When DID black womens hair began to get short???

[SophieDulce]

I´ve been trying to figure out when did black women start having really short hair that broke off, I noticed looking at old pics of my mothers and aunites and grandmothers hair that in the 60´s they all had pretty much unstraightend APl length hair. I asked some of my grandmothers friends and they said they had pretty long hair most of there lives, she said in the 80´s when jerri curls became popular her hair started breaking off.

So im wondering at what decade did black women over all start having short hair?? Do any of you notice this looking at old family pics?

 

[Napp]

if i look at my familys older pictures their hair was short but was very full/thick. no one in my family has had hair past their shoulders except for one cousin.

 

[aminata]

When home relaxers became popular.
My guess only

 

[january noir]

When home relaxers became popular.
My guess only

When you introduce the use of chemicals to the untrained and uninformed, watch out!

 

[SpicyPisces]

I think it started when the use of chemicals (jheri curls and relaxers) became popular. In my family, all of the women were natural growing up and would only straighten their hair with hot combs. Although their hair wasn't super long (maybe SL-CBL straightened), it was thick and healthy.

 

[sunnieb]

It was the RELAXERS baby! We all know that relaxers are the cause of all the evil in the world!!! Bwaaaahaaahaha! :burning: :heated:

J/k

january noir hit the nail on the head imo.

Sent from my Comet

 

[kittenz]

I would have to agree with "when home relaxers became popular". My mom got her first relaxer in the 60s by a family friend. He used a super perm and she says it turned out nice. The following week she back and he permed her hair again! My grandmother had no idea how to do hair so she slapped a wig on my mom until she was old enough to do her own hair.

 

[MissCrawford]

When they started relaxing it to death without proper technique.

SpicyPisces Touché! The Jheri Curl ain't to far behind that.

 

[SophieDulce]

lol..So I´m thinking the group vote is relaxers without proper training

 

[Imani]

Never noticed much of a trend in my family.Not many in my family have done the relaxers or jherri curls so chemicals haven't had much of an impact on hair length. Just the old school press and curl, and everyone was still only SL or NL back in the day and in the present. No one has been longer than sl except for with dreds. We r all fine strand 4bs. I'm hoping to be the first w/ APL or longer with loose hair very soon.

 

[Je Ne Sais Quoi]

When you introduce the use of chemicals to the untrained and uninformed, watch out!

Yep, pretty much. I would also say when folks started looking at what others do to their non kinky hair and wanted to "be like mike" without understanding or caring about the consequences

 

[Lynnerie]

Not properly taking care of hair period.

Overprocessing relaxed hair and neglecting natural hair...

The women with short broken hair had no idea what they were doing natural or relaxed. I know when my hair was a hot mess it was because I was uninformed or misinformed.

For example relaxing every 4 weeks and overlapping it followed by blowdrying, flat iron or pressing comb then curling irons everyday. Yeah that'll do it.
When I was natural as a child the whole technique with washing and detangling was a disaster as well.

 

[Lucky's Mom]

Hair Relaxers

 

[greenandchic]

My family (at least my mother's side) always had long, thick hair. My great grand mother had hip length hair, aunts had at least BSL hair, and so on. They all had type 4 hair by the way. As an aside, my grandmother and other family members with type 3 hair kept it relatively short.

I agree it that it was relaxers that people (especially children) started losing their hair. When I was in elementary school in the 80's, there were times when I had the longest, thickest hair in my class when everyone else had broken off jheri curls, relaxers or braids/tails that were waaaay too tight.

 

[sunnieb]

lol..So I´m thinking the group vote is relaxers without proper training

Not just relaxers exclusively. I think ANY chemical service done improperly by a novice is a recipe for disaster. This would include hair color.

And like Lynnerie said, bad hair practices all around. More moms had to go to work and there was no internet back in the day to turn to for advice and tips for our hair type.

All we had was bad advice, myths and old wives' tales to provide guidance.

