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This is Why Black Women Wear Wigs and Weaves
28K views
Feb 6, 2025
#hairstyle #blackexcellence #beauty There are several reasons why Black women wear wigs and weaves. In this video, we discuss the main reasons.
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today I'm going to tackle one of the
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most sensitive dangerous topics in the
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black community and that is black hair
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and more specifically black women's hair
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I know I know a lot of people told me
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don't do it this is only going to get
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you in trouble why do black women wear
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weaves and wigs I'm going to take a
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little bit of my time to explain it in
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this video and give a history lesson and
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of course I'll will give my two cents on
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the issue at the end of the video I'm
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very curious to read what you guys have
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to say about today's topic let's get
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into it GR up in a black household as
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long as I can remember wigs and weaves
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have been a significant aspect of black
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woman's hair culture before I even
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started doing the research on when this
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culture began I thought the reason was
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just the simple fact that straight or
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wavy hair is what the standard of beauty
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is in this country so black women most
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of whom don't have this preferred type
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of hair just feel the need to ass
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simulate therefore turn to wigs and
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weaves but my research revealed the
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issue is a bit more complex the use of
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wigs and weaves among black women is not
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a recent phenomenon historical records
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show that ancient Egyptians wore wigs as
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a symbol of status and beauty and from
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what I saw that was men and women these
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early wigs were often made from human
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hair sheep's wool or Palm fibers and
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were meticulously crafted to Showcase
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wealth and social standing that's so
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fascinating to me because when I think
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of wigs I often associate it with black
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women wanting to fit in with these
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straight hair wigs but it never dawned
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on me that wigs are ancient and begin
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really with us elaborate hair hair
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styles and the use of extensions were
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common practices amongst many African
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tribes hair was often styled to denote
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social status age marital status and
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tribal affiliation the craftsmanship
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involved in creating these Styles was a
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testament to the cultural importance of
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hair so for black women and black men
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too really hair has always been a
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powerful expression of identity the
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history of black hair in the America
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starts with the transatlantic slave
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trade it was common practice to to shave
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the heads of slaves before they even
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arrived in the Americas probably one of
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the first ways to strip slaves of their
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identity when the hair grew out the
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slaves found it difficult to maintain
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for a couple of important reasons first
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obviously they were slaves and had very
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little time for self-care in fact a lot
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of black women tried to keep their hair
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covered all week except on Sundays when
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they were finally permitted to get ready
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for church secondly Africans being in a
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new environment they could not easily
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find what would today be considered hair
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care products they were used to back in
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their Homeland and side note the
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tradition of having Hair Care day or
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wash day that would take place once a
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week usually on Sundays comes from this
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era where Sundays were rest days and
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when black women finally had the time to
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care for their hair moving on to the
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20th century when black women had more
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access to various Hair Care tools and
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products wigs also became an attractive
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options for various reasons one being
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the pressure to fit into Western beauty
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standards weaves also slowly grew in
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prominence in the second half of the
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20th century eurocentric ideas of beauty
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characterized by straight hair fair skin
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and specific facial features have
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dominated Global Beauty Norms black
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women often felt pressured to conform to
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these standards to gain social
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acceptance and professional
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opportunities putting on a wig or
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wearing a weave is a type of shortcut to
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achieve this goal that's the reason that
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was obvious to me when I first started
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researching this subject but there are
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other reasons that I being a man did not
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know about like using wigs and weaves as
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protective styling first of all what is
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protective styling one of the primary
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reasons especially these days black
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women wear wigs and weaves is for
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protective styling natural black hair
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particularly type four hair is prone to
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dryness and breakage due to its unique
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structure so it's common practice to
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braid natural hair and either put on a
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wig or sew in a weave to keep the
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natural hair protected what exactly are
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we protecting the hair from you might
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ask apparently even having your hair out
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exposed to the environment can cause
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this sensitive hair type to be damaged
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and break styling the hair every day to
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whatever desired hairstyle be it's
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straining it or curling it can be
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damaging to the hair and then there is
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the time Factor obviously any hair type
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takes time to style even if it's 10
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minutes every morning of course women
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from every culture that I used to work
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with used to wake up hours earlier than
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us men to blow dry and style their hair
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and black women who might have a certain
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hair type might take up like half a day
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to to either braid or straighten or
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twist out might turn to wigs and weaves
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to save themselves some time and then
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there is the convenience of choosing a
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new fun hairstyle without using your own
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hair you want a short hairstyle you can
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get it without chopping off your hair
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you want a long down yourb hairstyle
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without waiting years and years to grow
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out your own hair you can get it
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overnight with weaves you want red hair
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no problem blue try it out so Wigs and
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weaves can give black women so much
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freedom to experiment and express
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different hairstyles and why are black
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women more attracted to those options
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for self-expression than other races
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that's because black hair can be damaged
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way easier with coloring or
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straightening than other hair types so
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with all these benefits why do wigs and
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weaves get so much bad wrap especially
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when we all saw in our history books
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white men wearing wigs in order to look
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more professional and smarter one of the
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criticisms faced by black women who wear
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wigs and weaves is a perception of
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inauthenticity some people View these
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hair pieces means rejecting natural hair
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and conforming to social pressures and
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the push to embrace authentic identity
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has led to the massive push to natural
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hair we've seen in recent years although
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of course wigs and weaves can also be
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authentic identity the natural hair
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movement which gained momentum in the
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early 2000s but probably really started
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in the 1960s or a little bit before that
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encourages black women to embrace their
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natural hair textures in response to
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this natural hair movement the
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appearance of wigs and weaves has also
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PIV hited more and more black women are
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now turning to wigs and weaves that look
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more like natural hair and like I said
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at the beginning of this video I would
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share how I feel about wigs and weaves
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and this is the part I'm going to do
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that me personally I think black women
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should do whatever the hell they want to
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do they have been through so much
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scrutiny from the beginning of time over
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their hair because it is a symbol of
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power to me black women look beautiful
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in weaves wigs short hair long hair
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different colors or their natural hair
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black women have turned something that
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they probably had to do in early
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American culture and turned it into
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something that they made beautiful and
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their own but anyway I can't wait to
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read your thoughts especially from the
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men out there that I'm sure have a lot
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to say on this subject and I want to
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hear from the women let me know if I got
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something wrong let me know in the
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comments see you all next time hi I just
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wanted to come back and say why do you
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guys think that black hair has been such
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a point of contention in American
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culture and around the world remember
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that black kid who went to school and
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got sent home because he had dreadlocks
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is the hairstyle that has darl George a
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junior at Barbara's Hill High School in
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Mont bellw in trouble it is a part of
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who we are he's been in in school
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suspension since August 31st that's the
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same week Texas outlawed racial
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discrimination based on hairstyles I had
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a meeting with the principal and
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assistant principal and they said that
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it's because um the crown act doesn't
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cover the length of his hair or I
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remember even when I had braids um when
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I was in high school my teachers
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predominantly white didn't like it let
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me know you guys' thoughts I'll probably
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do another video on this subject and a
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little tid pit of extra information I
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forgot about when reading about this
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subject is that black women and maybe
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men used to use their braids as maps in
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order to escape slave plantations I just
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thought that was a little bit of extra
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information that was pretty cool
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but anyway I'll check you guys later
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peace
#Discrimination & Identity Relations
#Hair Care
#Hair Loss
#People & Society