On Meghan Markle's Hair

 Why is Everyone So Fixated on Meghan's Hair?

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has a lioness's mane of hair. She has said herself that "I have always had a lot of hair." But her hair is causing some grumbling in some circles, so I thought I would address it here.

Among women answering to the racial code "black" in society, Meghan Markle's hair is probably considered to be "good hair." Among women answering to the racial code "white" in society, there may not be a consensus about the quality of Meghan's hair.

Suffice to say that everyone has an opinion on this woman's crowning glory. What is up with that? I have no idea. It seems to me that Meghan should be free to style her hair as she chooses but apparently, given that she is required to answer to the racial code "black" in society, she needs to put her hair in one of the acceptable styles for those types of women. So that means, for example, that she should not blow dry her hair.

In the global society today, most women blow dry their hair and some do so religiously. They would not think of leaving the house until they have removed all the frizz and kinks from their hair. So straight hair seems to be the optimal condition for hair in society. So, on every continent, women blow dry their hair to make it straight. However, for women coded as black, this can be a tricky thing because they are not allowed the same freedoms with their hair. They are expected to prove and maintain their blackness by keeping their hair in certain acceptable styles.

The rules are made by society and perhaps policed by "black" women themselves. Black women keep other black women in check about their hair. It's a whole big thing with the hair. So the idea is that Meghan has straightened her hair, and she does not let her curls and kinks show because she also blow dries it as a general rule. So she is taking flack for that, because she is not letting her "blackness" show. She is not proud of her "black" hair.

On the opposite side of the racial code spectrum, women mock Meghan's hair as not being thick enough or not being smooth, or straight enough. They dismiss her locks as fake extensions. They compare her hair to Kate Middleton's and say that it lacks the natural shine and bounce of Kate's hair.

Speaking of Kate, no one has ever had the audacity to try to dictate how Kate Middleton styles her hair. Kate's hair is Kate's business and she is allowed and is given tacit permission to style her hair exactly as she sees fit. Her hair is not her identity. She can blow dry it or not, color it or not, add extensions or not, and perhaps even braid it or not (she hasn't done the latter as yet but you never know what's coming). 

Meghan does not have that same privilege. Everyone seems to believe that how Meghan chooses to style her hair is a statement of her racial authenticity and identity. It is the strangest phenomenon.

Would I love to see Meghan with long braids that graze her posterior while on holiday in a tropical paradise with her family? Yes, I would love to see those shots, because they would be absolutely gorgeous and the Internet would break. But I resent this fixation on her hair and this idea that she has to prove anything to anybody about her hair. Leave her alone, all of you. She has the same right as Kate to wear her hair how she wants.

image credit flickr creative commons

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