This story is part of Como Celebramos, where we share how we honor our favorite summer Sunday rituals.
I’ve spent most of my life resenting how unruly and unmanageable my curly hair is. I often keep my hair straight to save time looking “sophisticated” for work or events. But in reality, maintaining heat-treated and straightened hair is never easy. I get stressed about sweating and getting rid of breakouts, and I have to wrap my hair in a doobie to keep it together. And it not only hurts your wallet but also damages your hair. This summer, I’m going to challenge my internalized desire for straight hair and bring back my natural curls.
Growing up, my mom and aunt’s lives and schedules revolved around their next hair appointment. Growing up as a Dominican in New York City, I grew up with women using perms, relaxers, and keratin to smooth and straighten what they called “pelo malo” or “bad hair” (also known as “bad hair”). I’ve seen you receive treatments. (as “cabello duro” or “hard hair”). This is a racist term common throughout Latin culture that describes curly hair with an Afro-like texture as the opposite of “pero bueno” or “good hair,” which is defined as loose, wavy, straight hair. Express as.
Whether it’s the humid summers of New York City or the year-round warm climate of the Dominican Republic, my family can’t shy away from its natural hair. If we weren’t spending hours at a Dominican hair salon, we were at our aunt’s or godmother’s house, where women would spend hours under la secadora (portable hooded hair dryer). When it got warmer, I rolled my hair up in rollers, tied it up with a hairnet, and let it dry naturally in the heat. I felt alienated from their hair rituals, but I didn’t realize how free I was in other ways. He loved playing outside, running through fire sprinklers and jumping into pools and beaches. I didn’t think much about how easily my curly hair naturally dries.
My mother, aunt, and cousins have type 4 hair (which includes curvy, coiled afros with little to no curls), while my sister and I have a combination of type 2 and type 3 hair. I am doing Curly hair curled in a tight spiral. We grew up being told that it was a privilege to have “perobueno” because our hair was easily manipulated into straight hair. Even though I was told “pero bueno,” I still wished I had naturally straight hair.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, pin-straight hair reigned supreme, and you couldn’t go to the mall without someone offering to straighten your hair or selling you a curling iron. did. There was a guy with a hair straightener at Queens Center Mall. He was very famous for trying to straighten people’s hair and had over 22,000 followers on Facebook. Even for many TV characters of my generation, curly hair was equated with being eccentric, nerdy, or too normal. Think Ginger from As Ginger Tells, Mr. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, and Anne Hathaway’s curly hair transformation. From ordinary people’s hair to straightening Princess Genovia’s hair on The Princess Diaries, or Miley Cyrus’ straight blonde wig that hid her normally curly hair when she transformed into Hannah Montana.
As an adolescent, I was confused by the fact that I only received compliments when I wore my hair straight. Did my natural hair count as “pero bueno”? Journalist Natasha S. Alford wrote in her memoir, American Negra: Still, both of these cultures should be yours. ”
When I was a young professional, I went to every job interview with my hair styled, and my fears that my messy curls and curls would turn off hiring managers are not unfounded. It was. Hair discrimination is a serious problem in this country’s workplaces, and activists and lawmakers are pushing to make it illegal through bills like the Crown Act, which prohibits discrimination based on hair texture or protective hairstyles. I’ve been fighting.
When the 2020 stay-at-home order went into effect and my job went completely remote, I found a newfound comfort in rocking my natural hair every day. Hair salons were closed, so I had no choice but to learn about my hair type and create a routine at home. My mom and aunts also stopped using hair relaxers and revealed their natural 3c, 4a, and 4b hair texture for the first time in decades. I was inspired to see them freeing themselves from assigning moral value to their hair and embracing its natural texture. It was also the first time I appreciated my natural curls not just as a hairstyle, but as a way to feel connected to my family roots.
That’s why I’m so excited to get my curls back this summer. That includes being selective with your hair styling products, maintaining your curls between washes, investing in a professional curly hair cut, and trying out new curly hairstyles. My grandmother helped me get started by making homemade Panera Scalp & Hair Treatments to help moisturize and strengthen hair.
Fall in love with your curls all over again and be ready to enjoy the summer heat instead of the heat of a hair dryer.
Zamina Mejia is a Dominican-American freelance writer born and raised in New York City. She is passionate about storytelling and uplifting diverse voices in beauty, health, and Latin American lifestyle. Zamina holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and Latin American studies from the State University of New York at New Paltz and a master’s degree in business reporting from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
