I left my head and my heart on the dance floor

The above title is from a line in that Lady Gaga and Beyonce song, sounding even better on Glee....so good.

There are some black girls in Kenya going around praising the wonders of all natural hair. Is it racist to call black hair woolly? Maybe nappy hair or kinky hair or just plain ol' hard hair sounds better than that...

I simply do not get the hype.

Throughout my early childhood, till around age 10, I had this 'wonderful' natural hair and it was my worst nightmare. There was nothing that could ease the pain of trying to straighten Afro hair that had just been washed. It was more painful than the tooth extractions my Dad forced on me. Every weekend was a trip to the dreaded family salon, where they could only subdue me by  making sure I had cried enough to fall asleep. My mother gave up on mine and my sister's hair as well. She kept a scissors handy whenever she shampooed our hair, but Dad would have none of his daughters' crowning glory taken away.

But  Mom soon discovered the wonders of straightening, first with curling relaxers and then later straightening relaxers. To me it was a miracle. No more torturous washes and traumatic blow dries-of which am still afraid of to this day. I know its all about being proud of my heritage, but just as some women choose to go all natural, I choose to do my perm. So please don't tell me stuff about disowning my true black self and instead educate me on how I can maintain my 'authentic' look without going through the pain I endured in my childhood. Let's not get into politics and professionalism, let's just go into what is maintainable in the real world.