Essay On African American Hair

Words: 720
Pages: 3

Many African Americans began using the hot comb to achieve straighter hair. The hot comb temporarily straightens the hair by using thermal heat. The hot comb method eventually evolved into a relaxer, a chemically replicated product that permanently alters the hair’s internal structure. There are many causes and effects of relaxing African American children's hair. The cause is that relaxed hair is easier to manage. The effects of relaxing African American children's hair is that it damages the child's self esteem, it causes permanent hair loss, and it is linked to earlier puberty.

The cause of caretakers relaxing African American children's hair is simple. Straight hair is easier to manage than nappy hair. Many African American children have big, kinky curls which causes the caretaker to put more effort into doing the child's hair than desired. Because many children are tender headed and hate for their natural hair to be combed and brushed, their caretaker often rely on a less painful method of styling the child's hair. Relaxers permanently alter the child's hair, but they make styling the child's hair easier on the caretaker and the child. Therefore, caretakers relax children's hair because relaxed hair is a low
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The cause of relaxing young African American children's hair is that straight hair is more manageable than kinky hair. As a result, many African American children develop low self esteem due to society's European standard of "beautiful" hair. Relaxing young African American children's hair can cause severe health problems in their future. Many other effects of relaxing children's hair is that the harmful chemicals found in relaxers are linked to permanent hair loss, early puberty, and uterine fibroids (just to name a few). Although, many caretakers believe that they are doing the child a favor, they are actually causing more damage than they believe. (Concluding