Go Natural? Or BE Natural…

Hello again friends:

It’s Rox again, and today I want to talk about something that has become a small pet peeve with me. It started innocently enough. I’d run into someone, tell them what I do, and then they’d say they had thought about “going Natural”. Then they’d give their speech either pro or con.

This happens quite a lot, because there are many people who perceive the natural hair state of people of color to be sort of – well – UNnatural. Or UNprofessional, or UNkempt, or UNacceptable. It seems that there’s a pretty robust debate about whether or not “natural” hairstyles can stand in the way of progress in the workplace. I’ve heard both sides – folks who claim they were not “taken seriously” while they wore their hair natural, and others who said it didn’t make a difference.

But that’s a debate I won’t ever join, because these feelings are intensely personal. I don’t have a dog in that fight.

The thing that’s been playing over and over in my head is why we refer to the process as “GOING” natural. Natural isn’t some state you GO to. It’s the state we were all born into, and it’s where we remain until we decide to GO somewhere else, right?

So let’s make a deal. No more “go natural”. Let’s BE natural. Let’s BE natural in the way we groom and care our hair and our bodies!!! Let’s BE natural with what we put INTO our bodies.

Let’s take care of ourselves… naturally.