NAPPY
Volume I
Contents
3 4 5 6
Define...Nappy?
Current Favorites
“a chemically-altered society.”
“This Crown I’m In.”
2 | NAPPY
nappy adjective / ’napē /
How the dictionary defines it. (of hair, usually in reference to black people) naturally course and tightly coiled.
how we define it. This world carries a lot of history with it. For years it was used as a derogatory term to belittle those with afro-textured hair. Today we are positively reclaiming this term. To be nappy is to love the crown you’re in, to be proud of who you are, and simply to emrace the ‘fro. In other terms? To be nappy is to be happy.
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4 | NAPPY
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a chemically-altered
society
S
he was born with coarse hair. You know, that cotton textured hair, that Brillo pad hair, that nappy hair. At age three her mom pressed her hair with a hot comb for the first time. She had burn scars on her ears for weeks. But her hair was straighter, and she was pretty that way. At age seven she got her first relaxer. It burned and she bawled. But the hairdresser told her "Don't cry, you'll look pretty after." And she did. Throughout middle school and high school she continued this relaxing process every two months. And she didn't cry anymore because she really did look pretty after. You see, her mom told her that her hair was unmanageable, unkempt, unprofessional. Her peers told her that she looked better with straight hair and her boyfriend? He didn't date girls with nappy hair. By college, her hair started to thin out. It was damaged and it did not grow anymore. But it was still straight and she was pretty that way. But she couldn't help from wondering what it would be like to wear her natural hair. Would she cease to be pretty? Would she cease to be herself?
- by Kailee Taija.
That anecdote is jarring. It bothers me, and I hope it bothers you too. Let me explain. But first, who is she? The thing is she's me. And you, and every other black girl out there. Fighting the endless battle of acceptance. No, we didn't start this war but here we are. Soldiers. Or victims? I'd like to pose a question. Actually, two. Why is she pretty that way? Maybe because of her mom, or her peers, or her boyfriend. Maybe it goes further than that. Maybe its the deeply embedded self-hate that is a by-product of the slave trade. Yes, this may be. But my second question is, why does it still persist today? I​t's Fear. The fear of being rejected by society. Not cooperating with it's textbook standard of beauty. Because according to this standard, "Natural hair doesn't work for everyone. It just doesn't flatter most people." And we accept these statements. We wholeheartedly agree. But how can someone's natural hair not "work" for them. How can the way your hair grows out of your scalp look unflattering on you?
Let me put it this way: Can your skin color simply be unflattering? Can your facial features not "work" for you? The tragic thing about the modern world is that some may say yes. And just as the "solution" to unkempt, nappy hair is a relaxer, the "solution" to an unflattering skin tone is bleaching cream and the "solution" to undesirable facial features is cosmetic surgery. But these are NOT solutions. They are not solving problems, but instead creating more. Because they don’t only physically alter and damage people, but they also damage their psyches. So again I ask, how do Hair Relaxers--registered carcinogens that corrode the hair cuticle and scalp, have a pH level of 12, and contain the same ingredients as sewage drainer and paint thinner--make one prettier? The simple truth is: it just doesn't. No chemical, and no surgery can fix the damaging beauty ideals of our generation. It takes us. Me, you, every other black girl out there, and every other person out there. And with that, I urge you to be soldiers, not victims.
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Through a series of captivating images, Hanson tells us her “hair-story.”
this Crown I’m in. 6 | NAPPY
KAYLA HANSON shot by Kailee Taija
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