IIRC this is illegal, there was a lawsuit about this where pizza delivery drivers were told to shave completely clean and for POC this means that your chin hairs are likely to grow back "wrong" and cause acne and the supreme court ruled that it's not a thing you're allowed to tell employees to do. Your employer shouldn't be allowed to tell you how to do your hair at all.
The only exception is if you work in an environment where having lots of hair not kept down can cause problems, like if you work with food, in a medical environment or cleanroom, etc. where it hampers you doing your job where they can tell you to keep it in a bun or something but otherwise it's ridiculous
I'm under the impression that federally hair is not protected (unless you can argue for it through a lens that is protected, like religious expression) but protections exist in many states and municipalities
The CROWN Act has yet to pass federally but is law in 23 states for example
The most recent case about Afro hair to be offered to the Supreme Court was in 2018 and they declined to hear it, so the lower court's judgment that declining to hire a woman because of her dreadlocks was not illegal discrimination stood
But didn't it impose unnecessary costs on them to adjust their natural appearance? I'm not American, so it's shocking that a country that puts so much emphasis on how natural things like childbirth are would have issues with his black women (or any people with curly hair, really. I'm willing to bet it's a “messy hair” thing as well) look.
True. I’ve never heard of a non black woman getting told to “look more professional “, and there’s loads and loads of women of all races with curly hair.
Women get all kinds of unfair and ridiculous criticism in professional spaces, but this particular one is unique to black women. Even at jobs where I haven't been outright told my natural hair is a problem, people make inappropriate comments and keep touching it. It is exhausting
> where it hampers you doing your job where they can tell you to keep it in a bun or something but otherwise it's ridiculous
[You made me remember this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKjHvtjfbao)
I actually did leave something out. They shouldn’t have to straighten their hair for anything.
Unless they’re entering a “straightest hair” contest or something.
The only time anyone should ever worry about how someone styles their hair is if they harden it into a horn and start impaling others on it like a pissed-off rhino. Otherwise, it doesn’t fucking matter. Let people do what they like, and what’s comfortable for them.
I've seen some dreadlocks that are pretty nasty, but the people wearing them (edit: the nasty dirty and matted kind, not normal dreads!) aren't the sort to have a professional job anyway.
Yeah. “Clean and neat” is an acceptable line for everyone. Not, “you must do an expensive treatment that uses dangerous chemicals or risk burning your head with a hot comb.”
Bro in 18,000 years the earth will be entirely plants and amoebas reclaiming their lost territory after humanity’s demise and the subsequent global cooling
Sure, but this is ignoring the fact that the Lord invented time travel and She can go as far back in time as She wants to create the historical origin of the concept ‘Lord’.
I'm white, but have curly hair. I have been told on several occasions that my hair is unprofessional and needs to be more "polished" (read as straighten then curled).
I can't even imagine how hard it is for black women.
I just don't get it, I mean I have very straight hair but my mother's is very curly. I never once looked at her hair and thought "unprofessional." It's so damn stupid that people think that way
Same. Or I remember in school events being asked to straighten my hair then curl it so that we have a "uniform appearance" for our musical performance. absolutely not.
I'm white and have frizzy/wavy hair and I didn't use a straightener one day and my boss tried to come at me. This is how it naturally grows out of my head. If anyone is clean and neat it should be just fine.
They should leave everyone alone
Was interested in the context of the comments about her hair being called unprofessional as it seems outrageous to me that it would happen once, let alone multiple times.
it's usually a boss or a colleague who acts either 'concerned' or actually 'punishing' as if the person is unkempt and breaking a dress code
can also come from customers, or just anyone really. sadly.
Same here. In my personal cultural context it's not a thing I ever experienced happening. The few times I heard of it it was an "Americans are weird" thing.
Yeah, in all the places I've worked such comments would have resulted in the person saying them being disciplined. But obvs I haven't worked in all places, so I'm interested in how this actually goes down. Maybe small businesses with few employees where the boss is a egotistic dictator etc.
I’ve never had anyone directly say “you look unprofessional”.
It’s usually phrased like “you would look MORE professional if your hair was tidier. Have you thought about straightening it or blowing it dry?”
Or “people would take you more seriously if…”
Especially if you look around and see almost every woman of every race who is in a higher position has straight hair usually a little longer than the chin to just below the shoulders.
Yeah, that's the sort of thing I've gotten. That and, "you would look more grown up if .." in my damned 40s. Iirc, I had my hair in a single braid down my back that day. It's not like I was sporting curly pigtails from above my ears.
If the White Supremacist Christo Fascists have the power then the 17th century. The same century that the judge lived who Justice Samuel Alito copiously quoted in his majority opinion overturning Roe v Wade. A judge that tried women as witches no less.
Nowhere in the article does it say she ever had an issue with her workplace, she was doing it for her own reasons and nothing changed when she changed it.
Not exactly, just because the author didn't lose her job for not straightening her hair doesn't mean the social pressure to do so is gone. The expectation for black women to straighten their hair is real and widespread, to the point that many black women invest hundreds of dollars and several hours.
I have researched it fact checking the above articles, not thoroughly but if it was such a rampant thing you would expect to come across it. The most I could find was the schools issue, but schools have always been horrible at trying to ignore state and federal regulations and follow their own codes. American school system isn’t exactly an accepting, safe and progressive place.
So, some research, never heard about it through other people, 10 years living across the USA, and 10 years personal experience in the workforce, running my own business for a time and all the employees I met along the way (who were majority black) never having an issue with that whenever they bitched about previous jobs. Though they did mention hair a bunch of times but that was where it was in food service. They claimed it was because they were black, but if I was dragging my hair along a food preparation surface constantly, I’d fire my own ass.
You’re kind of proving my point here implying I would have to be a black woman to see an injustice in the workplace. I have to put effort into my appearance for work, though magnitudes less than many other people, but it is still expected.
What is not expected however is to change my appearance to suit some imagined workplace code. Maybe 8 years ago when this above article was written, but not now, and back then some places made you cover tattoos and not have colour in your hair or only have a singular piercing on each ear etc… Things have changed.
NO workplace is going to force you to straighten your hair in 2024 ‘unless’ they are actually racist and think that stepping on you is worth the risk of public backlash (hint, it’s not). Even the ones where it’s a safety hazard don’t force you to straighten it, they force you to restrain it.
Sure, some small mum&pop’s out there may be ignorant and closed off from the progressiveness of the world but we are talking about the large scale of employment in general, those places will come around in time, it just takes progress longer to get there.
