What roles do hairstylists play in advocating or educating people about hair discrimination?
As a hairstylist I recommend that more stylist become advocates for textured hair care in Cosmetology schools.
I am advocate for Textured hair Courses in cumetology school. With all the education taught about hair in hair schal, there is a huge gap and lack of information about textured hair. More so miseducation of black hair speeifically. Lack of education in this area flows over into the salons. They simply do not know how to care for textured hair and are not able to help and direct them to the path of natural hair. Once the natural hair trend began to come through many stylist did not try to even learn with the change. Most are lacking the foundation of textured hair education and aren’t able to help clients.
I believe every state should require demenstrations of textured hair care to receive a hair license. Textured hair cuts and styles should be required on the practical exams. Louisiana is the first and only state at the moment, that requires hairstylist to learn and cut textured hair and do it successfully on state boards. Implementing this will make every stylist competent to do everyone’s hair.
As a cosmetologist/ mentor /educator teaching and encouraging black people to wear their hair is very important. Wear your naturally curly/coily hair, wear your braids and wears extension that match your curl pattern or close to it and do it proudly. While doing that we need to change an enforce what professional hair looks like in the corporate environment. Straight, sleek and flat is an impossible standard for the black community. Our hair naturally grows in the up direction and out.
What may look too fashionable or too much or too extra is simplicity for us. Wearing protecting styles like braids, twists and coils is as flat and sleek our natural hair will get. But most importantly seeing our BIG, Curly and Round hair should not be seen as unprofessional. It’s not unprofessional it shouldn’t be seen as a form of intimidation and they cannot stand how big our presence is. But it’s not a way for us to be seen. It’s us being comfortable. When we look good when we feel good our work performance is much higher we are a better asset to the company.
The solution is passing a law (The Crown Act) to stop discrimination against black people in business and school. This we will be a huge step into changing the standard of what professional hair styles look like among all cultures.
