The internet can be an unforgiving place for Black creators, specifically when it comes to natural hair content. “Straight hair naturals” are Black women who don’t have any chemical treatments in their hair such as a relaxer or Jheri Curl, but wear their hair in a straightened or stretched state the majority of the time. These straight hair naturals share their hair care routines and methods on TikTok while praising the “ease” and “manageability” of straight hair.
These videos have received mixed reactions from commenters, ranging from enthusiastic support to bold opposition. These dissenting opinions come with strong-worded comments and response videos from Black women claiming these women aren’t “actually natural,” since mechanically sleekened strands exist in opposition to natural hair.
Black women go through a lot when it comes to our hair, and texture-based discrimination is at the root, pun intended, of it all. Naturally, this has impacted the way Black women view our hair as well as the hair of other Black women. The coarser your hair texture, the more likely you are to be targeted by racist tropes regarding Black hair, and unfortunately, this exists in all environments.
From corporate domains to familial settings, there is virtually no true “safe space,” exempt from the woes of texturism. This undoubtedly plays a role in why so many Black women feel pressure to straighten their hair especially before significant life events like weddings, graduations and job interviews.
A 2023 Workplace Research Study by CROWN, in partnership with Dove and LinkedIn, found that 60% of Black women alter their hair for job interviews, and 41% of those women straighten their hair.
This isn’t just based on preference, either. A 2020 study by the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science found that Black women with natural hairstyles are less likely to get job interviews than White women or Black women with straightened hair. That is to say, inclinations toward straight hair are not solely the result of beauty ideals but rather the sum of years of systemic discrimination.
This all makes for important background information when it comes to the discussions surrounding straight naturals.The term was popularized online, with many self-described straight naturals expressing the ease that comes with wearing their hair in stretched and straightened states compared to ringlet-heavy styles.
This has caused a rift within the natural hair community, with many natural hair users disagreeing with the very existence of a straight natural. This is because the appeal and societal acceptance of straight hair is inextricably linked to a proximity to whiteness, which to some, lands as the antithesis to the natural hair movement as a whole. The back-and-forth has reached a boiling point online, but the conversation is much deeper than “straight vs. curly.”
The Manageability Plea
One of the biggest arguments for being a straight natural is the claim that straightened hair is easier to deal with than curly hair. Where ringlets can take more patience and day-to-day maintenance, straight hair is seen as inherently practical and better suited for “length retention” efforts, as some users point out.
“The messaging surrounding being a straight natural is that it makes the hair more manageable, or it’s the only way to retain length. That’s where it becomes problematic,” says Brandy Welch, a pharmacist by trade who creates natural hair content which has amassed over 1 million likes and 42,000 followers on TikTok.
Now, everyone’s hair is different, and our lifestyles, routines, and even local climates play a big role in what hairstyles are “manageable” for us, but one thing should be made clear. Straight hair is not inherently low maintenance.
“You can’t work out, you can’t sweat, you can’t take a steamy shower, you can’t get caught in the rain. So, to say that something is easier to maintain or more manageable when you have to think about all of those outside elements is misleading,” says Welch.
Straight Hair and Blackness
While she doesn’t see anything inherently wrong with people having a preference for straight hair, she does note that these preferences are often rooted in anti-Black beauty ideals. “It would be ignorant of me not to acknowledge that we still live in a time where all 50 states don’t acknowledge the Crown Act. So I do think there’s absolutely still implications of wearing your natural hair in certain settings,” says Welch.
Since society at large does not embrace Black hair at its most natural, especially when it comes to coarser hair textures, many Black women take to straightening their hair to avoid societal scorn.
“For Black women growing up and living in Western countries, our hair often clashes with what is perceived as acceptable in terms of Eurocentric beauty ideals. Because of these ideals, Black women have felt pressure to straighten and alter their hair to fit Eurocentric beauty standards,” says Dalaise Hickey, a psychologist with over 15 years of experience.
“This constant pressure to fit into a society that isn’t accepting of you in your natural state can definitely impact self-confidence and self-worth,” says Hickey.
Policing Black Hair Identities
Welch notes that while this is still a longstanding issue, substantial progress has been made within the Black community when it comes to embracing Black hair even if it doesn’t seem that way.
“I think a lot of times, subconsciously, we’ve told ourselves that it’s not always the most acceptable, and we just think it’s not good enough,” says Welch of some of the ways Black women can internalize outside perceptions about our hair. This cognitive dissonance is part of the reason so many people respond to the straight natural community with such passion and, in some cases, vitriol. This largely comes from a place of frustration at what is perceived as self-hate.
“The constant debate over what a Black woman should do with her hair and the view that straightening their natural, non-chemically treated hair disqualifies it as ‘natural’ reflects the rigid ways we sometimes police Black women’s identities,” explains Hickey. She adds that the assumption that every Black woman who straightens her hair is doing so to assimilate to whiteness eliminates aspects of our agency.
“These conversations emphasize how much Black women’s hair is tied to their identity and that within the Black community, there is still a perception that wearing natural hair unstraightened is the gold standard of “accepting” your Blackness,” says Dalaise.
So, like most topics related to Black hair, the straight natural debate is complicated, but our relationship to our hair is so nuanced that digital rigidity seems like a futile method for encouraging self-acceptance. Especially since self-acceptance is such a unique and deeply personal experience. Our behaviors around our hair don’t exist in a vacuum, and the layers are so nuanced that “love yourself” mantras and well-meaning, if not harsh, comments are borderline reductive.
“I don’t think any Black woman should receive any negative comments about their hair. I think we can all acknowledge that we all have a very complex relationship with our hair And I think that should be able to be respected,” says Welch.
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