I have always been boggled by the Dominican hair culture. These gorgeous women with insanely beautifully wild curls whipping their hair into submission every saturday at the salon and wrapping their hair around their head a million times and pinning it flat so they dont mess it up at night. Dont get me wrong! I love getting my hair washed and dried and what woman does not like getting pampered, really? I respect that Dominican women present themselves well even if they are not "wealthy." That is something that I feel my culture lacks. It is the root of this tendency, however that saddens me.
I have had so many little girls with wicked beautiful curls stop me on the street and touching my hair saying, "quiero tener pelo bueno como tu!" When I first heard this I was so confused! I could not understand why these beautiful girls kept saying their hair was "malo." It didnt stop there... I continued to hear women wish they had straight blonde hair, skinny little bodies, whiter skin, expensive clothes and a white man.
Today I watched "Good Hair" on netflix and it gave me such a better perspective on this tendency. If you have time, watch this video of educated Dominican women speaking out against this cultural tendency of wishing away the natural beauty of dominican women.
Pelo Bueno vs Pelo Malo/Good Hair vs. Bad Hair - YouTube
(Im not against straightening or dying hair.... I do it! but the motivation cannot be to reject the natural beauty of our heritage)
OWN IT GIRLS!!! We've all got pelo bueno!
I have had so many little girls with wicked beautiful curls stop me on the street and touching my hair saying, "quiero tener pelo bueno como tu!" When I first heard this I was so confused! I could not understand why these beautiful girls kept saying their hair was "malo." It didnt stop there... I continued to hear women wish they had straight blonde hair, skinny little bodies, whiter skin, expensive clothes and a white man.
Today I watched "Good Hair" on netflix and it gave me such a better perspective on this tendency. If you have time, watch this video of educated Dominican women speaking out against this cultural tendency of wishing away the natural beauty of dominican women.
Pelo Bueno vs Pelo Malo/Good Hair vs. Bad Hair - YouTube
(Im not against straightening or dying hair.... I do it! but the motivation cannot be to reject the natural beauty of our heritage)
OWN IT GIRLS!!! We've all got pelo bueno!