#GoogleMustKnow: IS NATURAL HAIR UNPROFESSIONAL?- (PART 3)

To conclude this series we hear from our South African and Tanzanian sisters, however if you'd like to first catch up on previous posts, here is PART1 and PART2.

1. WHO AM I?

My name is Nangamso Phakathi, and I am proudly South African. I am the co-founder and blogger of FroChic natural hair blog. My blog is all about celebrating the beauty of black natural hair. I am also passionate about the uplifting and empowerment of women. I am a mother of 2 boys and I also love reading books.

NOTE TO GOOGLE

It is surprising that in 2016 natural hair is still considered unprofessional. This is how my hair grows from my scalp and I should be able to embrace it and allow it to do its thing, naturally.

IS NATURAL HAIR UNPROFESSIONAL?

Google calls my hair unprofessional because it doesn’t fit the mould of what is considered beautiful according to Western standards. My hair is very coily and it defies gravity.

http://www.frochic.co.za

2. WHO AM I?

My name is Addiah Omary founder of Natural Hair Tanzania, I’ve been naturals for almost 2yrs now, my instagram page @Naturalhair_Tanzania

NOTE TO GOOGLE:

#GoogleMustKnow African/black hair as natural  is beautiful whether long or short ,wavy or curly,kinky ,soft,texture,difficult, easy and fun it’s reflection of our soul.

IS NATURAL HAIR UNPROFESSIONAL?

To me natural hair would never come across as an unprofessional , I went natural only to protect my hair‘s health and much fragile to with stand the aggressive chemicals of a perm

, our natural hair is just that ,what we were born with so we shouldn’t call it unprofessional.  

                                               Instagram: @Naturalhair_Tanzania

3. WHO AM I?

My name is Hulisani Khorombi. Almost 26, future human rights lawyer and an intersection feminist.

I am very pro women and pro black, so much so that I run a few pages dedicated to each.

My primary page is an Instagram account called @afrohealthsa where I  showcase the beauty that is African hair while giving tips and creating a community of ladies who support each others journeys.

My secondary page is one that I run with regards to body image. Here I share stories of ladies with different body types who have struggled with aspects of their body image and how they overcome certain challenges. The new site is under construction but I’ll be sure to share it soon with a bunch of new stories.

I’m a busy body and when I’m not working I’m blogging or reading.

My personal account is @hulisanik

NOTE TO GOOGLE:

Dear Google.

Yet again, I as a black person have to specifically mention that when I am searching for something that I want the black version.

Like when I type in beautiful women you automatically choose to show me Caucasian women. I have to be objected to narrowing my search to beautiful black women. Let’s not even get started on the amount of things I have to type just to get natural haired women in my search results.

My question is why?

You are able to suggest stories to me based on my recent searches and you can locate myevery move yet somehow realizing that I am a black female is beyond your capabilities.

Please change your algorithms and do better Google. It is completely unacceptable that a black child doesn’t have access to the same search results as a white child and that is greatly upsetting.

Do better.

Sincerely,

Hulisani.

IS NATURAL HAIR UNPROFESSIONAL?

Coming off  my letter to you we can see that there is already a problem with the search results of Google. What shocks me even more is the fact that a black female who has natural hair is considered unprofessional.

Wow. The first time I saw that I was shocked to my core. How unfortunate is that? The hair that grows out of my hair without any chemicals is unprofessional.

But the moment that a white person rocks their natural hair nobody bats an eyelid. In fact a white lady can have dreadlocks and still be considered a professional.

Can we please instert the biggest side eye here.

In a world where white people benefit off of the lives and culture of black people but won’t even change their status to #BlackLivesMatter we cannot have the biggest search engine spewing out hateful things like black hair being unprofessional. It isn’t. Sure sometimes it can be unkempt but so can white hair and Indian hair and mixed hair.There are beautiful styles where women wear their hair naturally and we need to embrace that.

So no. Natural hair is not unprofessional. Google is unprofessional.

#GoogleMustKnow: IS NATURAL HAIR UNPROFESSIONAL?- (PART 2)

In case you missed part 1 of this series, you may access it here before proceeding to read the input from our Kenyan and Zimbabwean sisters.

1. WHO AM I?

Firstly, I am beaming with excitement, what an awesome series! My name is Tendai Angela Jambga, I study Law and Technology (Information Systems) and fascinated by traditional African wellness/ beauty rituals and how they can be replicated and made accessible in today’s global, modern society.

NOTE TO GOOGLE:

In the early fifteenth century, hair served as a carrier of messages in most African societies, within these communities hair often communicated age, marital status, ethnic identity, religion, wealth, and rank in the community. Hairstyles could also be used to identify a geographic region. Hair even had spiritual significance! Many Africans believed hair as a way to communicate with the Divine Being. So as you can see already, I view African natural hair in high regard with much respect towards it because it is not ‘just hair’ as Google portrays it.

IS NATURAL HAIR UNPROFESSIONAL?

Natural hair is viewed as unprofessional because it is not understood, many women in my generation were not taught how to care for their natural hair and not taught how to embrace and appreciate it; Therefore makes it difficult to value it.

What is professional and what is not in this society? In this technological age I could be the best pilot, programmer, financial adviser, business developer, medical coding specialist… would you still care that I have natural hair?

Instagram: @tendai_angela

2. WHO AM I?

My name is Wendy Osodo. I am Kenyan, a natural hair enthusiast, a lover a beauty, fashion and travel.

NOTE TO GOOGLE:

Google has over the years been very biased about natural hair. It mostly only shows curly textures of natural hair and portrays that as beautiful hair but fails to portray kinky textured hair in the same light. Google is a very powerful tool and perception on the beauty of all natural hair textures would change in that light if positive attention is given equally to kinky hair.

IS NATURAL HAIR UNPROFESSIONAL?

Western culture has had major influence on this. In the very far past, office/formal jobs were done by the white race, whose hair was naturally straight and looked a certain way. There was a whole shift when decolonization happened and the black race became capable of joining the formal sector. When that happened, black women were made to believe that professional hair is straightened hair. And to do that, they had to chemically alter their natural hair to fit in.  It was somehow a brainwashing kind of ideology that made black people think natural hair is unprofessional. However, this is slowly changing as black women have began to embrace their natural hair in the office and it’s really encouraging to see that happen. Whether black or white, all women should know that hair that grows out of their scalps is beautiful and should be acceptable everywhere.

Instagram: @wendy_osodo

So, do you agree with these beautiful Naturalistas from Kenya & Zimbabwe?

What’s your note to Google about how they portray natural hair as unprofessional.

Source: http://www.oliviazjournal.com/2016/07/22/googlemustknow-is-natural-hair-unprofessional-part-2/