We've been through this countless times on this site and not EVERYONE regardless of race washes their hair everyday. It is a matter of need and personal hygiene, not race. If you need to wash your hair--wash it. If you have poor hygiene then you don't wash it. Race is not an issue. And you do know genetics are a huge factor in hair growth don't you? I, too, have longer hair and I wash it once a week. If I were to wash my hair more than once a week it would be completely dried out and damaged. Not only that but I would be dog sick and always running late because my hair is very thick and takes forever to wash and air dry so not only is washing it once a week the best for MY hair, it is also convenient. ANY hairstylist will tell you hair only needs to be washed when it is dirty. Excessive hair washing leads to damage, breakage, and oil build up. I don't know if you get out much but you will see many women of all different races with short hair. My black grandmother used to sit on her hair and chooses to keep it cut short as does my mother. As far as shaving goes--I shave. I don't pay attention to who shaves and who doesn't and what race they are but again, it's a matter of choice and personal hygiene. Julia Roberts and Paula Cole have been known to sport underarm hair and they're certainly not black. So, to get to the point it is a matter of choice, personal hygiene, and need--not RACE. What works for you may not work for others.
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Name : Lisa22792, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, City : Gaithersburg, State : MD Country : United States, I am an African-American woman with naturally long hair, slightly above my waist. I wash my hair nearly every day, and shave. Why is it that other black women don't shave or wash their hair often? I've heard from other women that daily hair washing strips the scalp of natural oils, but that is untrue. Hair is hair and requires daily washing, just like every other part of the body. It seems like most black women have short hair, but maybe if they wash it it will grow.
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Name : Kimberly C., Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Muslim, Age : 28, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : housewife, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, We've been through this countless times on this site; not EVERYONE, regardless of race, washes their hair every day. It is a matter of need and personal hygiene, not race. If you need to wash your hair, wash it. If you have poor hygiene, then you don't wash it. Race is not an issue. And you do know genetics are a huge factor in hair growth, don't you? I, too, have longer hair and I wash it once a week. If I were to wash my hair more than once a week, it would be completely dried out and damaged. Not only that, but I would be dog sick and always running late, because my hair is very thick and takes forever to wash and air-dry, so not only is washing it once a week the best for MY hair, it is also convenient. Any hairstylist will tell you hair only needs to be washed when it is dirty. Excessive hair-washing leads to damage, breakage and oil buildup. I don't know if you get out much, but you will see many women of all races with short hair. My black grandmother used to sit on her hair and chooses to keep it cut short, as does my mother. As far as shaving goes, I shave. I don't pay attention to who shaves and who doesn't and what race they are, but again, it's a matter of choice and personal hygiene. Julia Roberts and Paula Cole have been known to sport underarm hair, and they're certainly not black. So, to get to the point, it is a matter of choice, personal hygiene, and need - not race. What works for you may not work for others.
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Name : Lisa22791, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, City : Gaithersburg, State : MD Country : United States, Black hair is quite fragile; in fact, it's more fragile than hair of other ethnicities. Most blacks have dry scalps, thus washing it DOES strip away what bit of oil we have. Perhaps you don't find this to be true because it's not the case with you. Personally, I find it best to wash, condition and hot-oil my hair and scalp twice a week.
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Name : KC-Tate26521, Gender : F, Age : 28, City : Jacksonville, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : paralegal, I'm a little concerned with the self-satisfied tone of your post. Despite your contention to the contrary, most black hair does not benefit from daily washing. In fact, overexposure to water tends to have a drying effect, such that the hair becomes brittle and breaks much more easily. Women who maintain that daily washing depletes the natural oils of the scalp are telling it like it is. Really, who are you to assume that you know better about someone ELSE'S hair? If your hair grows the way you say, you likely have a different texutre, to which the standard rules of black hair care may not apply. Well, good for you. But that doesn't qualify you to give advice to everyone. I wouldn't be so proud, if I were you. Your hair is probably due to genetics, and not to any superior knowledge about haircare that you seem to percieve that you have. As far as shaving is concerned, there are a lot of women who don't, of all ethnicities. There could be a variety of reasons: lack of vanity, the idea that if it grows 'there', it belongs 'there', and a fact that may surprise you--some black men like a hairy woman.
