Cultural differences of opinion regarding faux hair (dye, colored, head)

[rdlr]

My General Feelings;
I wore wigs in the 60's, and my favorite was a silver blond bob. I loved that look. My general feeling towards faux braids on Black woman, is ....some look very nice. But other times I see strange color combinations of fake braids, and even fake white/blond/silver braids all the way to the waist on some Blacks. But I understand that in this day and age, anything goes. I think it's known as "being stylish". Hollywood pushes these looks. To each her own.

[aileesic]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

Thanks to those offering suggestions, but that wasn't really the point of the thread. I don't need any other options. Just discussing cultural differences.

Cultural differences have a lot to do with what the men think of our hair as well as what religion has taught is "proper" hair. White male preference for long, straight, blonde, thin (or full-figured pin-up girl) and their need to advertise those attributes as everything to all women has for the most dictated the beauty standard. Religion has done this by requiring women with certain types of hair (kinky-coily) to keep it wrapped and out of sight, that it is unsanitary and even tauntingly compared to the hair type on other body parts that are private. It has been only recently that black women are now allowed to wear our hair naturally as well as wigs that mimic our own hair type.

For myself, I've worn wigs for a good while. I was actually asked one time in wig shop why I was buying wigs because my hair was long. The reason is that I've always had hair that could grow long and is nice right out of the shower, but it's always been thin and flyaway once it dries. It never held a curl, would not hold a style longer than 5 minutes, grows far back and extremely thin around the edges and forehead. Plus, I sweat tremendously in my hair. Cutting it short and wearing it that way has never been an option because it is too thin to make even the smallest fro.... it's sort of a combo 3b-c-4A, and it simply droops downward and outward like a clown. Later in life, after going through some severe illnesses, I shaved it all off - twice - and grew it all back, but then the last time I used store bought hair color ruined it for good.

I used to let other people's opinions of what I should do with my hair get to me, but I don't anymore (and believe me, this hasn't been so long ago). Now I am happy to try new wig styles and do my own thing, not worrying about what others think about it. I keep my hair braided and clean underneath and it's been just fine that way.

[Klassyhk]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Among white people, it seems that there is a lot more judgement when it comes to anything that is considered fake. I'm white, so I think I can say this. Being "natural" is viewed as a positive "value" in white culture, which is the prevailing culture. Women who do anything to enhance themselves are views as cheating...

That's mind blogging considering that White women single-highhandedly kept cosmetic surgery in business for decades. The enhancement popularity was: breast/boobs (primarily to make them noticeably bigger to all - boobs were intentionally increased out of proportion to the rest of the body), facial/botox/or other surgery to fight-signs-of-aging, and fat reduction/lap band/liposuction/fat-freezing.

African-American and Asian women have only recently joined the party in having cosmetic enhancements done in the USA.

[Klassyhk]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

They really have. And they own it unapologetically, even when it doesn't look natural. LOL

True. For many, the changing of wigs/hairstyles is considered no different than changing clothes or shoes. It's what you do as a fashionable person.

[aileesic]

Originally Posted by rdlr

My General Feelings;
I wore wigs in the 60's, and my favorite was a silver blond bob. I loved that look. My general feeling towards faux braids on Black woman, is ....some look very nice. But other times I see strange color combinations of fake braids, and even fake white/blond/silver braids all the way to the waist on some Blacks. But I understand that in this day and age, anything goes. I think it's known as "being stylish". Hollywood pushes these looks. To each her own.

I don't know....
I think maybe many of us are simply tired of other people suggesting that we should either straighten our hair or cut it all off. Back in the late 70s-early 80s, I would cut it as soon as it grew near shoulder length because there was no way that I would be able to perm it at home if it was longer, and the beauticians back then didn't want to deal with it either. Being black with longer hair has always seemed to be too much trouble (my own mother used to tell me how much she hated it) or cause people to question it being my hair.

[Klassyhk]

Originally Posted by writerwife

No one said anything about not being "comfortable" with a wig in a shop that catered to other ethnic groups. Just that there wasn't anything there that my mother could make use of. There were about 3 choices an 80 yr old woman could try. That was it.

I didn't say it couldn't be done or that I hadn't done what you suggested (I've watched tons of vids).. I was simply commenting that's what it looks like around here with wig shops culturally.... concurring with op.


I haven't seen 1 wig shop around here that caters specifically to Hispanic women either.

I would think Hispanic women, depending on their hair texture, would use the hair shops that cater either to WW or BW. I'm not aware of any Hispanic wig & hair shops in places I've lived but maybe they exists in predominately Hispanic areas in border towns that I haven't been to.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

I know white women wear wigs. I wasn't suggesting they don't. But there is more of a stigma about it.

I have never experienced that. Also white. But my sisters were of the era where a lot the girls wore falls and small hairpieces to create certain hairdos. And everyone knew and didn't care, because they were doing it, too.

And my mom wore a wigs to change things up. They were never meant to look like her own hair, they were fun.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by Klassyhk

That's mind blogging considering that White women single-highhandedly kept cosmetic surgery in business for decades. The enhancement popularity was: breast/boobs (primarily to make them noticeably bigger to all - boobs were intentionally increased out of proportion to the rest of the body), facial/botox/or other surgery to fight-signs-of-aging, and fat reduction/lap band/liposuction/fat-freezing.

African-American and Asian women have only recently joined the party in having cosmetic enhancements done in the USA.

And you know this based on what?

[Threestep2]

Watching a classy styled and dressed lady in Davos get on a ski lift (I am drooling with envy!) take a misstep and her hairdo took the trip uphill by its own was the end of my fake hair period.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

I've recently started wearing a topper, and it's taking a little getting used to. I feel like everyone is looking at me funny (I know it's just my imagination).

My mother used to wear hairpieces or "falls" with a headband as they were referred to back in the 60s/70s. Never noticed she felt any stigma about it. Friends did, other parents did, you'd see them quite often in magazines. Flipping through old school yearbooks you'd see them in those highly posed senior photos. Just an accepted fashion thing. Mostly white women.

Having worn a full wig during chemo I was also convinced everyone would notice. The wig was very obvious to me as no one knows your own hair better than you, but most people (even those who see you daily) just aren't that observant. A couple of my co-workers were illustrators; people you'd assume would notice visual details and changes in appearance. About 6 months into chemo one of them walked up to me saying she'd heard that I was undergoing treatment and wondered when I was going to lose my hair! When I told her I'd been wearing a wig for months she was totally surprised. Once in a while during a conversation with someone on the commuter bus, in the cafeteria, it came up. They were also surprised. Now that I've been inducted into the ranks of the chemically-induced be-wigged, I can spot one a mile off. The rest of humanity probably can't and doesn't care either way.

It takes time to quit fussing over your new accessory. Your posture, how you touch your hair while wearing it, how you protect it from getting windblown or wet, and how you style it will relax as you get more comfortable. Your overall bearing affects the "illusion" quite a bit!