Texture Envy
Texture envy is a very real phenomenon in the natural hair community.
Many of us are exposed to social media and entertainment on a constant basis and often see that those with looser texture hair are highlighted and celebrated more than those with tightly coiled hair. Even when you go to YouTube to look for hair tutorials you will see many people with looser curl patterns, and these are the videos that tend to get more views. This can be a very frustrating experience when trying to find techniques and hairstyles if your hair does not match what you are seeing online or on television. You start to wonder why your hair does not resemble what you are seeing and why you can’t make your hair look like that. It can even lead to envy and disappointment about your own naturally textured hair.
I personally struggled with shame about my hair. I thought something was wrong with my hair because it was thin and tightly coiled. I did not see many people that had hair like mine and I thought that meant that my hair was damaged or undesirable. I wanted a full head of loosely curled hair that I could wear out proudly. Over time I have learned to love my hair the way it is, but this has taken a lot of work to get there. I do not want you to spend years wishing for hair that you do not have. The sooner you are able to embrace the hair you have. The sooner you will learn how to manage it and style it in a way that best suits you.
All hair is truly beautiful. The wonderful thing about textured hair is that no two textures are exactly alike and often times we have a mixture of textures on our head.
I do not think it is talked about enough. The images we see around us can deeply affect our mental well being. We need to showcase more diversity in hair textures and teach everyone to love the texture they have. Let us start a movement in our community where we love all hair and remove the hierarchy of hair types. Start now with hair love.