Talk:Hair straightening

Will or Won't?

"Hair straighteners won't damage hair unless used with protective thermal spray" or should it be hair straighteners will damage hair unless used with protective spray?

please clarify

16:27, 18 October 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.164.52.246 (talk)

?

"Nevertheless, many African-American women still continue to straighten their hair claiming it is an aesthetic choice, however, many African American women do continue to straighten their hair due to the fact that they feel, because of interlized opperession and the idea that their natural hair is wrong, or "nappy-looking" straighten their hair to fit as best as possible European women's hair, as said in the 2009 movie, Good Hair" directed by Chris Rock."

What kind of sentence is that? I don't even know how to begin to fix it.

71.68.13.2 (talk) 22:06, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Just Passing By

I'm just a passer by, not a regular editor (hence the usage of an IP address rather than a username, but even I think that the paragraph "Straight Hair African American Women" needs to be looked at. I mean, what is that? There's no references, the paragraph is poorly structured, grammar is either non-existant or used inappropriately, and there is a lack of correct spelling. Not to mention the usage of the word "apron" rather than "upon". I know that this is not the fault of regular editors on Wikipedia, but I urge you that something be done about this paragraph. For lack of a better phrasing, it's just wrong.

120.18.81.31 (talk) 15:30, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Sources

This article could do with expansion, in particular in relation to hair straightening by African American women, a topic covered in depth by some excellent sources. Here is just a small number of them, many more could be added:

• Hair raising: beauty, culture, and African American women, Rutgers University Press (widely cited standard work in the field)
• The American Beauty Industry Encyclopedia
• Hair matters: beauty, power, and Black women's consciousness, New York University Press
• The body reader: essential social and cultural readings, New York University Press
• Chicago Tribune

--JN466 23:42, 19 September 2011 (UTC)

• Straightening our hair, by bell hooks --JN466 17:55, 24 September 2011 (UTC)
• Oppressed hair puts a ceiling on the brain, by Alice Walker --JN466 17:55, 24 September 2011 (UTC)

Fwiw, I agree this article needs expansion. I'd like to see more said about the reasons for hair straightening. The political implications are undeniable, both because straight hair is associated with whiteness, and because it's mainly women who feel pressured to straighten their hair. And in addition to black women, a lot of Jewish, Latina, and white women straighten their hair - and when they do it, it's still arguably about whiteness. Lorraine Massey, a noted curly hair expert, is white, but when she moved to NYC she suddenly felt more at home because there was more ethnic diversity (see Curly Girl Method).

I know, I keep making suggestions like this and hoping some other, more qualified, person will come along and do the work, and then no one ever does. In this case, it's going to require careful handling, because the politics are touchy and there's so much potential to offend so many people. I have some limited personal knowledge of the subject, but what we really need is a super-smart expert on the history and politics of hair care, if there is such a thing. Rosekelleher (talk) 20:12, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

1980 or 1900

This article contradicts itself by a large margin on when hair straightening practices began (I would assume the practice goes further back than 1900, too).

99.255.239.90 (talk) 20:20, 3 June 2013 (UTC)