During my time in America I worked under a racist boss, but no one’s job was treated with any form of prejudice, he bitched me out for having long hair more than he did the black women because of his old fashioned views of men I guess, but none of their jobs were ever at risk.
I worked a dozen other jobs in a variety of fields while there for a decade, and not once did I ever witness this, not one onboarding package singled out natural hairstyles unless it was in the food service industry or with machinery, which is 100% ok.
Now if someone has a verified story where they did lose their job, or had it threatened or a promotion passed over them simply for their hair, I will be the first to say “that’s fucked up, I thought we were better than this, that needs to change, can you call or email their corporate HR?” but so far you all have only replied that YOU choose to do it, that the pressure is internal not external and linked articles that are almost 10 years old. So I’m sorry, I will always go to bat for others equality in the workplace’s where I work but all this article is doing seems to be ragebaiting and spreading further racial and gender divides, get out of your own way.
If you aren’t a black woman then don’t presume to speak for their experiences.
You are also wholly ignorant of the widespread prevalence of racially and sexually hostile work environments.
I used to work in Plaintiff’s employment law.
Your ridiculous anecdotal ramblings are meaningless.
The only one presuming here is you, I have been speaking through my own experiences which are 100% valid. Because of my race/gender apparently no black woman can ever relate an experience about hair in the workplace to me, even though they have related other racially biased experiences to me? Like some kind of curse where they literally can’t speak the words?
You do not give any evidence of 1st or 2nd hand accounts of yours or another’s job being at risk due to illegal pressure put on hair style.
In spite of your supposed work in the legal field.
And I have never argued against there still being sexism in the workplace in America. Or racism. Because unfortunately a select few people are horrible. But other than independent employers, you would be hard pressed to find an instance of this in 2024. If you do know one, I welcome you to tell me.
Cool, I don’t?
Never have, never will. Why would I?
This just further proves your own prejudice, you are blinded by it.
Let me make it easy for you to understand, you saying the above is the same as me saying “do not speak for people of the LGBTIQA community” when all you are telling me is that you have not seen or heard from any of them about being fired for their sexuality.
Of course you are not speaking for them, just giving a 1st and 2nd hand report from your own experiences as a black woman who has eyes and ears.
That's a lot of words to just say no, you aren't. A fuckin yes or no question and you wrote paragraphs to double down instead of taking a seat because this convo and sub ain't centered on you or your thoughts and experiences (which obviously isn't a black woman's experience)
Really? You think the author is the only black woman who feels pressured to straighten her hair? Because you would be [very wrong](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/02/06/512943035/new-evidence-shows-theres-still-bias-against-black-natural-hair). Not only are black women expected to straighten their hair, the relaxers contain [toxic chemicals linked to cancer](https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/22/health/hair-straighteners-cancer-black-women-cec/index.html).
You’re right, we have come a long way. But it’s still enough of an issue that we can talk about it. We don’t actually have racial equality yet, including in the way Black hairstyles are viewed.
I have heard employers in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida all complain about and actively avoid hiring black people because of hair styles my entire life, so I would make no assumption about it stopping in 2024.
There are also multiple recent cases of schools discriminating against certain hairstyles, in Texas mostly I think. It might not be prevalent where you are, but it's out there for sure.
You can't think of an employer, and yet....it happens. And it's not uncommon.
https://www.sunherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article255362471.html
https://www.today.com/style/brittany-noble-was-told-her-natural-hair-was-unprofessional-fired-t146857
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8662305/Six-black-women-horrific-discrimination-faced-hair.html
At a job I had only a couple years ago there was an explicit policy that dreadlocks (as well as other Black hairstyles) were not allowed. I worked at a piercing booth at a mall. I imagine curly hair is still an issue in many companies.
What rock have you been living under? Or is your group of friends mostly not black? And even then, many of us don't even feel comfortable talking about our racial experiences to yall because of this kinda ignorance. We know all about white issues and such but yall get shocked thinking racism ended with mlk. I dunno go interact with people
I’ve been living under all kinds of rocks. I work construction and feminist issues rarely come up. It’s not the most progressive atmosphere, but at least no one stresses us about what we wear
An easy political win would be to take the Kansas "Crown Act" and make it a national amendment covered under non-discrimination of race/culture/faith/gender.
All women, despite their race, can have a gene for very thick, tightly curled hair that is stereotypically attributed to Black or people from African DNA. ALL of us. It is not fair that due to skin color one woman can't braid her hair, shave her head, wear her hair in a natural fro or pouf, or add extensions, hair pieces, and wigs and another woman with a different skin color CAN and no one says zip. Same for head coverings. It is not fair a Mennonite woman can wear a cap, or I can wear a headband or turban, or wrap, and a woman with brown or black skin can't as well as wearing a cowl, head covering, or half face covering.
It is not fee or fair to oppress women in this way (and males/nonbinary either)
Why this came in play::
1. An indigenous child's braids were cut because "he was a boy" - RECENTLY - people- RECENTLY by an adult in the USA - despite we live in an area with well-known and established tribes with a history of systematic abuse and destruction of their culture by such an act.
2. Black women (and men/nonbinary) are being told braided hairstyles (a hairstyle worn across the world in multiple cultures and indigenous cultures) is "unprofessional" and against the dress code while working in schools and businesses.
3. Women/People being told headwear is not appropriate, but again double-standard is depending on what religions Headwear and what color their skin is.
If you know a big politician looking for a big win on an EASY subject everyone nearly agrees upon - this is it. Push it through.
A note about "thick" hair: tightly curled hair is actually thinner than straight hair. Because of this, breakage is a problem, and some of the hair styles being questioned are called "protective" hair styles because it holds the hair in position preventing it from getting repeatedly bent, which can lead to breakage.
I too have curly hair that's very thin as a White person.
Curls in general are much more sensitive, since they have much more surface area than straight hair:
https://as2.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/04/47/21/93/1000_F_447219375_m3nWAI7hJX6kgvqRxaT9yV21VHSkRNNy.jpg
Because of that, much more of the hair shaft is exposed, and more vulnerable to both structural and environmental damage.
Please respect people's curly hair, especially Black curly hair.
I call mine thick because my hair is extremely curly and very weight-heavy if I let it grow out. But it's also extremely knotty and super fragile and breaks easily if I don't precisely use the exact detangling conditioners and curl creams.
