When Your White Daughter Has “Ethnic” or “Black” Hair
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.
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Top image: Shutterstock/ Lisa F. Young
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Inline Skating Guidelines for Plus Size Beginners
If you’re plus size, don’t begin inline skating ‘til you read these complete guidelines.
Inline skating can be so very fun for overweight or plus size women and men!
I’ve been inline skating for years, and even though I’m not overweight, I can offer the plus size wannabe inline skater some excellent guidelines for getting safely started with this fun form of exercise.
Best Defense Against Falling While Inline Skating
What makes someone fall backwards while inline skating is standing too straight.
A weight shift that causes the body to break past vertical, in a backwards direction, will result in a fall.
The more upright or erect the person is, the more likely a fall will occur. So the best prevention for averting a fall is to strength train the muscles that enable you to maintain a squat position with a forward lean of your trunk.
Think speed skaters at the Olympics. Ever notice how their trunks are virtually parallel to the ice?
Of course, this reduces drag, but it also prevents a backward fall. And yes, Olympic speed skaters fall, but not the same way that a recreational inline skater at the park or on a street falls.
Speed skaters in competition fall (which is almost always forward) due to miss-steps while making a turn, making contact with another skater or skating over something on the ice.
The recreational inline skater falls backwards because, quite simply, they were in a very inefficient position: erect, completely upright.
Now, skating over something on the ground, or over a pit in the ground, can make you pitch forward and fall on your face.
This problem is solved by watching carefully where you’re skating. A small ridge or deviation in the road could cause a forward tumble.
But to really reduce the likelihood of a fall, you must maintain a quarter squat, even third squat, position, with a forward lean of your trunk.
This positioning will very quickly fatigue your lower back and quadriceps muscles—unless you have these muscles trained with resistance.
Exercises for Plus Size Inline Skaters to Prevent Falls
• Squats
• Leg presses
• Leg extensions
• Seated rows
• Kettlebell Swings
• Bent-over Barbell Rows
You’re probably thinking, “What? That’s a LOT of exercises just to enjoy some inline skating!”
However, ask yourself what you hope to accomplish with inline skating other than having fun. I’m betting you’re also anticipating that this will be a good form of exercise.
So think of the six strength training exercises (pictured below) as an adjunct to your overall fitness program, and think of them as key exercises for the backward fall prevention.
Rafaelqcn, CreativeCommons
Shutterstock/lunamarina
Shutterstock/Microgen
Freepik.com
embhoo. CreativeCommons
A fall backwards can severely injure you.
The six exercises can easily be done by plus sized or overweight people. If you’re already doing most of these with correct form and with an intensity range that’s very challenging, you already have some stamina built up in your body to maintain the proper position for inline skating.
But the more intense or burning you make these exercises, the longer you’ll be able to maintain the squat and forward lean when skating.
In fact, with enough fitness built up in your core and legs, you’ll be able to effortlessly sustain this anti-backward-fall position: no aching or very little aching, no burning in the quads or lower back.
It’s simple: If your quads and lower back are used to the burning of a challenging strength training program, then simply holding the partial squat and trunk flexion position when skating will be a breeze — even if you’re plus size.
In addition to all that, sign up for a beginner’s course. That’s what I did, and I learned how to stop while coasting down a hill.
Do not feel self-conscious of your plus size or overweight body while inline skating. I’d love to see a heavy-set person engaging in this activity, but it hasn’t yet happened.
This doesn’t mean it’s not possible. One of my personal-training clients was quite heavy-set and told me she loved to inline skate — up and down hills.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Freepik.com, photoangel
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