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The Inequities Facing Black Women and Their Hair Products

By: Abby Boursiquot


Continuing our discussion on hair discrimination in the workplace and school settings, today Up Next is highlighting Black women and girls and the topic surrounding their hair. There has been a long-held stigma surrounding how Black women should style their hair; whether it be keeping it “tame” when entering a corporate job or when having to appease their white dominated work setting. On the other hand, Black women are ridiculed if their hair is not worn “natural” which then displeasingly means that when Black women style their hair with wigs, extensions, or relaxer they appear as “fake”. The most disheartening part of it all is that not just some, but every Black woman has had their own experience with hair discrimination which inevitably comes with side-effects that continue to enforce the stigma which goes unnoticed from the public eye. Such side-effects include the harmful impact that chemical hair straighteners and relaxers are having on their main audience, Black Women. Many lawsuits, totaling up to 8,217 as of February 2024, have come about highlighting these impacts on Black women but are specifically addressing the link there appears to be with said “effective” products and their cancer producing risks.  



There has been a recent increase in the formation of organizations who are making it their mission to target this unaddressed issue. The organization "Drug Watch" is an advocacy organization whose mission is to help consumers stay informed about commonly used drugs, medical devices, and the numerous health issues surrounding them. In honor of Black History Month, Drug Watch has created a page that we have linked below to assist black women and girls who are facing similar situations covering chemical hair straighteners and their effects, alternative options, and more. To learn more, we greatly encourage you to go check out "Drug Watch" as well as other resources to learn about this issue that has seemingly gone unnoticed even though it's sheer importance to Black women.



If you are unfamiliar with chemical hair straighteners or as they’re more commonly called "relaxers", they are typically in a cream form sold in boxes similar to how hair dye is packaged at grocery stores and hair supply stores. Their main function is to break down the natural chemical bonds that are in curls to effectively turn them straight for a temporary period. Due to Black women being forced by societal beauty standards, most of these products are targeted to this demographic to straighten their hair. The problem with these products is that they don't specifically highlight the scary risks that come with the use of these products. For example, people who have used these products have had an increase in having uterine, endometrial and ovarian cancer. Due to these risks, many Black women are put in a very difficult position considering medical bills, legal implications, and mental health impact. This also doesn't take into account the amount of young black girls who are also using these products, which would cause them to face these effects but on a larger scale.  


Women are constantly shoved with societal pressures that assert the common saying of “Beauty is Pain”. Many also enjoy the lengths that we go to make ourselves feel and look good to fit societal beauty standards, but we also consider the risks that come with it. From my own perspective, I have experienced, and I know of many other black girls who were warned about the damage that can be caused by consistently straightening your hair or using relaxers. We heed these warnings by purchasing high quality and expensive products that maintain our healthy hair. Hours upon hours are spent pounding these oils, creams, and jellies to receive the result that we want. In these products we put in trust and to have this dangerous outcome that isn't even mentioned lays even more strain that we don’t need.  

 


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