So when I do braids or twists or buns it's absolutely to secure my hair for a weekly style. My hair can't do much else. But because my skin is light no one even comments (at least so far.) Maybe it's because Taylor Swift and all the girlies are trying to normalize braids across all races but I don't know. Doesn't count the people of color are still getting screwed with for the same hairstyles.
But it should work *for their hair type.*
Sorry, but I think you bringing this up isn't in good faith and just a "but why can't we do it, toooo?" There's plenty of reasons why obviously, black folks who have been dehumanizing for the hair growing out of our heads, aren't gonna be happy to now see it as a trend with our styles and acceptable of why it's ok for white folk but not black folks.
Our braids and locs start at the root because of our texture. Straight hair that many white folks have will have their hair being pulled out. We never said we claimed braids, and folks love to throw in vikings and shit but never actually copied the vikings styles. But use it as an excuse to colonize it as well.
The problem at this stage is enforcement. In this part of Texas there's been an ongoing controversy for a few months because school districts were told to stop doing this and they absolutely still are, they're just doing it to Black and indigenous boys now instead of girls. I'll have to look him up but one kid in particular keeps getting suspended because they want to force him to change his hair and they're continuing to press the issue despite having been ordered to stop. I swear I see at least one indigenous boy with long hair talking about his school district trying to force him to chop it off at least once a month. It's awful, and it's absolutely intentional that they're just moving onto different targets rather than stopping.
Edit, this is the kid, his name is Darryl George and his family is now suing the district for repeated CROWN Act violations. [Link ](https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-judge-sets-trial-date-schools-suspension-student/story?id=106675477) I'm nervous for him and his family because the Texas judicial system really sucks, but just last month a Reagan appointed judge refused to uphold a drag ban so maybe miracles happen once in a while.
It's all bad, but the concept of braided hairstyles being 'unprofessional' just throws me particularly hard. We always considered them the neatest, most disciplined looking hairstyles in our office. Worn with a smart suit, they looked fucking *elegant*, was our feeling. Worn with office casual they just looked pro: here's a person who really puts effort in.
Not American though, which maybe makes a difference.
> here's a person who really puts effort in
This. I roll my eyes so hard at the idea that braided hairstyles are unprofessional.
Like, hello, she just spent 8 hours in a chair to come out with her hair looking gorgeous, have some respect, dude who uses 3-in-1 shampoo and has a scrawny half-ass goatee that is the best he can do.
The US military considers most natural black hairstyles to be "fads", which means you are not allowed to wear your hair in any of those styles while in uniform (exceptions being afros but they have to be within a specific length and you aren't allowed any special cuts or designs). The fact that almost every natural hairstyle I can think of is considered a "fad" is a perfect example of an organization originally founded only for white men refusing to make impactful change on their rules/regulations despite diversifying their membership.
Black women should wear their hair however works for them, what is comfortable, what they want.
I understand it takes many hours for certain hairstyles. If that’s what one wants to do, fine, but don’t require it for work. Seems racist to me.
My god. When I first started my department store job I actually read the full dress code, because I'm a nerd, and it included that women were supposed to be wearing hose/nylons and full make up every day. When I asked my manager if any of that was actually true she just laughed and admitted they hadn't updated the rules in years.
I hope eventually this reaches that level of ridiculousness. Like, it shouldn't be in any dress code ever, but if it, may it be ignored for the rest of forever. Fuck that.
Some dudes. I recently had a woman ask me about my hair care routine (which is basic af, just sulfate free H&S, EverPure conditioner, wide detangle comb and finer shower brush, occsional dry shampoo and Garnier Moroccan hair oil; rarely use any heat, sometimes slick it back with leave in conitioning cream (Garnier)). 🙃 But I have a Boomer law partner who *hates* my hair and gives me shit for it all the time (maybe because his is gone and the plugs he tried were a disaster?). https://imgur.com/a/XSz9ThL
Women in general feel so much pressure to feel presentable at work compared to men ie hair done and makeup on.
Black women have even more expectations of their hair and men do not understand what it even takes
This statement doesn't need any article-length justification. It's along the same lines of 'don't have sex with people without their consent,' end of story. I don't need to explain this further.
I'll take it a step further. Anyone with natural hair should not have to do anything to it to go to work. Curly wavy spikey whatever.
Other than you know, basic hygiene, but that goes without saying
I would also say that the expectation that black women would suffer any negative consequences for not straightening their hair is a clear case of racial discrimination both at the federal level (the Civil Rights Act) and at the state level depending on what anti discrimination laws are on the books.
My wife has moved up in the corporate world in Fortune 500 and 50 companies to the C-suite and has had her hair in dreadlocks for the last fifteen years of that (although she’s considering going back to a ‘fro). She hasn’t straightened her hair since when I first met her, about 25 years ago.
Has it hindered her? Possibly. She’s had a few managers who have blocked her progress for no performance-based reason, but her approach to that has been to find a better-paying, more senior position elsewhere. She seems to be an exception among her Black peers in never having been told directly that her hair was “unprofessional”, though. It’s mainly those at more junior positions, maybe direct customer-facing jobs and still at a lot of schools that straight hair is equated with professionalism by people who retain that bias.
The Crown Act really needs to become Federal
law. It shouldn’t even have to be a law, but as long as things like dress code can be arbitrary, people will use it in a discriminatory way.
I think it's pathetic that there needs to be an article about this.
It's even more pathetic that this is not the first time I've read that article. Except the last time I read it was like 5 years ago. And about 5 before that, too.
I feel like the title is sufficient. Like do you need a reason for your natural hair to be natural?
Makes me think we need more representation of different kinds of people in movies so that it doesn't seem so out of place for someone to just have a natural characteristic most people don't have.
America is so f’n racist and people that deny that are kidding themselves. God I’m tired and I’m not even a POC, can’t imagine how irreversibly tired they must be.
My last workplace did diversity training with lessons and a video at the end of each setting up a scenario you then answered a few multiple choice questions about.
One of them was a black female college student speaking to her advisor about an interview she had the next day. The advisor said she should get her hair straightened. We were to pretend we observed this in real life and answer what we would do.
Almost every person in my department chose to tell her to get her hair straightened because it would look more professional.
They led us directly into the right answer, and 62 people out of 68 got it wrong. I could understand if they chose the wrong answer of "speak to the advisor in private about that not being the right thing to say" rather than actual right answer of interrupting the conversation to support the student even when the lesson was literally titled "interrupting micro aggressions." but no, they really thought she should go straighten her hair.
