Tell Us: Responses to Natural Hair in the Workplace

August 25, 2020August 25, 2020

Last week, we posted an article entitled Tell Us: Are Black Women with Natural Hair Perceived Differently at Work? where we discussed the perceptions of natural hair in the workplace, hair discimination, and the rise of the natural hair movement. We also explored the history of natural hair and how it has been surpressed throughout US history.

Our article received a number of shares and comments on Facebook. We’re so excited to see your engagement and hope it continues as we discuss issues that concern our community. Here are a few comments we received:

Jennifer Hobbs This is a great question Veronica! I used to care what others thought about my hair years ago and realized that had nothing to do with my talent to do a job. I used to put relaxers in my hair, wear pieces and extensions and what not too. Eventually I was like why am I trying to impress others with what I look like and not what I can contribute to a company? 🤦🏽‍♀️
I’m so glad to have embraced my own natural hair so much that I even went as far as locking it. My natural hair is my crown

Luki Barrera Gibbs When I saw the article I saw a light skin woman with looser curls than mine. When people see someone like this in my workplace it is definitely accepted. I think to grab our attention having someone with a more 4C hair texture is more realistic regarding what women go through now and their natural hair. Our natural hair and our natural beauty is a factor that this country has tried to assimilate for too long. Trying to see your question natural hair that has looser texture is seen different than natural hair with a kinkyer texture in my place of employment.

Tiffany Ruiz When I first moved to another state (over 20 years ago) I had natural hair and I was afraid that I wouldn’t get hired. I was on my own so I had no one to fall back on if I didn’t get a job. Because of that I chose to get a relaxer which I immediately regretted. Back then my natural hair was met with rude comments all from people of color. But I loved my natural hair. But as I looked around, I noticed that there were some women with natural hair who didn’t appear to have any issues where I was living. I don’t know if relaxing my hair helped in my job search. But I do know the feelings that I had at that time of how I was perceived. Since going back natural, I did not have any negative issues in my workplace. And it is nice to now see many women choosing to wear their hair without chemically altering it.

Tacoma L. Henderson Veronica Aikins Reid I haven’t received any negativity personally.

We’re overjoyed to see women like Jennifer Hobbs embracing their natural hair and wearing it like a crown of pride.

We are inspired by Luki Barrera Gibbs’ comment and would like to know, do you think that women with kinkier textured hair (4A-4C) are viewed more negatively than women with looser curls?

Because of Tiffany Ruiz’s comment we’d also like to ask, Have you ever received negative comments about your natural hair from people of color? If so, how did this make you feel? Did you change your hair in response?

Lastly, we would like to ask our male readers, Have you ever felt pressure to style your hair different or to “tame” your natural curls?

Thank you to everyone who has responsed and shared our article. We look forward to reading and responding to your comments. If you have any suggestions or topics you would like us to cover, please email us at pwperspective@gmail.com.

If you’re looking for a Black owned Salon or Barber shop, please check out the VA Black Business director here: https://www.vablackbusinessdirectory.com/directory