Jezebel 
Enter your username and password.
New York, 3:01 AM
Fri Nov 27
2 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
tips@jezebel.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
Email | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Dodai Stewart
Email | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor:
Tracie Egan
Email | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Anna North
Email | Twitter
Sadie Stein
Email | Twitter
Reporter:
Irin Carmon
Email | Twitter
Editorial Assistant:
Margaret Hartmann
Email | Twitter
Contributors:
Rich Juzwiak
Email | Twitter
Latoya Peterson
Email
Jenna Sauers
Email
Lizzie Skurnick
Email
Interns:
Katy Kelleher
Twitter
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
09/16/09
[www.myhero.com]
09/03/09
I think the assumption about Mrs. Obama's politics and ideology sparked the focus on her appearance.
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
The amount of conversations I've had in my life having to explain it.....
09/03/09
09/04/09
I say this because i used to think about products as "white products" or "black products" when really all hair needs the same things, just maybe in differing amounts. Dryness is the main problem with black hair ans curly hair in general, but that doesn't mean that our hair is fundamentally different.
09/16/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
I can't even begin to imagine the experience of a black woman, hair PERIOD is political, complicated, and loaded with meaning.
I think about religious prohibitions against showing hair, rules about growing hair, to what's acceptable in the corporate world, to the fact that in some countries women can be killed for violating these rules.
I've learned myself how personal and loaded with meaning hair is - I lost mine all in one day. At first, shaving it felt empowering, I tried to tell myself, "You're free of your hair! You're free of this expectation of femininity!" But I found it difficult and embarrassing to go anywhere without a wig or a hat. I look young enough that having a shaved head could be seen as a choice, and I didn't know if that was better or worse than being viewed as ill. And worst of all, I didn't know why I cared so much! I had Robert Smith hair and a Mohawk in high school, when did caring so much happen????
Now that it's growing back, it's once again complicated - I ask myself, "Is it long enough to 'get away' with going out sans wig?" and "How long is it going to be before it looks 'normal?'" (Rosemary's Baby length will be my point where I have "made it."
And as a funny aside - wigs are GREAT but damn are they not always comfortable! I never thought I'd become an expert in wigs!
09/03/09
And that's with just my experience as a white woman with curly hair. I can't imagine how much more difficult it is for black women.
09/03/09
09/20/09
09/03/09
"A black family at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue signifies a shattered political barrier, but our reactions to Michelle are evidence that it takes more than an election to untangle some of the unique dilemmas black women face. Thanks to her, our issues are front and center. It feels a lot like when nonblack friends and colleagues ask those dreaded questions that force us to reflect and explain: whether we can comb through our hair, if we wash our braids or locks and the most complicated of all — why it all has to be such a big deal."
Questioning about my hair is one of the most obnoxious, invasive, and ignorant things I encounter on a regular basis. It's so othering.
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
I suppose it depends on your friends and their comfort levels, but there is more than one way to address your ignorance. :)
09/03/09
The snarky part-time DC-er in me wants to say they actually meant Pennsylvania Avenue SouthEast.
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
My favorite is when people actually compare my hair to a dog's fur (I've heard poodle a few times), and then wonder why I'm offended. *sigh*
09/03/09
If you're really interested, why don't you read some black hair websites?
[www.afrobella.com]
[www.nappturality.com]
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
09/03/09
Early childhood excluded, I have never worn my hair in its natural state without product in public. Wow. Ain't that sad?
09/03/09
09/03/09
that she (admirably) used some of her fame for good, does not make her comparable with Michelle Obama.
09/03/09
Saying her race has nothing to do with it is not realistic. That entire family is under a different level of scrutiny than any other first family. Some of it is because they're black. There's no getting around that.
09/03/09
:)
09/03/09
09/04/09
Both women are targets for misogyny from the media, but I don't feel this makes them comparable.
08/13/09
How hard is it to pin-curl your own hair? Anyone have a link to a good tutorial?
08/12/09
On another note, if anybody is lookin' for a great set of tweezers, La Cross is still around and their tweezers are fabulous- and cost about $6-$7. If anybody is interested in doing wet-sets like the ones shown here- you'll want to use a setting lotion- I prefer LottaBody (they sell it at Sally's for really cheap), but if you really want to go on the cheap- boiled sugar water (2 cups water and 1/4 cup sugar) or some warm water and a bit of Knox works as well.