I grew up in a time when it wasn’t as acceptable, as it is today, for white girls to have ethnic-looking hair or hair that resembled that of biracial or black individuals.
Even today, unfortunately, some women cringe that their white daughters’ hair has ethnic attributes.
And I’m talking about fully white girls, not biracial or part Latina or Pacific Islander.
I am Caucasian (half Czech, half Lebanese), yet I am the only person in the immediate family and entire extended families on both parents’ sides, who has a very unusual texture of hair.
My Hair; Therefore It’s Natural, Regardless of Race
I have vague memories of my mother putting Brylcreem in my hair when I was a little girl. The stuff stank but she put it in to tame my fluffy and fuzzy hair.
Brylcreem back then was popular with men for slicking back their hair; my father used it.
Instead of relishing my fluffy and fuzzy hair, my mother hid it under Brylcreem.
There’s even a picture of me, at around age six, playing the piano…and you can see the glint of the Brylcreem on my short, smooshed-down hair.
What a travesty. As a young child, I didn’t know better. I didn’t know how to embrace and love my very unusual hair.
- It didn’t hang straight.
- It swelled up if not tied back.
- It flew and whipped all over the place in the slightest wind.
- It was considered “fine,” but there was a ton of it — and I mean a LOT.
If my hair was down and I had on a neon orange shirt, you would not be able to see any of the orange under my hair; my hair thickly fanned from shoulder to shoulder.
My mother also put my hair up in buns.
But voluminous, body-full “ethnic” hair should never be concealed with a bun!
Mothers of white girls with ethnic looking hair, take note:
There is NO shame in ethnic-looking, overly-fluffy, fuzzy and frizzy hair! This is your daughter’s genetic blueprint. It is HER hair.
HER HAIR! It’s her natural hair!
Why would you want to change it to look like everyone else’s? This is the way it’s supposed to be because (can’t say this enough) it’s her natural hair.
Do you not realize that “normal” hair begins looking really lousy once the hormones of perimenopause begin kicking in?
It thins and becomes limp. Come menopause, white women with typical hair have lost so much of it…all because they never had a good, solid foundation or base—or reserve or fund.
I had so much hair in my youth that, despite having experienced the inevitable diffuse hormonal hair loss, I still have a ton of it!
To Mothers Whose White Daughters Have “Ethnic” Hair
• Relish her hair; don’t hide it, don’t spray it down or smoosh it down with gels.
• There is NO such thing as the wrong hair for a white female; if she was born with a particular texture, that is HER hair, her natural texture; no race has a legal hold on any specific texture or look.
• It’s just as much her look as it is any other race’s — simply due to the fact it’s her genetic blueprint.
• Experiment with styles that the texture is especially conducive to, like high ponytails that generously billow out.
• Or just brush out the hair and let it hang, controlled with a few cleverly placed clips or bobby pins. Remember, if she was born with the fuzz and frizz…it’s the way her hair is SUPPOSED to look!
• Learn how to detangle the hair after a washing. I think the reason my mother kept my hair very short when I was very young was because she didn’t want to bother with the arduous task of detangling.
• Learn how to finger detangle. Experiment with different detangler serums. BE PATIENT. Never plan on detangling when you’re rushed.
• Straight, “white” and “normal” hair will not hold up to the hormones of perimenopause and menopause. Doesn’t stand a chance.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