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Name : Jennifer, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : St. Paul, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Non-Profit, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I KNOW ALOT OF BLACK WOMEN WITH LONG HAIR THAT DON'T WASH THIER HAIR EVERYDAY. IALSO KNOW WHITE WOMEN WHO'S HAIR DOESN'T GROW. HAIR IS JUST LIKE SKIN. SOME PEOPLE HAVE VERY DRY HAIR AND CAN'TWASH THEIR HAIR EVERYDAY. I WASH MY HAIR TWICE A WEEK AND MY HAIR GROWS VERY FAST.I ALSO KNOW ALOT OF BLACK WOMEN WITH LONG HAIR. OH, AND ALL MY FRIENDS SHAVE, WHITE, BLACK OR WHATEVER! I TOOK A COMETOLOGY COURSE AND FOUND OUT THAT WHAT I SAY IS TRUE.
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Name : Antoinette, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Columbus, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : 1st year college student, Education level : High School Diploma, I agree with your contention that this is thinly disguised biasing. This is an attempt to use personal vanity to lord it over the heads of those who do not possess that same quality. I despise the undertone of this originator's commentary because, to me, this dates back to the slavemaster's theory of 400 years ago. The contention was that blacks will perpetuate their own slave mentality if you 1) Pit blacks on the hill against blacks down in the valley; 2) Pit blacks in the valley against blacks up the hill; 3) Pit Mulatto against the French-born blacks; 4) Pit African-speaking against English-speaking; 5) Pit freed slave against 'House Niggahs'; 6) Pit 'field niggahs' against 'House Niggahs'; and 7) Pit every slave with a feature different than any other slave against any and every other slave to upset them about their feature(s). In doing so, it was projected that the institution of slavery would last nearly 200 years. It lasted well over 400 years and, after reading this originator's commentary, it seems the principle is still alive and functioning today. There was no need for this post. This person is 'color' vain and should have kept her vanity in silence, because it added nothing to the noble purpose of this site. Now, if you want to talk race and ethnicity with any frankness, Y Forum should get a staff willing to take on the BS entries BEFORE they post them. In a great number of the more interesting posts, people have made sincere statements toward understanding what contributes to many downfalls in communication that halt our open discussions about race and ethnicity. Basically, BS is more interesting to read than substance. People are just people; and we go through so much BS just to be ourselves that it hinders progress. BS, in whatever form, is designed to slow...delay progress, and constipate the truth.
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Name : G.W. Pettiford, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : Opinionated, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 45, City : Lake Ridge, State : VA Country : United States, Occupation : Executive Administrator, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Washing your hair every day does strip the scalp of natural oils, no matter what your ethnicity is. Many black women have perms, weaves or extensions that can be kept clean and tidy with daily maintenance and a scarf to sleep in at night. I know many white women with long, thick curls who don't wash their hair every day because it is too much to deal with, also. As a black woman, I know that most black women (particularly with thick, tight curls) do not wash their hair every day for the same reasons. I wash my locs once a week. Your hair shouldn't get 'dirty' unless you are rolling around in dirt on a regular basis.
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Name : Samm, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : New Age/Metaphysical, Age : 36, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : office manager/artist, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I wash my shoulder-length hair a couple of times a week, and the reason I don't wash it every day is that it's too time-consuming. Between washing, conditioning, drying and styling, it takes more than an hour to do my hair, and I don't want to spend that much time on it. Furthermore, most African-American women's hair is NOT wash-and-go. Wearing my hair the way I want requires heat styling (blowdryer, curling iron, flatiron, etc.), which is damaging to the hair, and shouldn't be done every day. Very few people's hair, of any race, needs to be washed every day (barring frequent workouts, work in a dusty environment, etc.). Scalps and hair washed every day get greasy because they are 'trained' to recondition with oil after being washed. If the hair is washed less frequently, it will adjust its own level of oil to the frequency of washing.
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Name : Jennifer30874, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, How you can say 'hair is hair' is beyond me. Take a look around you - hair comes in many different textures and lengths. Some hair is naturally oily, other hair is naturally dry. Maintenance is not the same for all hair types. Nor does the frequency of washing hair have anything to do with hair growth. Many African-American women have naturally dry, course, thick hair. Also, many African-American women relax or process their hair, making it even drier. Daily washing could make dry, processed hair brittle and cause breakage. For me, washing my shoulder-length hair twice per week is plenty. By the way, I have no interest in having waist-length hair, and I'd be willing to bet that many of my African-American sisters feel the same way.
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Name : Alicia31398, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 32, City : Pensacola, State : FL Country : United States, Most black women do not wear their hair in its natural state. They don't want it to be coarse and hard to comb - commonly called 'nappy.' Instead, they relax it with chemicals, or even press it with a hot comb, to make it straight. Then it must be blow-dried, and curled with a curling iron. These procedures are very time-consuming to do or have done, and can be expensive if performed in a beauty shop. So in order to maintain them as long as possible, they don't want to wet the hair. (Wetting it makes it 'go back' to its natural state.) Therefore, washing the hair daily is impractical. I wear my hair in a short natural, and so I can wash it daily, but generally do it every other day.
