Challenging Beauty Standards of A Dominican Woman
For many Dominican women, hair has never been just hair. Since childhood, it often becomes a quiet lesson about beauty, acceptance and belonging. Growing up, many of us hear the same comments: natural curls are “too messy,” “unprofessional” or “hard to manage.” Because of these messages, straight hair becomes the expectation long before we’re old enough to even question it. Weekly salon visits for a blowout, the smell of heat protectant and the sound of a flat iron snapping shut become part of our routine. It’s so normalized that many Dominican girls grow up without ever learning how to properly care for the curls they were born with.
In high school I read a poem called “Hair” by the Poet Elizabeth Acevedo that deeply resonated with me and captures this experience powerfully. In the poem, she describes how society praises straightened hair as “professional” while natural curls are seen as something to tame or fix. Her words highlight a reality many Dominican women recognize: our natural hair is often judged before we are. The poem reminds readers that hair carries cultural identity and history, and rejecting natural curls can sometimes mean rejecting a part of ourselves.
I know this experience personally. For most of my life, I straightened my hair every single week. It wasn’t something I questioned, it was just something I grew into because my mom did it as well. Like many Dominican girls, I grew up believing that straight hair looked “better” and was easier to maintain. The truth is, I didn’t even know how to take care of my natural curls until halfway through high school. No one had really taught me how to moisturize my hair, define my curl pattern or protect it from damage.
Education plays a huge role in changing this narrative. Learning how to care for curly hair can transform how someone feels about it. Simple practices like deep conditioning regularly, using sulfate-free products, detangling gently with a wide-tooth comb and applying leave-in conditioner or curl creams can help curls stay healthy and defined. Protective styles, satin pillowcases and reducing heat use also make a big difference in maintaining natural texture.
More importantly, learning how to care for curly hair helps reshape the way we see ourselves. When Dominican women are taught to understand and appreciate their natural curls, the idea that they are “messy” begins to lose its power. Instead, curls become something to celebrate as an expression of culture, identity and individuality.
Dominican women shouldn’t feel pressured to straighten their hair to be seen as polished or put together. Our curls are not something that needs fixing. Like Acevedo’s poem reminds us, they are something powerful, beautiful and entirely our own.