Spinoff: Why is our hair so much weaker?

[sunshinelady]

Hey I was reading the shed hair post and after I finished laughing, I started wondering why our hair is so much weaker?

Genetically, most evolved changes are beneficial to the environment in which we live. So, why do you think our hair evolved this way?

My first guess was maybe our hair got stuck in things frequently and we needed to be able to break it easier?

I honestly don't know.

 

[glamazon386]

I don't think that it's a matter of our hair being weaker, it's just that the curl pattern is so tight. With each bend in the curl pattern, that is a weakened spot. You could have 10 bends in one strand of hair versus somebody with a looser texture. They may not have any bends at all which would make that strand seem stronger.

 

[sunshinelady]

That too. The other post said that black hair lacks a medulla, which is what got me thinking about this.

 

[PinkSkates]

Pretty much what Bemoreflygirl said: "Most African American hair is exceptionally fragile and delicate. Each bend, curve, and coil of African American hair is a weal link that is likely to break even before it's been touched, let alone styled. Unlike any other hair type, it is prone to breakage and damage".

This is a quote from my hair book.

 

[Poohbear]

I don't think our hair (in it's natural state) is weaker. My natural hair personally is fairly strong.

 

[Finewine]

Hair type doesn't effect our survival so it wouldn't be acted upon by nature (i.e no Natural selection). If having a particular hair type decreased one's life expectancy or caused one to have a hard time finding a mate and reproducing then the hair type would cease to exist, or at least dimish because one would be not/less likely to pass along the hair genes via their offspring. If a particular type enhanced one's survival then it would be positively selected for.

 

[Artemis]

IMO I think our ancestors needed more scalp coverage from the sun and heat, so we needed hair w/a higher shrinkage factor. I mean, if your in 100 degree weather, who in the world needs long straight hair down to ur bum?

 

[Finewine]

I can imagine that weather explains why most of us don't naturally grow long hair, but not why it's weaker. It would've been just as easy for genes that code for short hair thin hair to evolve. also, there were tools to shave close to the scalp that date back thousands of years

ETA: it's not like they were combing their hair back then so there was really no need for hair that's easier to break

 

[Artemis]

The tight coily-ness of the strands could be what makes them weaker, IMO. But the strands being coily could be from evolutional adaptation to the environment. Or perhaps being that the scalps sebum doesn't usually travel down the strand in this case, there was never a protective barrier built up?.. I'm really just speculating and reaching at this point...Don't mind me...


*wishing Navsegda would stop by this thread*

 

[PaperClip]

I can imagine that weather explains why most of us don't naturally grow long hair, but not why it's weaker. It would've been just as easy for genes that code for short hair thin hair to evolve. also, there were tools to shave close to the scalp that date back thousands of years

ETA: it's not like they were combing their hair back then so there was really no need for hair that's easier to break

Why wouldn't they comb their hair back then (whenever "back then" was)? Interesting....

Here's a thread I started last night when I got home from a screening of "My Nappy Roots" that gave a panoramic look at Black hair care, including historical components. http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=129280&highlight=documentary

Also, I would ask us to consider the term "weaker" with regard to the range of hair manipulation standards. What's standard for hair care regardless of race/ethnicity? There are some things that Black folk do to our hair that NO OTHER race/ethnicity does....

 

[sunshinelady]

That's a good point that we do things to our hair that noone else does, but that wouldn't necessarily apply when it is in their natural state. My hair is natural and very fragile.

 

[STLCoverGirl]

I don't think our hair (in it's natural state) is weaker. My natural hair personally is fairly strong.

ITA, the only time I had breakage was due to chemicals from poor relaxing jobs(done by me, lol). I don't really have to worry about breakage with my natural hair, just split ends and heat damage, but my hair is very strong.

 

[Dee Raven]

I don't think that our hair is weaker at all. I think we have a legacy of grossly altering our hair to a far greater extent then people of other races. Not only do we relax, but on top we press, flat iron, curl, color. Anyone I've met regardless of what type of hair they had who exposed their hair to all of the processing had horrible splits ends, jagged ends and overall unhealthy hair.

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

I really don't know why and it seems like some things are just too much to think about. I personally don't think our hair is "weaker" than others, but instead that most black folks are not educated enough when it comes to hair care. I also don't believe being natural or relaxed plays a part , because we have all seen our fare share of jacked up natural heads and relaxed, it all boils don't to proper hair care.

 

[kellie7777]

i believe that even though our hair textures are different, they are unique depending on the individual and what's going on.
i had a friend that would home relax her hair, and everytime she did it she would pull the stuff to the ends of her hair and leave it on for longer than recommended. Never burned her scalp. Then she would blow dry that baby. use the curling iron when wet, put nothing on her hair like leave ins or conditioner. just abuse. she had a great head of hair, shiny and full and it grew like wild fire. that was about 10 yrs ago. now her hair looks abused and no matter what she does, she can't seem to make it look like it did before.
So IMO that was from strong to weak.
So hair can be weak, texture to me is not so big the reason.

