First rule of Facebook – Don’t Believe These Lames!
You mean to tell me there are people out here trying to convince women that they are “less black”, have low self-esteem, don’t love themselves, or are trying to be European, simply because they choose to wear a weave? Again, black women are being thrown into the fire of having their blackness tested or their essence of being black questioned, simply because they want to rock some fake hair? And, of course who is it coming from, other black people. I’m not certain why in 2015 people have developed a case of the Bill Cosby Syndrome – BCS is the need to point out all the flaws of people who look just like you, in order to make yourself seem better or more acceptable. I say, Girl / Boy Bye!
Its time someone put this pure ignorance to rest. There has been lots of chatter online, on tv and radio about hair weaves in recent months. Hair, especially the hair of black women, has always and will forever be a conversation that will never be put to rest. First things first, people have a right to like, or not like weaves. It is a personal preference and if you like weaves, I say DO YOU, and if you do not like weaves, that is absolutely OK too. However, for many people who are on the side of disliking weaves, they have decided to take to their social media platforms in order to convince women that wearing weaves means that they are trying to be “more European” or wearing weaves make you “less black”. Yes, seems like the fake outrage that many communicate daily throughout the World Wide Web, is now trying to attack black woman (of course) for not being black enough, being insecure, or not loving themselves because they choose to wear fake hair.
How people have deciphered that there is a correlation between fake hair and the ability to assess someone’s self-esteem is beyond the realm of understanding. However, knowledge is power ladies, so this blog is for you.
First and foremost, never try to CONFORM to someone else’s standards of what they believe blackness means. I say f*ck each and every person who tries to attempt to label you as a lesser version of what you are – intelligent, creative, and beautiful INDIVIDUALS…period. Hair is a part of who you are, but it is NOT the definition of who you are. But truthfully, I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know, so let’s get to the meat and potatoes of why these fake ass, pro-black people want to attack your blackness ladies.
Reason 1 – They are ignorant and do not know their history. If people would bother using Google or cracking open a book, they can learn a lot about the history of Africans and hair. One of the most important facts is that wigs and weaves were created IN AFRICA! In ancient Egypt thousands of years before the birth of Christ or (B.C.), both men and women wore wigs. Back in these days only the rich, including Pharaohs, wore wigs and hair extensions made out of human hair, some of the poorer Egyptians also made wigs, but they were made from vegetable fibers, grass or other synthetic fibers. Sounds familiar right, lol. They used materials such as beeswax to keep the wigs secured.
The remains of a 3,300-year-old woman who wore a complex hairstyle with 70 hair extensions were discovered in the ancient city of Amarna. Photo Credit: Jolanda Bos and Lonneke Beukenholdt
According to Egyptologist Joann Fletcher, Ph.D, she has seen the remains of a man buried at Mostagedda, who had used thread to fasten lengths of human hair to his own. Yes, an ancient Egyptian sew-in honey! Hair was serious for the ancient Egyptians, similar to today’s standards. They colored, cut and even adorned their wigs and weaves with gold jewelry, flowers and other accents. Most importantly people from all walks of life who lived during these ancient times used the styling of their hair as unique self-expression and as a form of cleanliness. Hopefully, if you ever get to visit the Cairo museum in Egypt, you will be lucky enough to see some of the ancient wigs and weaves kept securely in a case in the museum.
Most often, during this era, you would see hair braids and woven hair, which researchers claimed were the favorite form of extensions for this time period! Dr. Fletcher also stated that Queen Meryet-Amun’s wavy brown hair had been filled out around the crown and temples with tapered braids.
Now, this has been recorded as far back as 3,000 years B.C., so ladies, if you have ever heard anyone say wearing a weave or wig means you are trying to be more European, you know for sure that you are dealing with a person that knows NOTHING about black history!
Reason 2 – They are insecure about themselves. One thing for sure, when a person feels the need to attack, degrade, or cut down a specific group of individuals, often it is due to the insecurity they hold for themselves. As much as people try to recreate their seemingly “perfect and successful” lives through the facade of social media, it’s obvious that some folk are just trying hard to convince people that their smokescreen is reality. There are people who make an effort on a DAILY basis to come on social media and tell women what they are doing wrong, tell them that they are dressed wrong, tell them they are not good mothers, tell them they shouldn’t buy whatever type of sneaker, tell them that they are not positive role models, or tell them about what’s wrong with their looks/hair, but when you examine the person doing all of this attacking – their biggest accomplishment in life so far was that they got 100 likes on a Facebook post (laughs). Their constant need to tear people down on social media is equivalent to the girl on Facebook that has a constant need to continuously talk about her man/boyfriend/husband – often, its insecurity. And what makes an insecure person feel better – trying to make others feel worse.
Reason 3 – They don’t know about PRESENT African culture. Yes, folks that claim that weaves/extensions are European, or state that you don’t love your blackness ALSO don’t know that tribes in present day Africa still wear weaves/extensions. Below, this young lady shows off her beautiful tresses made of either goat hair and/or Indian hair. You Go Girl!
In conclusion, see my first sentence of this post and Don’t Believe These People On Facebook! They have no idea what they are talking about and their sole purpose is to attempt to insult you, while trying to sound smart. Key word TRYING. But most importantly, do you! Don’t find yourself held captive to the opinions of others, and most importantly, don’t let these people put you in a box. Rock your braids or your remy and love yourself! Trust me, tomorrow these lames will just find something else to complain about.
So ladies now that you have a little more knowledge of how important hair was to your ancestors, now that you understand that hair, even thousands of years ago on the continent of Africa, was used as a creative form of expression, and now that you know that weaves and sew-ins were born, created, and perfected in Africa, I urge you to DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. Sew in, braid, color, cut and dye until your heart is content! But most importantly, never conform (unless you want to be a lame).
Source: http://www.beautymatters.blogsot.co
Source: Egypt Revealed Magazine
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2607647/Incredible-photos-reveal-elaborate-hairdos-Himba-tribe-created-using-goat-hair-MUD.html
Source: http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/09/ancient_egyptian_woman_with_70_hair_extensions_discovered_in_cemetery.html
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/ancient-egyptian-woman-wore-70-hair-extensions-n206911
Source: Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2607647/Incredible-photos-reveal-elaborate-hairdos-Himba-tribe-created-using-goat-hair-MUD.html#ixzz3n03eg06Q
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