"For so many years we were told that only white people were beautiful, only straight hair, light eyes, light skin were beautiful, so Black women would try all they could - to straighten their hair, lighten their skin - to look as much like white women. But this has changed because Black people are aware [...] Isn't it beautiful?" -Kathleen Cleaver

*Disclaimer: These quotes were randomly placed on the page and are not necessarily associated with the pictured individuals.

The natural hair movement: a history

The sixties marked the beginning of the first natural hair movement, when hair relaxers and pressing combs were tossed and replaced by hair picks and natural curls. The goal of the movement was not only to get rid of these oppressive tools, which symbolized the shame of Black hair in its natural state, but also to repel the colonial belief that Black people and their natural features were inherently flawed.

Moreover, wearing natural hair meant embracing the connection to one's African ancestors and with Black people throughout the diaspora. The afro became a symbol of pride and empowerment. However, at the onset of the eighties the movement began to dissipate, replaced with increasingly popular new hair trends, including permed styles such as the Jheri curl or the Wave Nouveau.

The movement and industry

Machold explains that natural hair is "highly politicized" because "it's one of the signifiers you can [see regarding] ethnicity. So even in very mixed contexts, the hair still survives perhaps more than the melanin. It is our ancestry, it represents the motherland."

Over the years, the idea of beauty has lost its sense of being 'in the eye of the beholder,' tending to be restricted to the holder of Westernized eyes. As a result, Black people were and are taught to hate their hair not only by their own community but by the whole world. Natural hair is, unfortunately, still stigmatized.

Machold says that many of her clients have been treated unjustly because of their natural hair, and recounts a story where a woman lost her job last year in the Old Port because her boss feared she would "scare customers away" after refusing to "straighten her hair." Anecdotes like these highlight why the natural hair movement is still needed today.

The movement continues to question 'conventional' ideas. Wearing natural hair is a personal choice that should be available to everyone, and people shouldn't fear going natural - it is an individual decision.

According to Machold, "the whole journey to become natural is a journey to yourself, and a journey to self-love." Dismantling perceived societal standards of beauty in order to reconstruct and redefine what you consider beautiful is very powerful, because "you are considering yourself [...] not as a mistake, not as a flaw, not as something you have to hide and correct, but as a gift. [....] And that changes your whole perspective on life."

Beauty at McGill

Some Black students at McGill have embraced natural hair, whether to make a statement, uproot the status quo, embrace their identity, or enjoy their differences. They come in a multitude of shapes, origins, and textures, and we are excited to celebrate this beauty and be inspired by their personal experiences!