PleasurePrinciple said:

All that's unacceptable.

This woman comes in with a pageboy one week, long luscious curls the next and then back to a fro and the white lady asks "is it real?". It sounds like she needed some sense knocked into her.

SCNDLS said:

I'm not gonna lie, if the dude is cute then *cough* I wouldn't mind as much.

But if you're playing in my hair, I turn around and you look like Jermaine Dupri...hell 2 tha nizzaw!!!

KidaDynamite said:

Okay, you got a pernt. And I'll go ahead and confess to playing with a dudes locs, often as a flirtation mechanism. Okay, I'll start axin' for permission first.
[Edited 7/23/08 20:40pm]

SCNDLS said:

I was taught never to touch anyone's hair bcuz I don't know what's in it and what might jump out if I do.

JuliePurplehead said:

I know right. One of my homegirls works in an attorneys office, and she changes her 'do every other week. The white folks are ALWAYS asking her how she grows her hair so fast and changes it so frequently. So she plays along and actually gives them detailed explanations of her mythical hair care regimen.

People, people... this story is so obviously a joke

"De La Cruz says one of the leading causes of office assaults is white people touching black women’s hair."




Not to mention one of the characters is called 'Wankman'

My favorite is:

“I’ve asked them a thousand times, please don’t touch my hair,” says Davies, 37, who last year put a sign on her desk reading ‘Don’t Touch My Hair.’ “Abby caught me on the wrong day.”
[Edited 7/23/08 21:02pm]

KidaDynamite said:

I literally @ my screen. You's a fool! But, really stuff might jump out AT you????

SCNDLS said:

Wankman!!!
[Edited 7/23/08 21:21pm]

Why is DL Hughley on Leno talking about an old English lady grabbin' a handful of his hair???

Where is the link to this?

Janfriend said:

I really don't have the energy to search for a link.

Janfriend said:

http://thepeoplesnews.wor...any-times/

Sweeny79 said:

Awwwww. Sweeny!

SCNDLS said:

I'm shocked people thought this was real.

Good story though.

Sweeny79 said:

I was gonna post some more of their stories. They've got great writers.

SCNDLS said:

Hey, you can never be too careful!

The only guy touchin my hair is my man...and hes fine so he can do that
But growing up my grandmother used 2 do my hair b4 school and tell me not to let people play in my hair.I guess it stemmed from when I was little this little girl poured sand in my hair and it toopk 4ever to wash out and ever since then my grandmother didnt trust any barbie totin snot nose playground heffa(my words not hers,lol)
And ironically my uncle cut off my mom's braid when they were younger
cant even trust family now???? lol,j/k

PleasurePrinciple said:

That's what my grandmother and aunt used to tell me.
Oh and my cousin cut her sister and my braids when we were younger...lawd.

JustErin said:

I bet they do mama, because from every pic you ever post you give "great hair" (I love how much volume you have).

However for black women we are sometimes put in a position where people treat us like pets or like exhibition freaks where our hair is concerned. All that touching without permission? It's an invasion of personal space with people who aren't intimately close, and that's irritating. But then they start marveling at the texure (be it kinky, curly, straight), and they start asking probing questions... as if we are animal specimens. You know, along with variances in skin color, hair texture was also one of the factors used as a selling point for us on the auction block (during slavery). It was one of the physical attributes the masters looked at when determining if a slave was to be a house slave or a field slave toiling his land. Our sensitivity about our hair, and why we don't want people touching it runs very deep, it is imprinted in our cultural DNA.

...so yeah, even if this story was made up or not, it does reflect a certain truth, and definite social taboo where black hair is concerned; after 4 centuries, we are TIRED of having our appearance raked over and being observed like zoo specimens. If you want to learn or understand the nature our hair, go watch The Learning Channel. Better yet, please refer to Wikipedia. Additionally, if you feel the need to ask us questions about our hair, which btw we feel is an intimate scenario, please do so in a respectful manner and approach the topic as you would any question regarding a woman's intimately personal grooming habits. Additionally, if you're not exactly close with the person to begin with, take note that it's inappropriate to ask. Lastly, under NO circumstances get touchy feely without permission: if one approaches a woman like a poodle to be pet, then they should not be taken aback if she metaphorically bites their hand...

