I am STILL Not My Hair and My Love of @GabrielleDoug

Gabby Douglas makes history and the world is abuzz about her hair!  Really?  I mean really!  The discussion about Gabby’s hair came the same week Oprah announced she would grace the cover of her magazine with her au natural hair.  Why the big deal you ask?  If you have ever had to sit in a dining room chair with fingers covering your ears as the heat of the hot comb inched toward your hairline you cannot possibly begin to understand Black women and their hair.  Me, I’ve never been a fan of the beauty salon.  You can ask my last stylist @Model1Ne and she will tell you I am a master of Kitchen Chemistry 101.  

What is it with women and our hair?  What is it with Black women and our hair?  Straight, curly, braided, relaxed, curly permed, natural, bonded, weaved, you name it Black hair has done it all.  Styles?  Oh honey,  I’ve been a fan of the bob hairstyle since the womb.  It's easy to manage and looks great long or short.  I can get my hair cut ANYWHERE.  Seriously even a beauty school dropout can cut a bob.  Don't laugh but I learned to wrap my hair courtesy of a YouTube video.  Seriously I did.  The video is saved as a Favorite on my YouTube channel. 

I haven't experimented much.  Let's see - braids.  Never had 'em.  Just the thought of being stationery while 1-2 people part and braid your hair is enough deterrent for me.  I'm the person who compliments the chick with braids and then asks her how long it took to have her hair braided and then cringes at her response.  I'm not much of a hair braider either.  I remember when I first braided my daughter's hair and had to stop about 1/3 through because my hands were tired.  She ended up with a braided ponytail and two other twisty ponytails.  Twisty ponytails use two strands rather than three strands and require a barrette or elastic band to keep the hair together.

Weave?  Bonds?  Yes ma'am.  Had mine done once by a "professional" and then quickly learned to do it myself after I paid for it.  A good weave can be expensive. You have to buy the hair and then pay the beautician.  When I met Hubby many years ago I had a beautiful head of hair, well I had a beautiful head of hair weave.  No cheap synthetic hair either, my hair was pure "whatever it is" hair.  It wasn't until months later, I confessed my little secret.  I had to he was wondering why I cut off all my beautiful hair.  O_o 

A few years ago, after a visit home to California, ponytail wigs were all the rage.  I found a cute little one with a barrette comb so I could attach it high atop my head for a short, fuller look or clip it mid-section for a longer, lengthier look.  I received a ton of compliments on the piece but once the weather heated up, it had to go.  Wigs, wiglets, hairpieces are hot and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Funny I hadn't thought much about my hair until last week when Olympian gymnast, Gabrielle Douglas, completed her event and stood there cheesing with her newly earned Olympic gold medal.  My social media timeline and Twitter stream went crazy.  Some were buzzing about her Olympic glory while others tweeted and "Liked" Facebook posts about her hair.  Again I say "her hair". My mind flashed to when I was a 6^th grade cheerleader, the lone African American girl on the squad.   The other girls had long, flowing hair.  My hair was about a tad shy of being shoulder length.  We would part our hair down the middle into two ponytails and don green and white hair ribbons. This was way before mousses and gels.  This was back in the day.  My mom would press my hair and oil my scalp with hair grease.  The hot Texas heat would beam on my shiny forehead and my hair would draw up going from straight to curly.  Funny thing, I always thought my hair was cute and it wasn't until some of the other girls or their relentless cheerleader mom would point out my hair sticking out here and there.  

I'm sure Gabby never thought much about her hair either until someone pointed it out.  So to Gabby and all the little girls whose ponytails are a bit askew, whose hair sticks out a lil' here and there, I wish to impart these words penned by some of my favorite lyricists  India.Arie and Corinne Bailey Rae

India Aria writes:

I am not my hair

I am not this skin

I am a soul that lives within

Corinne Bailey Rae reminds us:

Sapphire and faded jeans

I hope you get your dreams

Just go ahead, let your hair down.

Let 'em talk.  They'll be talking about you anyway, after all you are the first African American gymnast to win All Around Gold.  CONGRATULATIONS!