 

[DSP]

I'm sitting at my desk with 2 shed hairs in front of me.

1 hair belongs to me (AA, fine type 4b, natural, no heat)
1 hair belongs to DH (Euro, fine type 2a, natural, no heat)

• Both hairs are about 6 inches long
• We eat the same meals
• We use the same shampoo
• I use conditioner & baggy, he doesn't
• I take vitamins, he doesn't
• He exercises regularly, I don't
• I wash my hair 2-3x/week, he washes his hair 5x/week
• we both drink lots of water

I will attempt to break them:
It takes 1.5 seconds to break mine
It takes 2.5 seconds to break his

ETA: Obviously not scientific, but my hair has definitely gotten stronger.

 

[shunta]

I agree with Poohbear--I think chemicals have a lot to do with it. For example, relaxed heads do protein treatments pretty frequently to keep hair strong, while some naturals never even have to do any.

 

[Crissi]

I don't think our hair (in it's natural state) is weaker. My natural hair personally is fairly strong.

ITA. It took SO MUCH heat for my 1 time stylist to damage my hair to the point of no return, im 4a/b and my hair is very strong and resiliant (sp) the only time it seems to break is when its dry, aslong as its most it is cool. Man my hair (and yes im talking about the strands) are thicker than most indians, to the point that my close friend (who is indian) said i have hair strands like violin strands , but hey maybe thats just MY head of hair

 

[gymfreak336]

I will be completely honest, even in a natural healthy state, I don't think our hair is as strong as some other races. I am not saying that we are all plagued by breakage because there are relaxed and nautral heads here that have flourished. I am saying that with the way our hair naturally grows, we have more weak spots than other races. With proper care I believe you can still grow your hair long and strong but relaxed or not, our hair requires a different amount of attention.

 

[Blackberry7]

Hey I was reading the shed hair post and after I finished laughing, I started wondering why our hair is so much weaker?

Genetically, most evolved changes are beneficial to the environment in which we live. So, why do you think our hair evolved this way?

My first guess was maybe our hair got stuck in things frequently and we needed to be able to break it easier?

I honestly don't know.

It isn't weaker - its strong!

Look at the stuff a lot of people put it through.

If its abused and not cared for properly it will break. That's to be expected.

Some people have weak hair because they are in poor health and/or malnourished but that can be fixed with proper nutrition and care.

 

[Energist]

I don't think our hair (in it's natural state) is weaker. My natural hair personally is fairly strong.

This is what I've always thought. While I was natural, I plucked a natural strand and did a side by side comparison to a White friends strand and pulled my natural strand straight to break it and then did the same to my White friends strand and it both had the same strength. Mine wasn't weaker than hers and she had a healthy head of hair.

Now I must say that Asian hair tends to be a whole lot stronger than any other race. I've noticed this when I've styled Asian hair. Also my husbands hair strands are incredibly strong. I have tried breaking them and have had dent on my fingers from the strand not breaking readily!

 

[BioGeekChic]

Hey I was reading the shed hair post and after I finished laughing, I started wondering why our hair is so much weaker?

Genetically, most evolved changes are beneficial to the environment in which we live. So, why do you think our hair evolved this way?

My first guess was maybe our hair got stuck in things frequently and we needed to be able to break it easier?

I honestly don't know.

Our hair texture could be result of sexual selection in which an organism has a preference for a particular trait that has nothing to do with its survival. If the organisms with the trait preference in question mates and is reproductively successfully (i.e. offsprings survive to reproduce) and the offspring's possess the trait and/or displays a preference for the same trait (in this case coily hair) and are also reproductively success, over a period of many many generations the trait in question can become dominant assuming that people with this trait are always more reproductively successful (producing more offspring's that survive and reproduce) than those around them. You can see many examples of this in nature: the giraffes long neck and the peacocks bright feathers are just a few examples. Or it could also be that our hair texture is a secondary trait whereby it is coincidentally tagged with a primary trait that happens to be necessary for an organisms survival.


Overall I think our hair in its natural state is strong but the degree of strand strength may be dependent on the hairs texture and those textures and strand differences amongst different races or groups could be due to natural selection or sexual selection or some combination of both.

 

[CAPlush]

I don't buy the whole weather thing, Africa is not the only hot place on earth! It's hot in Asia and N. and S. American too! Anyways, I was listening to NPR the other day and they had a story about something (I don't remember the topic) but the conversation got into the subject of hair and why humans evolved with long terminal hairs only on the crown of their heads. The expert said he did not know! His guess was that in primates they have a strong need to groom one another to form alliances and to form their social structure, so that the reason any human has hair on their heads probably has to do with grooming and social stature. I think there was probably some social reason kinky hair became dominant, and probably for some reason that is outside of our imagination, that kinky hair was considered the preferred or most attractive hair type.