(by the way, whenever I used the word "you" , I wasn't referring to you personally...I meant the collective "you" of touchy feely probers out there
)

when i had locs i was asked all the time (by white folk) is my hair was real/all mine....and all my white co-workers say i'm not "me" without my hair..



oh and a younger student who was in the drama guild with me in high-school used to beg me to "let him touch my du-rag"

(and i know it's a fake article, but these things i've shared are not)

SirPsycho said:

i hear ya, Boo...it might be a fake article but it definitely poses very real points and questions...i was on a job recently, doing a shoot for a white artist. He was always mesmerized by my hair (which was in a poofy phase cuz i was in dire need of some Dark&Lovely hair relaxer), and at one point mid-shot he just asked me,

"...what kind of vitamins do you take to get your hair like that?"



I know he was absolutely asking in pure innocence because he was a European man who had never been up close & personal with an African American woman before, but DAMN.

Ottensen said:

i know and accept that racismvim inherently american (not to mention human), but it's really sad when a person deeply affected/compelled by it and is not aware

Sweeny79 said:

I knew this shit wasn't real

SirPsycho said:

not to offend or something but I might take that as "other people than American are not human" which I hope you didn't say ... Racism is an issue all over the world and I know (some of) the history America takes with it as a burden but please consider this : China vs. Japan (yes 'race' is still an issue there), Rwandan Genocide 1994 (Tutsis were slaughtered because they were Tutsis) and there's plenty of other examples ...

What I'm trying to say is "how the fuck would would a question related to hair and vitamins be race-inspired ???" ... I really don't get that.

BlueZebra said:

First of all, slow ya roll and pump the brakes, because your tone with me is not appropriate

Now, moving right along;

1. I understand that there are racial conflicts across the globe, but that's not the topic here. We are discussing African American hair and how perception of that hair impacts us personally in the US. I believe SirPsycho was being really heartfelt when he was sharing his perspective and experiences, and was not saying people other than Americans are not human. Anyone that's ever read his posts here on prince.org knows that he is a fun loving, gregarious type who strives to get along with all and isolate no one. The fact that you would call him out to attempt to twist his experience into something uglier than what it was really there is rude, bordering on manipulative,and not to mention baiting. Note taken. If you wanted to tie that theme into this conversation, did you consider that perhaps Phych's not aware of the racism that exists in some of other countries? How others across the world endure diffulties based on peceptions and racial attributes? Who knows? Why not try asking him, and maybe offer to shed some light on information to broaden his perspective instead of twisting the context? As for the racial issues between Japan and China, of that I am very much aware, considering I have a flat in Shinjuku. Additionally my travels over the last 15 years have taken me all over the world, from the streets of Medilin to the Piazzas of Milano and the Souks of Hammamet- via work or residency. One thing I have learned up close and personal is that yes, racism exists on every corner of the earth. You are definitely right about that. From Amsterdam to Monrovia, it always finds a way to rear its' ugly head.

2.As for the hair comment from my client, it would be easiest for me to say "you don't know him, you don't know ME, and you had to be there to understand", but allow me to clarify a bit instead: this client was someone that I actually know in character very well as he does me. His vitamin question was an awkard attempt at a joke to inquire about my hair, the texture and so on, to satisfy his curiosity. Do I believe he meant it as a racist remark? No. He is a kind person of great character, who I like alot and enjoy working with. However, his was yet another hair remark that I've had to endure out of hundreds, if not thousands, over the course of 37 years whenever I'm the lone black in a group of caucasians, to point out how I am "different" from them. It's tiring, unnecessary, and grossly unappreciated on my behalf.

Ottensen said:

*thinking of a short yet sweet slightly imature way 2 co-sign on this...got it*
buuuuurrrrrnnnnn

Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe

....


*_____* Madness.


In Living Color '08.
[Edited 7/24/08 5:20am]