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Name : Cassandra32408, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 36, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Administrator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, The implication behind your comments about hairwashing and shaving is that black women do not have good hygiene. Since you are a black woman, I am disappointed that you show such contempt for your own people. Most black women cannot just wash our hair, shake it dry and go one about our business. Since slavery, caring for our hair has been a serious challenge because of cultural expectations about what our hair is supposed to look like. As a result, 90 percent of black women in this country have some sort of relaxer. The relaxer seriously weakens the hair shaft, so the hair cannot be manipulated the same as virgin hair. The hair is so fragile that it's difficult for many women to grow relaxed hair past their shoulders without significant breakage. When relaxed hair is washed, it must be roller-set and dried, or blow-dried and curled with a curling iron. Either way, if your hair is medium to long, you're talking about spending up to 90 minutes of your time on hair. Since most black women are working outside the home and/or raising children, carving out 90 minutes of time every day just for washing and styling hair is unrealistic. In addition, even when hair is relaxed, the texture does not permit hair oils to coat the entire hair shaft. For someone with fine, straight hair, daily washing is a must, because the hair can appear greasy sooner because the oil travels faster down the hair shaft. Most relaxed hair is VERY dry, because several layers of cuticle are stripped from the hair shaft during the relaxing process. Because the hair is so weak, it means that washing once or twice a week is not only appropriate, but recommended by hair care professionals. As for the shaving, some black women don't shave their underarms or legs for the same reason some black men don't shave their faces: They are prone to painful razor bumps where the hair curls back into the skin. It's not worth that sort of pain just for cosmetic reasons, so they don't bother.
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Name : Cindy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : African Methodist Episcopalian, Age : 35, City : Topeka, State : KS Country : United States, Occupation : Manager, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, Underlying your comment is an assumption that all black or African-American woman have the same grade of hair. As you should know, the term African American applies to several shades of color, several racial mixes, etc. The difference is as simple as straight vs. kinky, thick vs. fine: genetics. Caucoid hair produces more oil than Africoid hair. This is a function of environment and necessity. In Europe, a colder climate, oily hair provided insulation. In Africa, a warmer climate, this insulation was not needed. Therefore, the need to wash one's hair every day is necessitated by the increased oil production and the increased dirt that oil can trap. On the other hand, women with more Africoid hair would strip their hair of essential oils if they washed it every day. This is especially true if a woman relaxes her hair, a process that is particularly damaging. Is it possible that your hair is more Caucoid than Africoid? Do you relax your hair, flat comb your hair or wear it natural? The answers to these questions make a difference in how much oil your hair produces. I have to relax my hair every three to four weeks, whereas other African-American female friends relax their hair every four to six months. That is a difference in the grade of hair. You also assume that all women want long hair. Is it so inconceivable that some people like the shorter-cropped style? I think it would behoove you to look at the world from different standpoints than your own. Just because you can wash your hair every day does not mean everyone else could - or should. It is obvious to me from your question that your exposure to other African Americans, other than your family, must be quite limited. I am quite used to explaining this difference to my Caucasian friends, but I never expected to explain this to a 'sister.' I bet you grew up in all-white neighborhoods, like I did, but never had the chance to branch out and meet others of the same race, the same socioeconomic background and with the same goals and aspirations as yourself. How sad.
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Name : Christie, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : African Methodist Episcopalian, Age : 25, City : New Orleans, State : LA Country : United States, Occupation : Medical Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, FACT: Bacteria and germs are prone to areas of hair growth. FACT: Hair is more likely to be damaged if it's left too long between washes. FACT: Not washing can cause the scalp's natural oil to be blocked, and unable to lubricate the hair shaft. As a result, hair can become dry and brittle. From my culture to you may I humbly suggest: Retain moisture by adding 2 drops of safflower oil to your ends.
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Name : Kimberly26383, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Up here in the colder climates, women don't usually shave their legs daily because they are wearing long pants through the winter. Further, daily shaving can cause skin irritation, especially under the arms. Some men are weird about it, but the majority (what I call 'real men') don't give a hoot if your legs are a little stubbly. Body hair doesn't have much to do with hygene as long as you bathe your body. And as for washing long hair every day - I know that white gals (who usually have oilier scalps) with long hair don't need to wash their hair every day because the oil doesn't work down to the hair that quickly. Some black gals I know get their hair done weekly, and why would you mess up your nice hairdo by washing it out right away? I wonder if the writer of the first letter is even a black gal. It sounds like a white person trying to make nasty insinuations about the hygiene of black people.
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Name : Pam19866, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, City : Omaha, State : NE Country : United States, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class, 
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