 

[Poohbear]

I don't think that our hair is weaker at all. I think we have a legacy of grossly altering our hair to a far greater extent then people of other races. Not only do we relax, but on top we press, flat iron, curl, color. Anyone I've met regardless of what type of hair they had who exposed their hair to all of the processing had horrible splits ends, jagged ends and overall unhealthy hair.

Exactly!!!

 

[sunshinelady]

Caplush,

You have proposed something that I never would have imagined. Grooming, eh?

 

[Lusa]

I think relaxed hair is generally weaker than natural hair because of the chemical process and the breakdown that occurs. When my hair was natural I never had to worry about breakage as much I do with my processed tresses.

 

[ebonylocs]

I don't buy the whole weather thing, Africa is not the only hot place on earth! It's hot in Asia and N. and S. American too!

It doesn't matter what the weather is like now. Evolution took place thousands, if not millions of years ago.

There is no doubt in my mind that our hair evolved to deal with a hot, humid climate. It shrinks up to the head, is fluffy and light, and doesn't retain moisture a lot. Can you imagine long, heavy, straight, greasy, water-retaining hair down your back in a hotter than hot, wet environment? Wouldn't work at all. You'd probably die of heatstroke. And it must have been hotter where we evolved than where any other race did - that could be the only reason why we produce so much more melanin, which makes our skin dark - it protects from the sun. In my experience, native Africans are ON AVERAGE darker than native Asians or South Americans (e.g. the tribes in the Amazon.) That suggests that there was a lot more sun where they were originally.

and probably for some reason that is outside of our imagination, that kinky hair was considered the preferred or most attractive hair type.

Ummm.... Itss not beyond my imagination. I consider kinky hair to be quite attractive. My favourite is curly or wavy hair, but kinky hair beats straight hair in my book any day. I can think of a couple of people on this board who are stunning with their kinky hair, and just looked like "meh" - any other black girl - with their relaxed har. My hair is recently relaxed, but all I would ask for to keep my hair natural is no shrinkage, and no tangles when it gets long. I still miss the way it looked and felt.

I just don't understand the worship of straight hair I see among so many on this board. Most of what I see on English people is nothing special. erplexed

 

[LocksOfLuV]

It doesn't matter what the weather is like now. Evolution took place thousands, if not millions of years ago.

There is no doubt in my mind that our hair evolved to deal with a hot, humid climate. It shrinks up to the head, is fluffy and light, and doesn't retain moisture a lot. Can you imagine long, heavy, straight, greasy, water-retaining hair down your back in a hotter than hot, wet environment? Wouldn't work at all. You'd probably die of heatstroke. And it must have been hotter where we evolved than where any other race did - that could be the only reason why we produce so much more melanin, which makes our skin dark - it protects from the sun. In my experience, native Africans are ON AVERAGE darker than native Asians or South Americans (e.g. the tribes in the Amazon.) That suggests that there was a lot more sun where they were originally.


Ummm.... Itss not beyond my imagination. I consider kinky hair to be quite attractive. My favourite is curly or wavy hair, but kinky hair beats straight hair in my book any day. I can think of a couple of people on this board who are stunning with their kinky hair, and just looked like "meh" - any other black girl - with their relaxed har. My hair is recently relaxed, but all I would ask for to keep my hair natural is no shrinkage, and no tangles when it gets long. I still miss the way it looked and felt.

I just don't understand the worship of straight hair I see among so many on this board. Most of what I see on English people is nothing special. erplexed

I am asking you this genuinely (no underlying intent or nothing ) but with all of this research about evolution and how our coils helped protect us from the heat etc, do you think that our hair was not meant to be long?

(anyone can answer this)

NOOOO I am not saying our hair CAN'T be long and that we should stop trying at all! Just asking a question.

 

[LocksOfLuV]

I will be completely honest, even in a natural healthy state, I don't think our hair is as strong as some other races. I am not saying that we are all plagued by breakage because there are relaxed and nautral heads here that have flourished. I am saying that with the way our hair naturally grows, we have more weak spots than other races. With proper care I believe you can still grow your hair long and strong but relaxed or not, our hair requires a different amount of attention.

I agree. People are acting like we are sayig that our natural hair is weak and is dissing it. Not at all. It's not that deep. NO ONE IS SAYING NATURAL HAIR IS WEAK. It's just weakER than other races.

It is what it is and the truth is other races hair is stronger than ours because of their molecular makeup. Doens't mean diddly squat about who we are as a whole just means our hair is weaker. They got the stronger hair, and we got the less aging-skin. So, we are even now.

 

[senimoni]

NOt that I can add all that much but I agree our hair is weaker? Why, well thats the 50 million dollar question. The kinkier the easier to break...but why is our hair kinkier??