Sunday Random Hair Chat - Topic #1 - Why is Relaxed Hair Gettting So Much Heat?

I have never been the person to jump on fad bandwagons. Where I am from and the university that I graduated from, going natural ended up being a trend instead of colored sister's total decision. Before I continue, I would like to say that I have the most respect for natural sisters because they can do something that I can never do - Big Chop. The words BIG CHOP scares me entirely. I cannot imagine myself cutting off my hair. I hear that when sisters BC it is like a huge relief, a huge weight lifted, a moment of rebirth. I have hear countless analogies. I am happy that you have made that decision, but is it really your decision?

I hope that there are no more ladies doing this because everyone else is doing it. I was once natural. Natural hair comes with a great deal of maintenance. I used to drag WL natural hair behind me for years. But one day I decided that I was going to relax. The motive: to no longer be compared to a cousin, but it was all of my decision to relax and I have never regretted my decision. I wish natural ladies all of the best with their journeys. Now down to the meat and potatoes....

Why are they A FEW natural ladies who look at us relaxed ladies like we are drug addicts; we cannot get off the creme? Why are ladies calling us sell-outs? Why are ladies looking down on relaxed hair now? I have never given a lady grief about the texture of her hair. All colored hair is beautiful hair, ESPECIALLY the colored hair that no one believed would have grown to lengths like APL, BSL, MBL, WL and beyond. I am giving you all my respect. Why not give me a little? I was walking down the street in the parade I mentioned a few blogs before. I was rocking an airdried "fro". After the parade, a young lady approached me and asked me how long have I been natural. I told her that I was not natural, but my hair gives off an illusion that I am natural when I am getting up there in weeks post relaxer and airdried. She called me a Wannabe and told me that I did a poor job trying to blend in with the natural sisters. o_O I have never tried to come off as a natural sister. So, for her to call me a wannabe was very insulting. I would NEVER try to be anything other than myself. I am thinking to myself, "And I was just about to compliment this girl on her natural hair and she calls herself going off on me.  No, thank you." Sadly, this has not been the first negative response I have gotten about my hair being relaxed by a natural lady. A few weeks ago, I was in the mall twirling my hair in my fingers when this girl I went to high school with approached me. As we spoke and caught up, she asked me was I relaxed, and I told her yes. Her face fell. She told me that I was not doing a great job taking care of my relaxed hair because my roller set came out so poofy. She told me that I was obviously doing my hair more harm than good and I should just go natural. o_O If anyone knows me, they would tell anyone that I love big hair. So, whether my hair is freshly relaxed or a couple of weeks before my next relaxer, I am aiming to wear my hair big as possible. From her, she believes that a relaxed lady is not supposed to have thick hair because a relaxer is supposed to relax the hair from this type of appearance (this is her words). She believes that I am underprocessing my hair for my hair to look like this. As much as I tried to explain, it was not getting through to her and we parted ways on a sour note. I am a very opened minded person. I have no issues with ladies going natural. I take time and try to understand their reasons why. I am not biased, and I would appreciate a little respect back, right? THE POINT OF THIS POST IS NOT TO START A TEXTURE WAR! But I just wanted to know what other people's thoughts were. Is anyone else experiencing any issues with ladies of different texture. I wanted to just chop it up to me living in a small town. But before I conclude on my experiences, I just wanted to know what you all think. I welcome any and all comments. Please do not take anything I have mentioned as an insult. Like I have said, I have great respect for naturals, I really enjoy looking at all of the natural ladies and their evolutions of a HHJ. SO, please hit me with some feedback!!!