[Cindy]

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.

User Detail :  

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, 

[Cindy]

I agree with Anonymous: men use this to attach a negative connotation to a woman who has a lot going for her. They believe they have to invest more of their time, energy and money to keep her happy than they want to. These are usually the type of men who simply want to ‘creep’ and are not interested in building a stable, long-term relationship. They want to play around with several women without actually having to (gasp) date them and spend a significant amount of time with them.

I was slapped with this label a few years ago, and at first I resented it because I didn’t understand it, either. Now, I say, ‘Yes, I am high maintenance.’ Let them think what they want. Trust me, by the time you’re my age, you’ll see that comments like that are made by insecure people who envy whatever you have going for you.

User Detail :  

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, 

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