We’re Sick and Tired of Short Natural Hair Getting a Bad Rap!

When health, not length is the #Goal…

Published in

Black Hair Management

5 min readFeb 2, 2021

Is it just me or does it seem like there is always some new “miracle,” “super growth” oil, or vitamin that promises natural hair down your back in a matter of weeks?

It’s no coincidence that these companies (yes, even the black-owned ones) are playing your heartstrings like a fiddle as this may very well have been every young black girl's dream.

And honestly, even if it wasn’t, and you’ve been a rockin’ self-thinker from the start — You Go Girl! — you’ve got to admit that it was being fed to you subconsciously via the entire fashion & beauty industry. (Anyone remember those ‘Just for Me’ ads?)

The obsession with long flowing locks is not new under the sun. In almost every culture “hairstyles and rituals surrounding hair care and adornment convey powerful messages about a person’s beliefs, lifestyles, and commitments.”

Inferences and judgments about a person’s morality, sexual orientation, political persuasion, religious sentiments, and in some cultures, socio-economic status can sometimes be surmised by seeing a particular hairstyle, writes Deborah Pergament of the Chicago-Kent Law Review.

The symbolism of it varies historically throughout the world and has been extensively researched and commented upon by anthropologists.

I’m paraphrasing here, but based on observations of Hindus in India and Buddhists in Sri Lanka by one British anthropologist Edmund A. Leach, long hair in India represented unrestrained sexuality. Short hair, tightly bounded or partially shaved hair signaled restricted sexuality, and shaved heads symbolized celibacy.

Among Orthodox Jews, hairstyling and rituals serve as a means of social control and group identity. Hair also denotes membership in a group and marital status.

Tresses are also a symbol of the self and of group identity, an important mode of self-expression and communication. Because of its versatility as an adornment, hair cannot only symbolize social norms but also changes in social ideologies.

Black Hair more than any carries this heavyweight of symbolism while at the same time defying gravity. I mean we call it black girl magic for a reason, yes?

But why does growing natural black hair seem so much harder?

Ask any hair professional and they will dutifully tell you that hair grows on average a ½ an inch a month. I’m sure you’re thinking “Who’s average?” But yes, even for Afro kinky, curly hair this is more than possible.

Now of course there are things like age, genetics, and epigenetics that we can’t exactly manipulate but there are other key factors like hormones, diet, and stress that we have full control over. But we’ll touch on those soon…

We still haven’t addressed the fact that so many of us struggle with natural hair growth and even more importantly growth retention. What if I told you that more than the magic potion you just added to your cart, 9 times out of 10 a substantial routine is doing more of the WONDERring than the actual formulation. In other words, the fact that you’re moisturizing your scalp twice a day with oil, is invigorating the hair follicles and encouraging growth just by doing so.

The New York Times states that Black women are more susceptible to traction alopecia.

Traction alopecia happens when your hair is being pulled too tight for too long, thus inflaming hair follicles. Crystal Aguh, an assistant professor of dermatology at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, claims it is the most common form of hair loss in the black community.

Many of the “protective styles” within our community, as fly and flawless as they slay, often do more damage than good to our delicate strands. We all know by now that excessive heat and chemicals provide the most damage but even the necessary process of detangling causes more breakage than our straight-haired counterparts. Any 4C girlfriend can attest, in order to tame one's curls manipulation is a must but all that pulling and tugging might be the very reason why you’re never actually seeing the length. To be clear, growth is happening but breaking off before it can continue or stunted because of other traumas internal and external.

What if we turned the focus on healthy natural hair instead of length?

It is better to have defined, moisturized short natural hair than weak, damaged and “stretched thin” curls.

Yep. I said it.

Whether you agree with this statement or not can we at least decide that having short natural hair can be a statement, yes. But it can also simply be a choice.

Historically, long hair in the Western world has been a reference to fertility and beauty but who’s story are we trying to have repeat itself?

My hope for black women is to be the gatekeepers of their very own desires and have autonomy over the narrative of their entire life. Crowning glory included.

“Going natural” often sounds like some final destination of a huge Hollywood Fro or thick loose curls past our shoulders but if we simply honored the process and focused on the journey?

The journey being healthy, hydrated, happy hair no matter the length.

At Black Hair Management we’re all about asking the tough questions but never like to leave you hanging. We’re a solution-based service all about actionable results.

Here are some internal and external factors we’d like to share that affect your hair growth and health.