Great Hair or Great Body? Straight Hair and Working Out

Saturday, July 25, 2009

by Erika

There’s that looming debate over why women of color are so adamant about having straight hair. Some assumption that it is so thoroughly related to societal definitions of beauty, European standards of attractiveness, and has nothing to do with who we were born to be. Yeah, well makeup, spanx, and high heels have nothing to do with who we were born to be, either… and we ALL partake in one or the other of those. So… I’m not interested in discussing why women choose to chemically straighten their hair.

What I AM interested in is what the deciding factor is in the decision between choosing perfect hair and working toward a perfect body. Seriously. I asked my male friends about this, and each one said to me something to the effect of, “I’d rather my girl have a great body and a jacked up head, than beautifully straight hair and a jacked up body.” Besides, there’s some kind of debate about the type of men that a natural-haired sista will attract, anyhow.

Make no mistake about it – I’m NOT natural. In fact, I’ve done my own relaxers since I was a sophomore in high school, and keep my hair healthy all by my lonesome. It is thick, 2-3 inches away from my bra strap, and well… let’s just say that to the average person, I STILL look like I’m natural. However… because I know what my head would look like otherwise, I’m grateful for the relaxer. I go from looking like a lion to a lamb – still a little wooly but much better than the alternative – and that has nothing to do with any external factors. It’s just not what I prefer to sleep on, comb through, or see in a mirror.

Having admitted my own plight with my hair, I will tell you.. I’m not willing to let something as meaningless as hair get in the way of my goals for my personal health. I won’t act like it’s easy for every woman to make that kind of statement. I can’t imagine what women in more corporate settings go through, especially since once upon a time.. it was considered acceptable to call “afrocentric” hair a “corporate don’t.” I work for myself, so I set my own rules. Being beholden to the beauty standards of someone that might not understand the “limitations” of your culture is stressful to say the least. However, it simply cannot serve as an excuse for not taking care of ourselves. Maybe, in the future, I can find links for attractive hairstyles that are manageable and conducive to a good workout regimen.

I won’t lie.. I need ‘em too. I wear my hair in either two pixie braids or a giant afro puff all day. LOL.

All of that typing was a pre-cursor to this video, about women of color and how we allow our hair to get in the way of our health and well-being. The newscaster, Robin Robinson of Fox Chicago, made a pretty daring move in going against what her viewers are used to and wearing a style that they may not be accustomed to seeing. I think that’s pretty bold, and although I kind of snickered at her “benefits of wearing ethnic hairstyles – thank goodness there is one” line (because even though I know it’s received poorly, I felt her pain), I hope she chooses to stick with it.

What are your thoughts? Do tell!

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Keywords

Black Hair, exercise and relaxers

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7 Comments

Sep 26, 2009

Tracy

I’m natural. We all know that sweat, heat, and humidity are the enemies of pressed hair. I just had my hair pressed last week and made the decision to continue working out. I just put my hair in a ponytail and went for it. My hair was damp and (a little bit) frizzy when I was done. I simply blowdried it, ran the flat iron through it, and wrapped it. Good as new! While I am a bit uncomfortable with using excessive heat in my hair, it’s a small sacrifice I’m willing to make to get this weight off. Period.
Jan 4, 2010

JediPrincess

I’m natural and I workout 4-5 days a week. I rarely wear my hair curly. I will admit I won’t workout for at least 3 days after a hair appointment. However I have successfully lost almost 60 lbs over the last year and have a goal to lose another 30 this year. Ladies don’t let your hair hold you back. It’s just hair. Wrap it and hit the gym.
Apr 23, 2010

N.I.A. naturally

I have locs, and I had this problem when I would palm roll my roots for maintenance. I workout 4-5 days a week, and I have to wash my hair. So, of course, my newly re-twisted locs would be a mess by the end of the week. This was the main reason I started interlocking my roots as a way of maintaining my locks. I can workout, sweat, wash my hair, and keep it moving, and every 4-5 weeks, I get my hair done. But even when I wore a relaxer, I never let a “new perm” prevent me from working out.
May 20, 2010

Evelyn

I just got kinky twists put in and am considering a transition to natural. I work at an HBCU, so it’s definitely more acceptable for me to have natural hair in my workplace.

For me, it’s more of a psychological thing- manageability, the ability to see myself as attractive with natural hair, and negative feedback/pressure from family are challenges I face in this process. We’ll see how it works out…
Jun 29, 2010

Yum Yucky

I wear my hair relaxed. I heard of something called “co-washing” in between normal shampooing for sweaty hair. I haven’t tried it yet, but I did cut almost 5 inches off my hair and it does seem to fair better during workouts – not so much of a mess afterwards.
- Jun 29, 2010
  
  Erika
  
  I’m definitely a co-washer – my hair is not only softer, but I feel like it’s growing twice as fast, now. Don’t worry – I’m fully planning on posting my ‘fro and it’s story in a few days, LOL!
  
  Thumbs up for snipping the hair, though – I’m a big advocate of haircuts. Fastest way to blink and look like someone new! LOL!
Jul 13, 2010

SexyCool

My issue with the reporter’s hair is not that it’s a more natural style, but that it’s not necessarily flattering on her.

If she decides to keep it, I would suggest that she have it cut to fir her face shape.

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