Pros and Cons of the Natural Hair Comminuty

In the past few years that I've been natural I have been both led and mislead by the blogs I've read and the fellow naturals I've had conversations with.

There are some wonderful things about the Natural community that I really appreciate, such as:

Strong Sense of Community

Naturals can relate to each other on many levels and I think it's great to have a support system there to back you up or give advice when you need it. This network of people can come in handy when you go natural on a whim or on your own. Although my mom is natural, we went about the process of going natural in different ways; she did the big chop and eventually got Sister Locks while I opted to long-term transition. It was really helpful to have sites like NaturallyCurly.com and CurlyNikki.com to coach me along in the process of transitioning and learning all the natural hair lingo. No matter how you choose to go natural or maintain your natural hair, the Natural community is a great resource for every curly girl or guy.

Promotion of Positive Black women

As a young black woman, I find it inspiring to see professional black women wearing natural styles and inadvertently sending a positive message that says its okay to be who you are and style your hair in its natural state even in the workplace. Using my mom as an example again, I was really proud to see her wear her TWA (teeny-weeny Afro) to work and later flaunting her beautiful Sister Locks. On sites such as Curly Nikki there are many contributions from natural bloggers who are successful black women; the sites creator herself is a licensed psychotherapist. I really appreciate this promotion of positive black women because I hope that one day I can be as successful and be someone else's role model.

Source of Education

The Natural community touches on more than just the physical aspects of natural hair; bloggers and vloggers alike discuss the psychology behind natural hair and the natural lifestyle that many naturals adopt. There was a lot I had to think about before going natural, the main thing being why my hair was relaxed in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I hold nothing against my parents for deciding to relax my hair, my concern lies in why society pressures black women to relax their hair and why we let it happen.

Despite answering this question, the Natural community has educated me on the dynamics of natural hair; curl type, what products to use, what products not to use, and all the do's and don'ts of maintaining natural hair. The main reason I stress education on natural hair is that curly hair in general is complex and if you want healthy natural hair it takes more than just avoiding relaxers and flat irons.

I have to be honest, in my opinion there aren't many downfalls to the Natural community except:

Negativity toward relaxed women
Ok, like I said I've read many blogs and articles on natural hair and I've found that many naturals can be negative toward relaxed women and even women with weave or dyed hair.
I'm a huge fan of versatility when it comes to hair; I find it so annoying to wear my hair the same way all the time, so I have flat ironed my hair and dyed it since going natural. Some naturals would say this isn't truly natural but I think its ok to change up your look a bit every once in a while.

Within the Natural community there are very strongly opinionated people who preach about not relaxing and even leading a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle in order to be completely natural. That's all good if it's what you want to do but that's not the only way to go about being natural.

I think the Natural community, with it's vast network of people all over the world, should focus on uplifting women of all hair types, whether relaxed, permed, or not, instead of making others feel inadequate.
I think a lot of negativity toward naturals comes from the idea that we feel we're better than other black women, or women of any ethnicity for that matter, who use chemicals.


So those are my PROS and CONS of the Natural Hair Community! These are just my thoughts so I encourage you to research on your own and educated yourself so you can form an opinion on this community.