Sent from my Comet

 

[bklynbornNbred]

It wasn't the fault of relaxers/jheri curls. Hard headed folks keep having short hair and blame everyone and every thing for what they do.

My mom always had long hair until she cut it for convenience. I've always had long (not by LHCF standards) because my mom took care of my hair be it press and curl or eventually relaxed. The things I took for granted are LHCF staples. Who knew?

My cousin with long hair had it because she didn't let her mother near her hair. The ones that let their mom mess with it have never had length beyond their ears....yet they still ask her what to do. I don't even bother with the hair convo's anymore because as soon as you say so x they want to keep doing z and then call me "lucky".

Better question is to ask what practices/techniques people use on their hair. Those that have had longer hair more likely have been doing LHCF rules all along with or without a relaxer.

 

[I Am So Blessed]

just bad practices period.

 

[GaiasDaughter24]

I say chemicals. My great grandmother said that she used Ms. Clairol and her hair was never the same since. When she was younger she used to put her hair in 2 braids and tie them under her chin as she picked cotton in the cotton fields. It was chemicals that destroyed her hair I just don't know what. I don't think it was color, though. She's dead now so I can't ask.

 

[natural_one]

Definitely the chemicals..I remember the first relaxer my mom put in..I had BSL virgin hair and ended up with less than 2 inches..It was a sad day

 

[Tiye]

Keep in mind not every black woman wants long hair. In the middle 20th century, lots of women who had long hair when they were girls cut it for style or convenience when they grew up. Generally speaking however I'd say you see fewer black women with long hair these days because of relaxers.

 

[discodumpling]

Chemicals! My granny had long strong pretty hair...one relaxer later her hair was ear length. She kept it in 2 pig tails for most of my life. I rarely saw it out and I think it was probably no more than SL.

My own experience is that I had healthy hair until I began almost 30 yrs of maddness! 4 yrs after the madness I am still in recovery...

My Mama had the most lush, soft, round, huge red afro...then she started relaxing. Even now years after she stopped perming, she is balding. She's had perms, jeri curls, dry curls, and any other chemical process you can think of.

 

[Lynnerie]

Its so easy to blame relaxers but not everyone with a relaxer had or has jacked up hair. Its overprocessing the relaxer, switching between lye and no lye abusing heat and basically not knowing what the heck you're doing.

Can we seriously act like natural hair is the remedy? If it was the answer to long hair folks wouldn't be complaining about problems with retention. If it was the answer folks who have been natural for a decade who want long hair, would not still be at shoulder length.

Again its bad practices along with believing ignorant mess like dirt grows hair. Who came up with that?

 

[AmyRose92]

I'd have to go with bad hair practices all around. Relaxing without proper technique can fall under that category including neglecting the basic practices that our hair needs in order to thrive. It's only now that I am starting to realize just how many little girls walk around with their type 4 hair in pigtails and you can tell where the ends are just a mess because the pigtail starts off thick and healthy and ends in a thin straggly line. Most of these mothers are not moisturizing their daughters' hair, combing it with a wide tooth comb, detangling at the ends, washing their hair regularly; the list goes on. Eventually they'll get to middle school and either relax their hair or hide under braids or weave.

This reminds me of about a month ago where I spoke to a 14 year old girl. I had a failed twist out in a low pony tail and bangs. She said that my hairstyle was for little kids and implied that weaves or braids are the only way to look my age. The things these kids are learning today...no wonder out hair never grew longer than SL.

 

[Jetblackhair]

My immediate family's experience of hair breakage is when each of us girls starting doing our own hair. Initially we would press it all of the time, experience breakage on the ends, experimenting with products that were not good for our hair.

The second go round for breakage was when we got relaxers. Initially our hair would grow, but after a while it would break because of not taking care of it properly. In between relaxers, using the hot comb for a touch up, excessive use of the curling iron (putting the curling iron on the ends first and then wrapping the rest of the hair around it equals fried ends).

That was my family's experience and I found the same thing happened to a lot girls when they took over their haircare.