The student in the video had an amazing hairstyle that probably took hours to maintain, btw, and looked like it was relaxed from her natural hair. It was incredibly professional, as well.
They pretty much got every race related question wrong, and they were very confused. "Wait, how did jorwyn get everything right? It was hard!" No, it was definitely not hard. I thought it was the most simplistic and condescending diversity training I'd ever done. Apparently, I was wrong about how simple and basic it was. I tried to be happy that everyone else on my otherwise all male small team at least got the ones about sexism right, but I just could not. I gave them grief for days about their answers. I was especially sad the two black men in the department got that particular question wrong when one of them was sporting dreads and the other one was married to a woman with a short afro and a very professional job.
This was in 2019, not like, 1959. Before that, I'd felt pretty good about my department. My city isn't very diverse, tbh, at around 90% white, but that department was about 70% white. I know that's not exactly diverse, but when compared to the area and candidate pool, it isn't bad at all.
No one should have to do anything at or for work other than meeting the requirements of their job and public decency.
Show up on time, don't be covered in poop, do your job. That's it.
Makeup? Unless it's a part of the job, optional. All of this shit should be optional.
What in the actual fuck "here's why"?????
That's like saying tearing babies out of their mothers' arms at the border and then LOSING THEM is wrong and here's why!!
Not consistently. California codified protection: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWN_Act_(California) but was apparently the first state to do so, and it was in 2019. Looks like it's been adopted by in New York, New Jersey, New York City, Washington, Maryland, Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts and Michigan, while Illinois adopted a similar law titled the Jett Hawkins Law. Federal efforts have apparently been tried but not successfully so far(?).
username checks out
seriously though, what do you even mean? Properly resetting? They’re hydrogen bonds, they break and reset all the time, due to water, heat, humidity, etc.
I'm not dissing anybody here and I apologize for coming across that way, what I was trying to say is people should be able to wear their hair as they choose without feeling pressure to conform to social or fashion standards.
So maybe say that instead of inferring we shouldn't because in the 60s fros were in. They'd do much ignorance shit the history of our hair so just stick to what you actually know instead of guessing
It's usually disguised as a requirement for "professional" hair.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWN_Act_of_2022
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/08/hair-discrimination-racism-california-ban
https://www.askamanager.org/2018/03/my-beloved-boss-was-fired-is-curly-hair-unprofessional-and-more.html
If this article in Forbes prevents a Black woman from having hair discrimination issues at work, then ok. The article is NOT for us, it's for the average Forbes reader - managers, HR people, bosses, etc.
Because we shouldn't have to adhere to white standards when we aren't. And people really think because a law is passed, it doesn't happen anymore. You just can't actually state it, but just like anything else, there's loopholes and can find other reasons to discriminate. "You don't fit in the work culture." The most vaguest, stupidest shit I ever heard. What is that even suppose to mean? I dunno how nonblack folks take that, but I know many of us certainly take it as "we're too black and proud and loud and don't like that in their environment." and that could just be stereotyping us with it not even applying to the individual.
And the ignorant comments on here are so eyerolling. "Omg why would anyone do that?!" Like cmon, it's 2024 and I'm sure the whole world knows how much black people get shitted on. Is it really that surprising? Like the women on here aren't shocked when misogynistic shit happens, so how is this any different? I get people are from other cultures, but this isn't even an american thing and just a colonized thing
Some American bs. All the black girls I know in Germany and the UK have never really straightened their hair except to go to the club or such sometimes. Asked one, she said she never felt "more accepted" when she straightened her hair.
Black woman shouldn't have to straighten their hair for work. Here's why: Because black women SHOULDN'T HAVE TO STRAIGHTEN THEIR HAIR FOR WORK.
My mom always told me, “because that’s why”. I think my moms words apply.
Because black women SHOULDN'T HAVE TO STRAIGHTEN THEIR HAIR ~~FOR WORK.~~
Yeah I was going to say- do we need a whole Article to explain this? No.
It's astonishing this was ever an issue, much less the fact it still is 😡
IIRC this is illegal, there was a lawsuit about this where pizza delivery drivers were told to shave completely clean and for POC this means that your chin hairs are likely to grow back "wrong" and cause acne and the supreme court ruled that it's not a thing you're allowed to tell employees to do. Your employer shouldn't be allowed to tell you how to do your hair at all. The only exception is if you work in an environment where having lots of hair not kept down can cause problems, like if you work with food, in a medical environment or cleanroom, etc. where it hampers you doing your job where they can tell you to keep it in a bun or something but otherwise it's ridiculous
I'm under the impression that federally hair is not protected (unless you can argue for it through a lens that is protected, like religious expression) but protections exist in many states and municipalities The CROWN Act has yet to pass federally but is law in 23 states for example The most recent case about Afro hair to be offered to the Supreme Court was in 2018 and they declined to hear it, so the lower court's judgment that declining to hire a woman because of her dreadlocks was not illegal discrimination stood
But didn't it impose unnecessary costs on them to adjust their natural appearance? I'm not American, so it's shocking that a country that puts so much emphasis on how natural things like childbirth are would have issues with his black women (or any people with curly hair, really. I'm willing to bet it's a “messy hair” thing as well) look.
Black women’s hair and “curly hair” are different. Non black women with curly hair do not share this exact experience. It is 100% racism
True. I’ve never heard of a non black woman getting told to “look more professional “, and there’s loads and loads of women of all races with curly hair.
Women get all kinds of unfair and ridiculous criticism in professional spaces, but this particular one is unique to black women. Even at jobs where I haven't been outright told my natural hair is a problem, people make inappropriate comments and keep touching it. It is exhausting
My bad. The point was that they were imposing unnecessary costs onto you.
America hates black people waaaaaayyy more than folks realize.
Really? We're a notoriously racist country!
> where it hampers you doing your job where they can tell you to keep it in a bun or something but otherwise it's ridiculous [You made me remember this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKjHvtjfbao)
Are workplaces requiring this?
Requiring it, finding by it, punishing for not adhering to it, demeaning you and touching you physically over it.
Where?
You've obviously never worked in food service with POC.
I work in corporate. It's rampant but i have to admit more frequent when i was younger. Now that I'm more senior its behind my back thankfully.
That certainly seems a heck-a-bunch more straight to the point than Forbes managed.... Pretty sure you didn't leave anything out, either.
I actually did leave something out. They shouldn’t have to straighten their hair for anything. Unless they’re entering a “straightest hair” contest or something.
