Image Credit: Getty/Derek White/Stringer
Mrs. CJ Walker. Catherine Johnson. Lauren Simmons. Serena Williams. There are countless black women who have proven time and time again that anything is possible. From dominating the hair care industry in an era of fierce and blatant discrimination, to becoming the youngest full-time trader on the New York Stock Exchange, the term “black girl magic” came about because black women have always and continue to perform at the highest level in the face of sexism, colorism, and Racism. But now, more than ever, they’re talking about how that pressure has impacted their personal lives. Take Michelle Obama for example.
Speaking during the press tour for her new book, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times ($17, originally $33), Obama mentioned that she wanted to wear her hair in pigtails during her time as First Lady of the United States, Decided but ultimately against. “I didn’t wear pigtails” Obama said during the event. “Yes, we had to relieve people.” Aside from the mental toll that eight years of thinking about looks so intensely, her reluctance to wear her hair the way she really wanted is also a chilling reminder that society still has a long way to go when it comes to true justice .
The revelation glared at the fact that no matter how wealthy, how educated or how idolized black women are, white European standards of beauty still shape the way people in western civilization are supposed to live.
According to that Dove 2019 CROWN Research Study for Women, Black women are 3.5 percent more likely to be perceived as “unprofessional” because of their hair, 30 percent more likely to be made aware of a formal workplace policy, and 80 percent more likely to change their natural hair to conform to social norms or expectations at work work. The fact that Michelle Obama, arguably one of the most powerful figures on earth, still felt the same pressure that normal black women feel when it comes to styling our hair is sadly unifying and angry at the same time.
That’s why for any person who has made her or any black woman question her hairstyle choice, seeing her on stage in goddess braids lately has felt like a middle finger. From wearing it on vacations on Martha’s Vineyard to her braided half-bun hairstyles for official press dates, Obama’s new era of braided hair almost feels like permission to take up space — and it feels good to see, modeled and silently glorified to have.
It’s time for black women to feel safe and empowered to wear our hair the way we choose — without the accompanying thought-provoking and discourse. It’s unfair that a whole group of people have to weigh something as small as a beauty decision against potentially outsized reactions that can affect their livelihoods. Furthermore, when you spend so much time doing something that is considered very trivial to the majority of the rest of the country, it robs you of the things you can contribute to a larger society. While the feats that black women continue to accomplish are beyond impressive, it’s time for us to be simple — in whatever way (and hairstyle) we see fit.