Age: 18-29
Occupation: College Student
SH is mixed-race; her father is white and her mother is Black. Since she has lighter skin, her curly hair is connected to her sense of racial identity and ethnic identity.
“I think sometimes without my hair I feel like I’m kind of white-passing, and I think my hair is an indicator to myself and also to others of my Blackness, and so I think in that way it connects me to my racial and ethnic identity,” SH said.
When SH was younger, she straightened her hair for fancy events, so that it would look nicer. Now, she has grown out of wanting her curly hair to be different. She loves her hair, which she affirmed with enthusiasm.
Informed by her love of her hair, SH encourages other women to love theirs as well.
“Love what you’ve got! Beauty is not one thing. It does not have to be one specific thing that you have to try to shape or change yourself to fit within, and there is not only one kind of hair that is beautiful,” she said.
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