Hair is a Big Deal
Hair is personal. It is our womanhood, our identity, our soul, our history and identity.
Hair is a big deal.
We all have a relationship with our hair, be it a love-hate one but we all have one. Hair has meaning especially Black Women's hair as it is not just hair, if only it were as simple as that. Hair is political and the root cause of a lot of self loathing and identity crisis many women have experienced. At the same time hair is also joy, beauty and sisterhood.
Courtesy of Hulu
Do you wake up everyday with pin straight, shiny, bouncy and soft hair? No, then you are going to love this story. As women we have always kept our hair close to our heart, for so long we’ve been told it is the literal representation of our femininity and part of what makes us beautiful. Blah, blah, blah. When it comes down to it hair is at the end of the day just that, hair. Nonetheless it actually holds incredible power and history, and what should be celebrated is discriminated against and deemed as something to feel ashamed of.
Everyone’s hair has a story to tell and Tracee Ellis Ross, Oprah Winfrey and Michaela Angela Davis are making sure they are heard. Hair Tales follows a revelatory journey connecting the personal tales of phenomenal Black women and their hair.
The series, divided in 45 minute episodes, welcomes different guests contributing to the honest and complex narrative around Black hair, ultimately digging deeper into the identity of Black women and how it is shaped by beauty culture and sociable contributions. Insightful and earnest stories that will make you feel all kinds of feelings, from joy to sadness to relief.
Issa Rae, Chloe Bailey, Chika and Ayanna Presley set the space for all of us to finally shave the hard conversation, all hair is beautiful! Black women's hair has a heavy story to tell, one of resilience, vulnerability and strength.
After centuries of discrimination and endless criticism Black woman came together to create a show made by Black women for Black women.
“Often Black women's hair and Black women's existence is positioned like a problem that we have to solve. There's history, there's memory, there's hysteria, there's ancestry. So, we're getting at all of it [in the series]. And, that's the beauty of it, when we get to tell our own stories, we get to tell them inside the complexity in which we actually live, not having to shapeshift around the narrow narratives that the culture had constructed for us.” Davis
It is time for real representation on screen so that no one believes that straight is better, that straight hair gets you the job. Hair is our choice so if you want to get a relaxer go ahead if you want to let it fly free please do! Hair is our personal choice, not a choice between keeping it or participating in an event. Like it happened to the young boy who was given a choice between cutting his locks or participating in his wrestling match. What does one have to do with the other? Does it make them uncomfortable that our hair stands out? Is it different for them? Is kinky or curly a symbol of inferiority?
Now with more and more high profile celebrities and politicians rocking natural hair and having conversations about it we are paving the way for respect and acceptance in professional settings.
Courtesy of Dazed
“You can rock your black girl magic in box braids and in twists, in locs, and extensions, in an Afro. The professionalism is all in how you carry yourself.” Ayanna Pressley, congresswoman.
How we wear our hair should be our decision, just ours. One that is free and without judgment. As of recently that choice has been semi secured with the CROWN Act establishing hair discrimination as illegal.
Courtesy of Chloe Bailey
Hair Tales opens the conversation for us to join and feel closer than ever through our shared experience and creates a space where we can start healing or reinforcing our relationship with our hair.
Catch up on all episodes exclusively at Hulu.