I’m not African American, but my best friend is. Recently she discovered that I know how to cornrow. I had kept this from her for over three years, and my cousin has to blow it by telling her I had been doing them since age 11. It’s a nice skill to have in the city, you can make over $100 sometimes. But I don’t like doing it, probably due to the fact that the looks of agony on people’s faces is one usually associated with prisoners on medieval devices such as the rack. Of course when Kristina found out she made me do her hair. Hours and hours of causing my friend excruciating pain. Which of course could lead to bleeding, infection, and the like. But when I was through she thanked me as profusely as though I had just treated her to a day at the spa. I would NEVER do something this painful to look good. What’s your view on modern beauty torture? Have we gotten any better since the days of foot binding and corsets? I don’t think so.
As an african american woman, I can honestly say corn rows aren’t painful to me, however, I have the “good hair” that blows straight with a blow drier. So I am probably not the best representitive. I did get my hair twisted once, and that hurt a little bit. I have not elected to do that again.
AINAW nor AA-but-gotten better?Doesn’t appear that way to me.
I think cornrows are unattractive.Ditto that semi Buckwheat look,or whatever they call it ala Ricky Williams,Edgerin James,and other NFLers I see from time to time.
I never associated that look with pain,tho.Learn something every day.
But I ** DO ** associate those numerous odd piercings,with it tho.And I’m assuming somebody thinks they’re attractive,I see them everyday.Ditto earrings,esp.on men.
A shame so many people feel the need to alter their appearance to meet an image they think they need to compete in the world of style/attractiveness or as the copouts claim-“need to express their individuality”
People-look clean and cared for,you’ll attract somebody.And that somebody may be better than the one that’s attracted by the look/style.
Got cornrows once or twice, and I’m not African American, or have kinky hair. I am very hard headed though. I can drag a person around and lift them off the ground if they hang on to my hair.
You wanna talk torture methods though, say “high heels” aaaaaaruugh!
My mama wore stillettos, I wear karate shoes. Just like being barefoot… aaaaah!
Or shaving, what a pain! you have to do it almost every day, and I cut myself no matter how careful I am. But waxing? Pain for two seconds, then not again for weeks.
Almost enough to make you wish you were a man.
It’s a shame that there are people who sincerely believe that everything anyone does that they wouldn’t do themselves is done because they’ve been brainwashed by some image. There are, in fact, people who dress/accessorize/anything else the way they do because that’s what they likes.
On top of that, “you’ll attract somebody”… I have to take issue with that. Not everyone in existance has “attracting any old random person as long as it’s someone” high on their list of concerns. If someone’s liklihood of dating me is going to be based on what I do to my hair, I’m not interested in them anyway.
anybody waxed lately?
I don’t remember cornrows hurting when I was little.
(I do remember hating them, because a bunch of extremely, incredibly cruel people like Titan2 convinced me that they were ugly and I was ugly for having my hair that way, even though the braids required much, much less “altering of my appearance,” much less pain, and were much more “clean and cared for” than what he considers acceptable).
My sister cried when she got them in, but then she cried anytime someone got within a foot of her hair with a comb, and cornrows required doing that much less frequently.
I did have individual braids for a while. Yeah, if done right, it hurt - for a day. Then the the pain was gone, and they were so freeing. Now that my hair is unbraided, on a bad hair day, it can 30 or more minutes for me to put my hair in a ponytail. Nothing fancy, nothing interesting…a ponytail. On a good day, it’s going to be at least 10 minutes. Not to have to fight my head every day was simply wonderful. And the braids looked way better.
I also wax various body parts. I’ve shoved my feet into fabulous shoes that were a half size too small. You get used to boning over time. And even though they’re not comfortable, my legs (which are great no matter what) look amazing in sheer black hose. But most of that is temporary pain, and I don’t have to do any of this, society won’t shun me if I stop. which is better than it was in the days of corsets and footbindings.
You have to copy and paste this into your location bar:
That was taken the night I graduated from high school, when I was drunk enough to allow such a ridiculous thing to happen. Even in such a state, it was excruciatingly painful. Good party picture, though.
LC
Back in the middle 80’s I had spiral perms put into my hair. My hair is pretty thick and wavy, so the perm made it impossible for me to brush my hair for at least 18 months. I loved the look because all I had to do was wash my hair, condition it, wrap it in a towel to absorb excess moisture, and let it air dry. I would apply deep conditioners on a regular basis and I had beautiful Shirley Temple style curls all over my head. Was it worth the 4 hours sitting in the salon, having the stylist pull my hair tight, wind it in rollers, apply stinky lotions and twist my head around? You’re darn tootin’. It’s a shame it’s no longer the style for that, but I’d gladly trade 4 hours of pain for several month’s worth of an easy hairstyle. As my mom would say, “You have to suffer for beauty”.