In recent times, research has been conducted into how chemicals from relaxers, used mostly by Black women, have a connection with illnesses such as endometriosis and fibroids. Although the aforementioned centres on health, not much has been explored in terms of the effects of peer bullying and how secondary school authorities impact the way Black African girls perceive their hair in the long term.
Schools are behind the perpetuation of discrimination
In Nigeria for instance, it is normal for female students in government secondary schools to be made to cut their hair. The major argument behind this practice is that hair making causes a “distraction”, one which will interrupt the full attention of the students. You cannot help but question why personal grooming — a necessary routine for nurturing self-love as a Black woman — is masked as a "distraction". However, government owned schools aren't the only places where incidents of controlled hair policing occur. Schools such as Loyola Jesuit College, a leading private secondary school managed by the Catholic Church, also require students to cut their hair. A former student (name withheld on grounds of anonymity) shares that incidents of bullying from school authorities were not uncommon at other Catholic owned schools such as Holy Child Catholic Secondary School. Chatting to me, she opens up about an incident where a reverend mother specifically targeted girls who had afros and natural hair, cutting out the sign of a cross from their hair. These girls would then be forced to cut off all their hair.
VJ*, another woman who went to a government secondary school in Nigeria, agreed to speak with me on the condition that her name is changed. She reveals that although her school allowed girls to do their hair, it had to be changed to a new hairstyle every week. She also says that they were not allowed to do braids. According to VJ, her hair’s "neatness span" could only be stretched to a full week if she did tiny braids or if she used wool or thread on it. This resulted in her being singled out each morning and being beaten for trying to do what girls in the senior classes did. After a while, she decided to do medium braided hairstyles. One morning a female teacher saw her in class and beat and cursed her; she was forced to cut all her hair off and wear a beret instead. Although her hair has grown and is now much fuller than it was before, VJ shares that her experience caused her to never braid her hair again or do anything extra with her hair since secondary school.
Abandoning Western Beauty Standards and Embracing Natural Hair in Zimbabwe
Tertiary schools carrying the baton and using religion to oppress
Nigerian women are not alone in these experiences. In neighbouring countries such as Ghana, admission into leading government secondary schools requires that female students cut their hair. Ghanaian-Nigerian journalist, Deborah Dzifa Makafui, explains that these government owned schools in Ghana are held in higher regard compared to private schools, and often require that girls cut their hair throughout their time of study. Furthermore, Makafui reveals British-owned schools and those owned by expatriates sometimes give concessions to Black girls compared to public schools. However, they do not have the same educational prestige in the eyes of the Ghanaian public. In countries such as Nigeria and Ghana it could be argued that what fuels the policing of female students' hair is the ideas of a "respectable" appearance derived from Eurocentric religions like Christianity, and how women ought to look and behave. These ideals are often expanded to private universities, where women's hair and their dress code is severely policed along moral grounds. Most elite tertiary schools in Nigeria are owned by churches and have rigid rules on how one should dress, with some even prohibiting female undergraduates from wearing trousers and earrings.
I too was once harassed for wearing my afro to work when I was working in a women's finance development group. After that, I researched the finance and philanthropy industry in Nigeria and noticed that the appearance of the women was heavily skewed by Eurocentric ideals. It seems it is more acceptable to wear wigs and weaves to look more "professional" in these places of work.
Taking a stand to inspire those that come after
In South Africa, hair policing takes on a more explicit racial position. Speaking with KL* (not her real name), she shares her experience at her secondary school. KL and her classmates were repeatedly bullied about their hair by a white female teacher. She says that they had to write a letter to the head of the school asking for permission to wear their hair the way they wanted to and without fear of punishment. This ignites memories of the 2016 incident at Pretoria Girls High, where the then 13-year-old Zulaikha Patel and her schoolmates marched against the outdated anti-Black hair policy at their school. The students were being told to “fix their hairstyles”, which was a way to encourage them to chemically straighten their hair. Now an anti-racism and social justice activist, Patel has released her children's title book named My Coily Crowny Hair, which seeks to inspire young Black girls to love their natural hair. "I wanted to ensure that no other Black child that comes after me should ever experience this severe form of intimidation," she said in an interview with Kaya FM, a provincial Afropolitan radio station in South Africa.
Lagos based skincare and haircare expert Janelle Akahomen has taken it upon herself to educate younger women on proper ways of caring for natural hair using social media platforms TikTok and Instagram. A trichologist in training, she says a major part of her starting her business, MsTresses, was due to the fact that when she was growing up she was continually bullied about the way her natural hair looked, stating that it was often called "rough". At the start of the natural hair movement in Nigeria, Akahomen says she decided to be a part of it and took online classes to learn about the science of hair and skin. She wanted to be equipped professionally to help and support women to love their hair and be confident in their skin. Currently, Akahomen works as a content creator, hair consultant and has her own line of skin and hair products under the MsTresses brand.
Hair will remain an important part of Black women’s grooming, but for oppressors, it also remains a tool of sowing psychological damage and low self-esteem into the minds of young girls in African learning institutions. These environments must endeavour to create a conducive atmosphere where true Pan-African values about hair will be embraced and understood by young girls and women. *names changed