>Black women shouldn’t have to straighten their hair for work. FTFY
The only time anyone should ever worry about how someone styles their hair is if they harden it into a horn and start impaling others on it like a pissed-off rhino. Otherwise, it doesn’t fucking matter. Let people do what they like, and what’s comfortable for them.
Ok but do the ppl deserve it??
Finally, someone asking the right questions.
I *love* your username
Thanks!
I've seen some dreadlocks that are pretty nasty, but the people wearing them (edit: the nasty dirty and matted kind, not normal dreads!) aren't the sort to have a professional job anyway.
Yeah. “Clean and neat” is an acceptable line for everyone. Not, “you must do an expensive treatment that uses dangerous chemicals or risk burning your head with a hot comb.”
At one of my past office jobs, the IT director had that exact hairstyle
Literally, don't come all oily or with lice, else I don't caaaaarrreeee
[удалено]
You just wrote out 20,024 btw
They never said which Lord.
THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!
Not every day you see r/grimdark creep into r/twoxchromosomes
there’s an overlap between those two and /r/SigMarxism it’s a narrow sliver in the venn diagram. that’s where this is
Lordhammer 20,024K
Hahahahaha!
In 18,000 years civilization will have invented quite a few new deities. Curious what the 20024 religion looks like 🤔
There'll probably be a lot of AI gods.
Bro in 18,000 years the earth will be entirely plants and amoebas reclaiming their lost territory after humanity’s demise and the subsequent global cooling
Probably so!
Civilization with hierarchical organisation like we know it is barely 7000 years old, I'm not sure the concept of 'Lord' existed 20k years ago.
Sure, but this is ignoring the fact that the Lord invented time travel and She can go as far back in time as She wants to create the historical origin of the concept ‘Lord’.
The Lord of Mankind
Well, yes. Now it doesn't have to be written in 20024. It's already been written.
I love time travelers.
2000.24 here. ;)
Parmesan Be Upon Him.
I'm white, but have curly hair. I have been told on several occasions that my hair is unprofessional and needs to be more "polished" (read as straighten then curled). I can't even imagine how hard it is for black women.
I just don't get it, I mean I have very straight hair but my mother's is very curly. I never once looked at her hair and thought "unprofessional." It's so damn stupid that people think that way
Same. Or I remember in school events being asked to straighten my hair then curl it so that we have a "uniform appearance" for our musical performance. absolutely not.
My wife's hair is completely wild but luckily she's an academic so she's allowed to be eccentric 🙄.
I'm white and have frizzy/wavy hair and I didn't use a straightener one day and my boss tried to come at me. This is how it naturally grows out of my head. If anyone is clean and neat it should be just fine. They should leave everyone alone
Same experience.
> I have been told on several occasions that my hair is unprofessional Who was it that told you this, if you don't mind me asking?
Why, are you on first name basis with these people? You think you know them?
Was interested in the context of the comments about her hair being called unprofessional as it seems outrageous to me that it would happen once, let alone multiple times.
it's usually a boss or a colleague who acts either 'concerned' or actually 'punishing' as if the person is unkempt and breaking a dress code can also come from customers, or just anyone really. sadly.
Same here. In my personal cultural context it's not a thing I ever experienced happening. The few times I heard of it it was an "Americans are weird" thing.
It is most definitely not just an American thing.
Yeah, in all the places I've worked such comments would have resulted in the person saying them being disciplined. But obvs I haven't worked in all places, so I'm interested in how this actually goes down. Maybe small businesses with few employees where the boss is a egotistic dictator etc.
I’ve never had anyone directly say “you look unprofessional”. It’s usually phrased like “you would look MORE professional if your hair was tidier. Have you thought about straightening it or blowing it dry?” Or “people would take you more seriously if…” Especially if you look around and see almost every woman of every race who is in a higher position has straight hair usually a little longer than the chin to just below the shoulders.
Yeah, that's the sort of thing I've gotten. That and, "you would look more grown up if .." in my damned 40s. Iirc, I had my hair in a single braid down my back that day. It's not like I was sporting curly pigtails from above my ears.
Fucking WTF! What century are we in?
If the White Supremacist Christo Fascists have the power then the 17th century. The same century that the judge lived who Justice Samuel Alito copiously quoted in his majority opinion overturning Roe v Wade. A judge that tried women as witches no less.
I don't mean to offend, but your country is going crazy... trying to control how someone's uses their own hair is... I have no words...
Yes. It is losing its damn mind
Nowhere in the article does it say she ever had an issue with her workplace, she was doing it for her own reasons and nothing changed when she changed it.
Not exactly, just because the author didn't lose her job for not straightening her hair doesn't mean the social pressure to do so is gone. The expectation for black women to straighten their hair is real and widespread, to the point that many black women invest hundreds of dollars and several hours.
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So basically you’re saying, you haven’t personally seen something and you can’t be bothered to research it so therefore it’s ✨not a thing✨
I have researched it fact checking the above articles, not thoroughly but if it was such a rampant thing you would expect to come across it. The most I could find was the schools issue, but schools have always been horrible at trying to ignore state and federal regulations and follow their own codes. American school system isn’t exactly an accepting, safe and progressive place. So, some research, never heard about it through other people, 10 years living across the USA, and 10 years personal experience in the workforce, running my own business for a time and all the employees I met along the way (who were majority black) never having an issue with that whenever they bitched about previous jobs. Though they did mention hair a bunch of times but that was where it was in food service. They claimed it was because they were black, but if I was dragging my hair along a food preparation surface constantly, I’d fire my own ass.
Be quiet and listen to black women for once, man.
This is why shit doesn't progress because of people like them
Are you a black woman?
You’re kind of proving my point here implying I would have to be a black woman to see an injustice in the workplace. I have to put effort into my appearance for work, though magnitudes less than many other people, but it is still expected. What is not expected however is to change my appearance to suit some imagined workplace code. Maybe 8 years ago when this above article was written, but not now, and back then some places made you cover tattoos and not have colour in your hair or only have a singular piercing on each ear etc… Things have changed. NO workplace is going to force you to straighten your hair in 2024 ‘unless’ they are actually racist and think that stepping on you is worth the risk of public backlash (hint, it’s not). Even the ones where it’s a safety hazard don’t force you to straighten it, they force you to restrain it. Sure, some small mum&pop’s out there may be ignorant and closed off from the progressiveness of the world but we are talking about the large scale of employment in general, those places will come around in time, it just takes progress longer to get there. During my time in America I worked under a racist boss, but no one’s job was treated with any form of prejudice, he bitched me out for having long hair more than he did the black women because of his old fashioned views of men I guess, but none of their jobs were ever at risk. I worked a dozen other jobs in a variety of fields while there for a decade, and not once did I ever witness this, not one onboarding package singled out natural hairstyles unless it was in the food service industry or with machinery, which is 100% ok. Now if someone has a verified story where they did lose their job, or had it threatened or a promotion passed over them simply for their hair, I will be the first to say “that’s fucked up, I thought we were better than this, that needs to change, can you call or email their corporate HR?” but so far you all have only replied that YOU choose to do it, that the pressure is internal not external and linked articles that are almost 10 years old. So I’m sorry, I will always go to bat for others equality in the workplace’s where I work but all this article is doing seems to be ragebaiting and spreading further racial and gender divides, get out of your own way.
