This article was inspired by a previous Her Campus article that discussed Kim Kardashian-West stating that she does not know how to do her daughter North West’s hair. If you grew up with curly hair, you understand the stress your mother probably went through trying to find the best way to tame it or make it look presentable. Hopefully now that youv’e grown into a beautiful and strong woman, you understand that your hair is your hair and it is beautiful with or without any fuss. If not, here’s a message to all of you lovely young women who have undertaken the blessing and curse that is curly hair:
First of all, YOU ARE SO SO FIERCE. Do you realize that for years curly hair was (and still is!) something that people have desired to a point of burning and chemically altering their hair? AND YOUR HAIR IS ALREADY LIKE THAT.
And I know exactly what you’re thinking, “Oh, well not MY curls.” “MY curls aren’t the nice kind of curls.” “I wish MY curls looked like that.”
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
You are, first and foremost, blessed to have hair. Not to mention, maybe if you didn’t spend so much time rejecting your beautiful and luscious mane, it wouldn’t be so damaged and it would be easier for you to rock. STOP DAMAGING YOUR CURLS. Any way your hair moves and behaves is gorgeous as long as you’re willing to love it the way it deserves to be loved.
Second of all, I’m sure you always see articles and hear people trying to tell you “How to tame your curls.”
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Do not TAME your curls, ARE YOU NUTS? You have beautiful, crazy, unpredictable, and awesome hair that billows from your head like fucking fireworks. Do people try to tame fireworks?? They do not. So STOP trying to tame your hair and START working what your mama gave you.
Third, whenever you do anything with your beautiful curls (straighten, add more curls, put in a pony tail, etc.), people are going to feel that they have a right to tell you their opinion of your hair or perhaps even that they have a right to touch your hair.
* ahem * ABSOLUTEY. NOT.
Okay. Deep breath. People who feel a need to tell you, “You should really straighten your hair” or, “It looks better straight” or even, “It looks better curly” without you asking them for their opinion are weird and self-righteous and there is 0 reason for you to listen to them. Just love your hair. Be nice to your hair. And oh wow if people just think they are welcome to touch your hair you just do the same back until they understand how uncomfortable and inappropriate that is.
Finally, you are a beautiful human with beautiful hair, and no matter what you see on Instagram or Pinterest, curls like this:
…are not naturally occurring or real. Your curly hair, in all its crazy and inconsistent glory, is beautiful and you glow every single day regardless of how it has decided to behave. So let’s agree to stop curl shaming, stop curl taming, and start curl LOVING because curly hair never went out of style and it absolutely never will.