I’ve only been natural for nearly two years and I have had my fair
share of annoying natural hair questions. I got this list from Tamara for Natural Hair Rules and I thought that I’d answer them.
Can I touch it?
Quite frankly, this
doesn’t bother me. I really have no problem whatsoever letting someone I don’t
know touch my hair – just ask me. However, I don’t like someone reaching for my
hair if I don’t know them and they didn’t ask. I usually have to tell people
how to touch it. People’s instinct is to rake their fingers through but I warn
them that it will get stuck. It’s cool because it’s different. My hair is
different and people are curious about it.
Is all that your
hair?
I recently got this
question and I was like “wow” [in a good way]. Does my hair really look like it
can’t be mine? I never know whether to take this as a compliment or insult. Are
you saying it’s so nice that it looks like a bomb weave or can you not believe
that I can have healthy medium-length hair? I usually understand that they
don’t mean any harm and reply with a proud “yes” and smile. That usually leads
to more questions, including number 1.
Is it hard to comb?
People close to me
(family) ask me this a lot. I simply inform them that I just detangle and how I
do it. I swear people think our hair break combs (well, if the comb is weak
that could happen).
What made you do
that?
When I first started
I got this a lot. I told them the real reason: I just want healthy hair and
perms don’t work for me.
Are you really
natural?
I’ve never gotten
this before. My mom does say that she’s natural just because her hair is poofy.
I have to keep telling her that she’s not natural as long as she uses relaxers
(which she does).
What is it supposed
to be doing?
I’ve never gotten this but this is
what I would be thinking: What the heck do you
mean? It’s not a toy or an automobile. It’s hair. It just sits on my head.
Are you going to
do/comb your hair?
My mom asks me this all the time! I’m
usually just like “it’s done, leave me alone.”
How do you wash
it/that?
I’ve dealt with the
slick comments on the lines of “natural hair is difficult, you guys have
vocabulary and too much of a process.” This is one of the most annoying
questions because it’s pure ignorance. No, everyone (like me) doesn’t have such
a intense regimen or follow all the steps from some blog. So what if they do?
Their hair is healthy.
How do you get your
hair to do that?
This is an awkward question for me. If
I did some sort of style, like my usual puff – I can just tell them how I
pulled it up and made it sleek. But when they want to know how my hair curled
like that I really don’t know how to help because that’s just how my hair is. I
don’t do anything for that.
Did you cut your
hair?
LAWD! My top most annoying question
when I had a TWA and did mostly was ‘n’ go’s. Nobody understood anything about
shrinkage so very other day I would get this question. My answer was the same
on Monday, it’s the same on Wednesday – stop asking.
