By Jess of Hair Gets Kinky
From the end of December 2010 to the end of February 2011 I decided to maintain protective styles in order to give my ends a break from the harsh cold weather. When I look back on that period of time, I swear 2011 was the year of Protective Style challenges. Everywhere I turned, bloggers were encouraging their readers to protective style in an effort to promote length retention.
I have no problem with this. I just get a little confused when people do something to achieve a goal that they will never showcase or even just enjoy for themselves.
I have no idea what the statistics are, but I am pretty sure that an extremely large percentage of women want long hair–Black women, especially. Because there are so many stereotypes and misconceptions and myths about the ability of Black women to grow their hair long, people will shabach at the very moment they realize they’ve surpassed shoulder length. I know women who do everything they can to keep their hair growing strong and spoil their strands to no end to ensure that they will have long flowing hair some day. Protective styling is just one of the ways that people go about reaching their hair length goals.
But I always wonder…what is the point of bragging about how long your hair is if it’s always tucked under a weave or in a bun or under a hat? Is there just comfort in knowing that at any given moment you can whip it out and swing it? Now, I’m not trying to downplay the importance of protective styling, but…is it possible that some of us are being OVER-protective with our hair?
Are you a chronic protective styler?
What are your goals?
What stops you from ever wearing your hair out?
Are you waiting for a particular hair length goal before you flaunt your locks?
Do you not protective style at all? Why not?
Jessica Gray is the creator of HairGetsKinky.com, a blog dedicated to untangling the kinks of hair, beauty and life.
