I was a young and first started getting relaxers. I don't think I cared one way or the other. Eventually I began to equate beauty in terms of hair with straightness. I'm sure that had to do with the time spent getting my hair straightened whether with a relaxer or hotcomb. As I got older in my teens and twenties I began loving locs. I would see someone wearing locs and just fall in love with their hair. I also loved any unique natural style I saw. Because I didn't see many, any that I saw were pretty unique to me.

I never thought, "ewww, why don't they straighten their hair?" I just knew that in order for me to be "presentable" my hair needed to be straigtened. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] So glad to no longer be mentally enslaved. Brother Marcus Garvey said it best, "Remove the kinks from your mind, not your hair"

I had similar impressions like you. I grew up listening to Dianna Ross EVERYDAY (my mom is a HUGE fan) so I always had a thing for big hair. When I was real young my cousin put a relaxer in my hair and my hair came out bad so I had to get it cut off but being young and dumb I didn't appreciate it. I wanted to look like everyone else. But just as you mentioned I was the same, the older I got the more in love I was with locks. I loved big hair so when I would see people with fros and things I would always compliment.

Overall my story was the same as yours- I didn't look down on anyone that wasn't natural but I wanted to look like everyone else. I initially wanted to become natural when I was a sophomore in college (2003) but I didn't know how to transition or what to do so I eventually got a perm after 7 months.

This is a good topic. I look forward to seeing what everyone else have to say.

I never really had any negative feelings towards anyone with natural...I guess bc my grandmothers/great grandma was all natural, it was just my cousins and i who had relaxers.
when i got older about college age, i was def envious of those who were natural and didnt worry about going in the pool or to the beach...just doing the norm w/o any worries.

my natural hair myth was that kinky coily hair couldnt be straightened. i cant see how people have locs becuz to me, its like havin braids forever. when i get my hair braided 3 months is my limit. i never really gave any thought to being natural but i HATED the flatness my hair had when i tried to "bump" it in the back and i tried to achieve volume without the white girl tease! i secretly envy'd The Ross diva's and chaka khan's volumes. i can admit i had the myth that natural styles were limited. wooo glad i woke up from that nightmare!

I used to envy them. I never felt right with my hair straight but I was too shy to wear my hair in it's natural state. I have always been in love with big hair and when I would see it in person it was just mesmerizing.
I could not stand getting "pressed" and "greased" after every wash and I think that kind of traumatized me. I never felt completely clean unless I washed my hair. Even now, I don't feel super clean unless my hair is clean. I still cringe when I think about all the grease that my mother used to pile onto my hair. Gross!

I grew up in Houston, TX where it was all about the BIG PERMED hair. I used to think natural women were too lazy to do their hair and lacked self pride.

i've always admired BIG hair...but for a while i didn't think of "going natural" as a lifestyle...i just thought of it more as a way "to grow you hair out longer and stronger"...before getting another relaxer in order to "show off" your new length.

I have known natural haired women, including my grandmother, all my life. My grandmother pressed her hair about 60% of the time, though other women around me sported locs, curls and fades.
I never really thought anything positive or negative about natural women. I looked at it as another type of hair style. My mother did not put a relaxer in my hair until I was almost in middle school. (I think it had to do with my older sister graduating from HS & leaving the house and my mother working 2 jobs while being in school.)
My hair would still curl up, not as tight of a curl as it does now, when I had a relaxer. I would rock those curls a whole lot. I would get comments that made me realize some view un-straightened hair a certain way.
I honestly never thought about not having a relaxer, I guess because I had one for so long, until a stylist suggested it to me!

NubieNatty...I can't keep my hair in braids(extensions) for more than a few weeks. They just do not agree with my hair/scalp. My head will be itching so bad its ridiculous. BUT with that said I do plan on locing my hair one day. Right now I'm just enjoying it in its unloced natural state but eventually I'm hoping for some beautiful long locs that will one day turn gray

Tia...I also love big hair and having a relaxer definitely didn't make having big hair easy. I would hate what my hair would look like right after getting a relaxer but after a couple of weeks when the roots started to "tighten up" as I used to say my hair could do a lot more. I could get that "bump" that I loved. Looking back I definitely should have embraced those "tightened" roots.

StacyB...It was also while I was in college the the first urge to go natural hit me. Every single time I made an attempt to stretch that relaxer out I would think, "What if I didn't get another one?" But everytime I would fall prey to the creamy crack. I really can't think of a better way to describe a relaxer than creamy crack. It really does keep a hold on you lol

That makes a lot of sense KeaCurls...My mother had a curl(processed) and it made her hair grow super long. Well after she got to that long length she decided to let it grow out. She started using heat on her hair and it broke off beyond belief. It was never the same again. I guess that curl was just too powerful for her hair and though it grew while she had the curl when she tried to let it go her hair just did not forgive her for it.