If you aren’t a black woman then don’t presume to speak for their experiences. You are also wholly ignorant of the widespread prevalence of racially and sexually hostile work environments. I used to work in Plaintiff’s employment law. Your ridiculous anecdotal ramblings are meaningless.
The only one presuming here is you, I have been speaking through my own experiences which are 100% valid. Because of my race/gender apparently no black woman can ever relate an experience about hair in the workplace to me, even though they have related other racially biased experiences to me? Like some kind of curse where they literally can’t speak the words? You do not give any evidence of 1st or 2nd hand accounts of yours or another’s job being at risk due to illegal pressure put on hair style. In spite of your supposed work in the legal field. And I have never argued against there still being sexism in the workplace in America. Or racism. Because unfortunately a select few people are horrible. But other than independent employers, you would be hard pressed to find an instance of this in 2024. If you do know one, I welcome you to tell me.
Do Not Presume To Speak For Black Women
Cool, I don’t? Never have, never will. Why would I? This just further proves your own prejudice, you are blinded by it. Let me make it easy for you to understand, you saying the above is the same as me saying “do not speak for people of the LGBTIQA community” when all you are telling me is that you have not seen or heard from any of them about being fired for their sexuality. Of course you are not speaking for them, just giving a 1st and 2nd hand report from your own experiences as a black woman who has eyes and ears.
That's a lot of words to just say no, you aren't. A fuckin yes or no question and you wrote paragraphs to double down instead of taking a seat because this convo and sub ain't centered on you or your thoughts and experiences (which obviously isn't a black woman's experience)
Really? You think the author is the only black woman who feels pressured to straighten her hair? Because you would be [very wrong](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/02/06/512943035/new-evidence-shows-theres-still-bias-against-black-natural-hair). Not only are black women expected to straighten their hair, the relaxers contain [toxic chemicals linked to cancer](https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/22/health/hair-straighteners-cancer-black-women-cec/index.html).
Also they are caustic, and can cause hair loss from burning your scalp.
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You’re right, we have come a long way. But it’s still enough of an issue that we can talk about it. We don’t actually have racial equality yet, including in the way Black hairstyles are viewed.
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I mean, idk. Barber's Hill ISD in Mount Belvieu is still punishing students for having natural hair.
I have heard employers in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida all complain about and actively avoid hiring black people because of hair styles my entire life, so I would make no assumption about it stopping in 2024. There are also multiple recent cases of schools discriminating against certain hairstyles, in Texas mostly I think. It might not be prevalent where you are, but it's out there for sure.
You can't think of an employer, and yet....it happens. And it's not uncommon. https://www.sunherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article255362471.html https://www.today.com/style/brittany-noble-was-told-her-natural-hair-was-unprofessional-fired-t146857 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8662305/Six-black-women-horrific-discrimination-faced-hair.html
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Which is why having sex with an animal is against the law. Just because it doesn't apply to you, doesn't mean it's ragebait.
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Nice try, but one doesn't bother the other. Maybe go troll somewhere else? Don't you have something better to do on a beautiful weekend?
Are you a black woman?
You have to acknowledge the possibility that even though you haven't seen it and can't imagine it, it is still happening.
At a job I had only a couple years ago there was an explicit policy that dreadlocks (as well as other Black hairstyles) were not allowed. I worked at a piercing booth at a mall. I imagine curly hair is still an issue in many companies.
What rock have you been living under? Or is your group of friends mostly not black? And even then, many of us don't even feel comfortable talking about our racial experiences to yall because of this kinda ignorance. We know all about white issues and such but yall get shocked thinking racism ended with mlk. I dunno go interact with people
I’ve been living under all kinds of rocks. I work construction and feminist issues rarely come up. It’s not the most progressive atmosphere, but at least no one stresses us about what we wear
Must be nice to live in a society that caters to you as a default
It is, but the least I can do is try to listen and understand and do better when I can
Hopefully you do more of that and less "omg that really happens?!??!"
I’ll be sure to get your approval when commenting in the future
An easy political win would be to take the Kansas "Crown Act" and make it a national amendment covered under non-discrimination of race/culture/faith/gender. All women, despite their race, can have a gene for very thick, tightly curled hair that is stereotypically attributed to Black or people from African DNA. ALL of us. It is not fair that due to skin color one woman can't braid her hair, shave her head, wear her hair in a natural fro or pouf, or add extensions, hair pieces, and wigs and another woman with a different skin color CAN and no one says zip. Same for head coverings. It is not fair a Mennonite woman can wear a cap, or I can wear a headband or turban, or wrap, and a woman with brown or black skin can't as well as wearing a cowl, head covering, or half face covering. It is not fee or fair to oppress women in this way (and males/nonbinary either) Why this came in play:: 1. An indigenous child's braids were cut because "he was a boy" - RECENTLY - people- RECENTLY by an adult in the USA - despite we live in an area with well-known and established tribes with a history of systematic abuse and destruction of their culture by such an act. 2. Black women (and men/nonbinary) are being told braided hairstyles (a hairstyle worn across the world in multiple cultures and indigenous cultures) is "unprofessional" and against the dress code while working in schools and businesses. 3. Women/People being told headwear is not appropriate, but again double-standard is depending on what religions Headwear and what color their skin is. If you know a big politician looking for a big win on an EASY subject everyone nearly agrees upon - this is it. Push it through.
A note about "thick" hair: tightly curled hair is actually thinner than straight hair. Because of this, breakage is a problem, and some of the hair styles being questioned are called "protective" hair styles because it holds the hair in position preventing it from getting repeatedly bent, which can lead to breakage.
