So I guess a Glamour editor got herself into trouble because she said that "political" hairstyles such as a fro or dreadlocks are not appropriate for the office. I don't know about you, but my fro is in no way political, I was born with it. To compensate for this ridiculousness, Glamour decided to create a panel of women to discuss why "biased beauty standards are still around". They talked a lot about hair, and what it meant to them to have it straight or to leave it natural.

Floyd: Even now, often hair is the way we are differentiated in this culture. To me the decision to straighten your hair is deeply political. When I have my Afro and walk down the street, there’s no doubt that I’m black. With this [straightened] hair, if I talk about being black on air, viewers write and say, “You’re black?!” I feel [straightening your hair] is giving up a sense of your identity. Let’s be honest: It’s an effort to look Anglo-Saxon.

For the past 2 years, I have been regularly straightening my hair. For a bit, it was a nice change. I got tons of compliments, I could brush my hair whenever I wanted, and I didn't have to wash my hair everyday (which my hair loved, the dead have feelings too). But the novelty soon wore off, and although I really wanted to wear my hair curly again, I continued to straighten it. Why? Because I felt that with my hair straight, I looked more professional and grown up, something I have been trying to achieve, unsuccessfully, since I graduated college.

I couldn't really verbalize why I felt this way, but whenever I wore my hair curly, its wildness seemed.... unprofessional and childish, maybe even a bit rebellious. But I love my hair curly, and feel much more like me when I wear it that way (not that I feel my personality is unprofessional or childish). Why the hell was I worrying over my hair? Why did I feel like I was making a statement when I wore my hair curly? Why did I equate curly hair with being unprofessional and straight hair as professional? After reading the Racialicious blog I think I finally found my answer.

But this does not change the reality that “white” is considered the golden standard and that everything else is deemed unacceptable. Straightened hair, fairer skin, keener features are all considered beautiful while anything else is automatically considered unattractive. If you are a woman of color, you suddenly find yourself under enormous pressure to compensate for that you “lack.”

And from the Glamour panel:

REESE: I’d like us to consider how we see things. When it comes to race, we’re looking from the past. When people see me with my natural hair, they don’t see Dr. Venus Opal Reese who has four degrees, they see an historical idea of what natural hair means. And that’s what it meant in the 1970s and 1960s; it equaled black nationalism and was linked to the Black Panther Party. It was considered militant. That doesn’t mean it’s true now, but that’s how it’s linked.

Holy Shit! So, I refuse to any longer feel guilty for liking to wear my hair natural. I refuse to let myself be fooled into thinking curly hair makes me appear any less professional. Its humbling to know that even when I thought I was above buying into beauty norms, I was unknowingly perpetuating one.