 

[Raspberry]

Yea I would say badly applied relaxers are a huge culprit. Also just a lack of good hair knowledge all around. A lot of black women stop relaxing and rely on back-to-back weaves, braids, and wigs to get them through but neglect their hair underneath thus perpetual dryness and breakage are a huge problem... not to mention incredible abuse of heat for styling..

 

[kupenda]

I blame the pressing comb. My mom and sister, along with their mom and her sisters, were natural for the longest time. But they were straightened naturals. They kept their hair in rollersets and they abused that hot comb like it owed them money. They never made it past shoulder length. Now, my aunt keeps hers in a short cut with and my mom is growing locs. She started her locs when I started growing my hair out from a baldy. And she still has some pretty odd hair practices, like believing that I wet my hair too much(twice a week) and that's why it's dry.


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[Jewell]

I agree, I think I remember when the Jherri Curl (or "the Curl)" became popular, as well as the advent of the "Just for Me" and "PCJ" relaxer kits is when I noticed Black women, children losing their hair due to substantial breakage, lack of knowing how to care for relaxed hair, and scalp damage. I noticed other lil Black girls my age had Curls and their hair was very short, like barely touching the shoulders or shorter.

My mother put both the PCJ and JFM relaxers in my hair at age of 7-8 yrs, and my former BSL natural hair (that was maintained by pressing) broke off, and I had to get my hair cut to my neck. I remember that day at the salon when the stylist cut it. That is when I began to hate relaxers, but when you are young and have someone else to be responsible for your hair, you can't CHOOSE not to relax!

All the women in my family either pressed their hair if it was medium to long, or had short naturals (a couple of my aunts). I remember my grandma pressed and had lovely past SL hair, other grandma always had SL-WL hair over the years, and she got relaxers once per year, maintained with rollers and slight heat otherwise. My sister had beautiful soft natural hair, and when she got a relaxer, her's broke off too, just like mine (though our textures were slightly different).

Over the years, I learned to better care for my relaxed hair, as did my mother. And, our (me and lil sis') hair grew out pretty long. My mother's hair has never been past SL because she abuses relaxers every 4-5 wks and also the curling iron daily. She keeps a short pixie cut mostly, a la Halle Berry.

At age of 15, going into 9th grade, I had a head of thick BSL hair. I have pretty much maintained that length and longer from age 15-22. I started my first transition at age 23 after going 4 mos since my last touch-up. I was MBL at the time. Sorry so long, it's that these questions give me a chance to really reflect on our hair.

 

[JeterCrazed]

I vote for hot combs. 500 degrees Before hot combs, women used hot towels

 

[MsLi@512]

Its so easy to blame relaxers but not everyone with a relaxer had or has jacked up hair. Its overprocessing the relaxer, switching between lye and no lye abusing heat and basically not knowing what the heck you're doing.

Can we seriously act like natural hair is the remedy? If it was the answer to long hair folks wouldn't be complaining about problems with retention. If it was the answer folks who have been natural for a decade who want long hair, would not still be at shoulder length.

Again its bad practices along with believing ignorant mess like dirt grows hair. Who came up with that?

Ii agree. My hair was always in bad condition even when I was a kid and was natural from the hot comb, rough handling and manipulation and just intense dryness. I thought being natural was the solution to longer, healthier hair about 5 years ago and transitioned, but still did not have good hair practices and my hair stayed SL. The keys to my retention have been moisture, low manipulation and low heat or in other words just good hair practices not banning relaxers. Any chemical process is harmful if done incorrectly and haphazardly. Choose one.

 

[RossBoss]

From the 1920s to the 1950s short hair for both Black and White women dominated the hair scene. It was not until the 1960s, 70s and up that long flowing hair became in vogue, which was started by the hippies. And as we all know, after the 1960s with the influx of drugs, Asian BSS, inferior products that were dumped into Black neighborhoods, everything went downhill so BW with healthy hair was not as commonplace as before.