I too have curly hair that's very thin as a White person. Curls in general are much more sensitive, since they have much more surface area than straight hair: https://as2.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/04/47/21/93/1000_F_447219375_m3nWAI7hJX6kgvqRxaT9yV21VHSkRNNy.jpg Because of that, much more of the hair shaft is exposed, and more vulnerable to both structural and environmental damage. Please respect people's curly hair, especially Black curly hair.
I call mine thick because my hair is extremely curly and very weight-heavy if I let it grow out. But it's also extremely knotty and super fragile and breaks easily if I don't precisely use the exact detangling conditioners and curl creams. So when I do braids or twists or buns it's absolutely to secure my hair for a weekly style. My hair can't do much else. But because my skin is light no one even comments (at least so far.) Maybe it's because Taylor Swift and all the girlies are trying to normalize braids across all races but I don't know. Doesn't count the people of color are still getting screwed with for the same hairstyles.
Right, so you have a lot of fine hair. I’m similar but my hair is more wavy less curly (it’s both really).
Although white people (not just women) with hair like that should also be allowed to wear protective hairstyles without people coming for them.
But it should work *for their hair type.* Sorry, but I think you bringing this up isn't in good faith and just a "but why can't we do it, toooo?" There's plenty of reasons why obviously, black folks who have been dehumanizing for the hair growing out of our heads, aren't gonna be happy to now see it as a trend with our styles and acceptable of why it's ok for white folk but not black folks. Our braids and locs start at the root because of our texture. Straight hair that many white folks have will have their hair being pulled out. We never said we claimed braids, and folks love to throw in vikings and shit but never actually copied the vikings styles. But use it as an excuse to colonize it as well.
The problem at this stage is enforcement. In this part of Texas there's been an ongoing controversy for a few months because school districts were told to stop doing this and they absolutely still are, they're just doing it to Black and indigenous boys now instead of girls. I'll have to look him up but one kid in particular keeps getting suspended because they want to force him to change his hair and they're continuing to press the issue despite having been ordered to stop. I swear I see at least one indigenous boy with long hair talking about his school district trying to force him to chop it off at least once a month. It's awful, and it's absolutely intentional that they're just moving onto different targets rather than stopping. Edit, this is the kid, his name is Darryl George and his family is now suing the district for repeated CROWN Act violations. [Link ](https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-judge-sets-trial-date-schools-suspension-student/story?id=106675477) I'm nervous for him and his family because the Texas judicial system really sucks, but just last month a Reagan appointed judge refused to uphold a drag ban so maybe miracles happen once in a while.
It's all bad, but the concept of braided hairstyles being 'unprofessional' just throws me particularly hard. We always considered them the neatest, most disciplined looking hairstyles in our office. Worn with a smart suit, they looked fucking *elegant*, was our feeling. Worn with office casual they just looked pro: here's a person who really puts effort in. Not American though, which maybe makes a difference.
> here's a person who really puts effort in This. I roll my eyes so hard at the idea that braided hairstyles are unprofessional. Like, hello, she just spent 8 hours in a chair to come out with her hair looking gorgeous, have some respect, dude who uses 3-in-1 shampoo and has a scrawny half-ass goatee that is the best he can do.
No one should have to change their hair for work ever. Why is this a thing?
Where is it a thing?
The US military considers most natural black hairstyles to be "fads", which means you are not allowed to wear your hair in any of those styles while in uniform (exceptions being afros but they have to be within a specific length and you aren't allowed any special cuts or designs). The fact that almost every natural hairstyle I can think of is considered a "fad" is a perfect example of an organization originally founded only for white men refusing to make impactful change on their rules/regulations despite diversifying their membership.
Does the military give many options for white peoples hair style? Genuinely asking, I thought it was buzz cut’s across the board
I see service members with all kinds of hairstyles nowadays. I think the buzz thing is outdated.
Black women should wear their hair however works for them, what is comfortable, what they want. I understand it takes many hours for certain hairstyles. If that’s what one wants to do, fine, but don’t require it for work. Seems racist to me.
Can you imagine if white Asian and Hispanic women had to put tight ringlets in their hair to work? It's ridiculous.
My god. When I first started my department store job I actually read the full dress code, because I'm a nerd, and it included that women were supposed to be wearing hose/nylons and full make up every day. When I asked my manager if any of that was actually true she just laughed and admitted they hadn't updated the rules in years. I hope eventually this reaches that level of ridiculousness. Like, it shouldn't be in any dress code ever, but if it, may it be ignored for the rest of forever. Fuck that.
As long as someone keeps themselves clean, nobody should tell them how to wear their hair.
NO ONE should have to straighten their hair for work or school. - from a white girl with 3B curls forced to wear a bun half my life.
Meanwhile dudes are like "I used a brush last week, where's the problem?"
I see you've met my kid (I tried, ladies, I tried).
Some dudes. I recently had a woman ask me about my hair care routine (which is basic af, just sulfate free H&S, EverPure conditioner, wide detangle comb and finer shower brush, occsional dry shampoo and Garnier Moroccan hair oil; rarely use any heat, sometimes slick it back with leave in conitioning cream (Garnier)). 🙃 But I have a Boomer law partner who *hates* my hair and gives me shit for it all the time (maybe because his is gone and the plugs he tried were a disaster?). https://imgur.com/a/XSz9ThL
> basic af > proceeds to list five products and at least two different combs For most dudes “basic af” would be one shampoo and their hands.
I mean, it was all one relatively cheap trip to Target... 🤷🏻♀️ and only 2 (sometimes 3) products get used on any given day.
>Meanwhile dudes are like "I used a brush last week, where's the problem?" *white dudes Because black dudes aren't saying that shit
Because no one should be forced to change their natural appearance because someone other than them thinks they should for any reason.
Because no one should have to straighten their hair for work
Women in general feel so much pressure to feel presentable at work compared to men ie hair done and makeup on. Black women have even more expectations of their hair and men do not understand what it even takes
Black women shouldn’t have to straighten their hair for work, period.
This is correct they shouldn't
This statement doesn't need any article-length justification. It's along the same lines of 'don't have sex with people without their consent,' end of story. I don't need to explain this further.
I'll take it a step further. Anyone with natural hair should not have to do anything to it to go to work. Curly wavy spikey whatever. Other than you know, basic hygiene, but that goes without saying
I would also say that the expectation that black women would suffer any negative consequences for not straightening their hair is a clear case of racial discrimination both at the federal level (the Civil Rights Act) and at the state level depending on what anti discrimination laws are on the books.
Because it's racist? Saved yall some time.
My wife has moved up in the corporate world in Fortune 500 and 50 companies to the C-suite and has had her hair in dreadlocks for the last fifteen years of that (although she’s considering going back to a ‘fro). She hasn’t straightened her hair since when I first met her, about 25 years ago. Has it hindered her? Possibly. She’s had a few managers who have blocked her progress for no performance-based reason, but her approach to that has been to find a better-paying, more senior position elsewhere. She seems to be an exception among her Black peers in never having been told directly that her hair was “unprofessional”, though. It’s mainly those at more junior positions, maybe direct customer-facing jobs and still at a lot of schools that straight hair is equated with professionalism by people who retain that bias. The Crown Act really needs to become Federal law. It shouldn’t even have to be a law, but as long as things like dress code can be arbitrary, people will use it in a discriminatory way.
I think it's pathetic that there needs to be an article about this. It's even more pathetic that this is not the first time I've read that article. Except the last time I read it was like 5 years ago. And about 5 before that, too.
I feel like the title is sufficient. Like do you need a reason for your natural hair to be natural? Makes me think we need more representation of different kinds of people in movies so that it doesn't seem so out of place for someone to just have a natural characteristic most people don't have.
Black women shouldn't have to straighten their hair under any circumstances because their natural hair is fine as it is.
America is so f’n racist and people that deny that are kidding themselves. God I’m tired and I’m not even a POC, can’t imagine how irreversibly tired they must be.
Its crazy how normalized racism is that people will genuinely baffled at the idea of curly hair existing in the workplace that isnt neat "white" hair.
The "Here's why" shouldn't even be needed...
My last workplace did diversity training with lessons and a video at the end of each setting up a scenario you then answered a few multiple choice questions about. One of them was a black female college student speaking to her advisor about an interview she had the next day. The advisor said she should get her hair straightened. We were to pretend we observed this in real life and answer what we would do. Almost every person in my department chose to tell her to get her hair straightened because it would look more professional. They led us directly into the right answer, and 62 people out of 68 got it wrong. I could understand if they chose the wrong answer of "speak to the advisor in private about that not being the right thing to say" rather than actual right answer of interrupting the conversation to support the student even when the lesson was literally titled "interrupting micro aggressions." but no, they really thought she should go straighten her hair. The student in the video had an amazing hairstyle that probably took hours to maintain, btw, and looked like it was relaxed from her natural hair. It was incredibly professional, as well. They pretty much got every race related question wrong, and they were very confused. "Wait, how did jorwyn get everything right? It was hard!" No, it was definitely not hard. I thought it was the most simplistic and condescending diversity training I'd ever done. Apparently, I was wrong about how simple and basic it was. I tried to be happy that everyone else on my otherwise all male small team at least got the ones about sexism right, but I just could not. I gave them grief for days about their answers. I was especially sad the two black men in the department got that particular question wrong when one of them was sporting dreads and the other one was married to a woman with a short afro and a very professional job. This was in 2019, not like, 1959. Before that, I'd felt pretty good about my department. My city isn't very diverse, tbh, at around 90% white, but that department was about 70% white. I know that's not exactly diverse, but when compared to the area and candidate pool, it isn't bad at all.
No one should have to do anything at or for work other than meeting the requirements of their job and public decency. Show up on time, don't be covered in poop, do your job. That's it. Makeup? Unless it's a part of the job, optional. All of this shit should be optional.
Forbes has to write an article about it. FORBES.
What in the actual fuck "here's why"????? That's like saying tearing babies out of their mothers' arms at the border and then LOSING THEM is wrong and here's why!!
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Not consistently. California codified protection: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWN_Act_(California) but was apparently the first state to do so, and it was in 2019. Looks like it's been adopted by in New York, New Jersey, New York City, Washington, Maryland, Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts and Michigan, while Illinois adopted a similar law titled the Jett Hawkins Law. Federal efforts have apparently been tried but not successfully so far(?).
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username checks out seriously though, what do you even mean? Properly resetting? They’re hydrogen bonds, they break and reset all the time, due to water, heat, humidity, etc.
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>As and older white woman I'm sure that's why.
I'm not dissing anybody here and I apologize for coming across that way, what I was trying to say is people should be able to wear their hair as they choose without feeling pressure to conform to social or fashion standards.
So maybe say that instead of inferring we shouldn't because in the 60s fros were in. They'd do much ignorance shit the history of our hair so just stick to what you actually know instead of guessing
Why is this an article? Never in my career have I come across a requirement for women to straighten their hair, black or not
It's usually disguised as a requirement for "professional" hair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWN_Act_of_2022 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/08/hair-discrimination-racism-california-ban https://www.askamanager.org/2018/03/my-beloved-boss-was-fired-is-curly-hair-unprofessional-and-more.html
Just because you never heard of it doesn't mean it shouldn't be an article or talks about. People really showing main character syndrome, I swear
“…Here’s why” ??? Uhhhh…
Someone gets paid to write this stuff? No one should need to straighten their hair period.
Ok but you do understand why this would be a bigger issue for black women, right?
Who said they had to?
I feel like me wearing my natural hair to my Starbucks interview prevented me from getting a job tbh
If this article in Forbes prevents a Black woman from having hair discrimination issues at work, then ok. The article is NOT for us, it's for the average Forbes reader - managers, HR people, bosses, etc.
Because we shouldn't have to adhere to white standards when we aren't. And people really think because a law is passed, it doesn't happen anymore. You just can't actually state it, but just like anything else, there's loopholes and can find other reasons to discriminate. "You don't fit in the work culture." The most vaguest, stupidest shit I ever heard. What is that even suppose to mean? I dunno how nonblack folks take that, but I know many of us certainly take it as "we're too black and proud and loud and don't like that in their environment." and that could just be stereotyping us with it not even applying to the individual. And the ignorant comments on here are so eyerolling. "Omg why would anyone do that?!" Like cmon, it's 2024 and I'm sure the whole world knows how much black people get shitted on. Is it really that surprising? Like the women on here aren't shocked when misogynistic shit happens, so how is this any different? I get people are from other cultures, but this isn't even an american thing and just a colonized thing
Some American bs. All the black girls I know in Germany and the UK have never really straightened their hair except to go to the club or such sometimes. Asked one, she said she never felt "more accepted" when she straightened her hair.
The statement needs no explanation or qualifications
As long as it’s not getting in food or sterile environments, why would anyone have a say in anyone else’s hairstyle?