Title: 'The Hair in Black Women'
Author: Dr. Neil Persadsingh
Reviewed by : Michael Reckord
JUST off the press and finding its way into stores is Dr. Neil Persadsingh's second book, The Hair in Black Women. So new is the book that the copyright date is 2003, and the initial copies are "pre-released."
Attractive and useful, it should have several more print runs. The hair business is a multi-million dollar one and if this book can tap into the market, it could be a best-seller.
Dr. Persadsingh's first book Acne in Black Women has done quite well, he says, but, as it's title indicates, it has a rather negative focus, acne. On the other hand, the aim of the hair book is decidedly positive, "to show black women how they can have healthy, beautiful hair, regardless of the style they may choose to wear."
To quote the preface, "very few of the publications devoted to women and the care of their skin and hair pay much attention to the special needs of women of African ancestry." This book is intended to fill the gap.
And yet, these quotes are a little misleading. The great majority of the book focuses on the hair of both men and women. And the more men turn to processing and applying heat to their hair, the more relevant it will be.
One of the attractive features of this book is its comprehensiveness. It deals not only with problems of the hair; it also gives quite a bit of history and philosophy concerning hair. Dr. Persadsingh's initial question, "Why do we have hair?" takes him back into the past and descriptions of "hairy-chested stone-age man."
He tell us that the issue of why mankind has become relatively hairless over the ages "involves questions about natural selections, sexual mating patterns, hunting patterns, sweat glands, diet, the increase of our body size and the size of our brains."
But anthropologists all agree that "the primary purpose of scalp hair is to protect us from the sun," whose radiation can be harmful. One can't help but wonder about the safety of the brains of the men (and women) who have in recent years adopted the bald look.
In the history and philoso-phy-filled introduction, there are three pages of illustrations showing African hair styles and African head wraps. These are just some of the many useful illustrations scattered throughout the book. They include photographs mostly of problem scalps and line drawings showing the structure of the hair and hair follicles.
Also covered in the book are "Treatment for Straightening the Hair," "Colouring, Bleaching and Covering the Grey," and "Serious Dermat-ological Problems." (These are some chapter headings).
Many of the sections within chapters begin with note-worthy quotations or brief case histories. According to The Talamud, for example, "The sight of a woman's hair is an erotic stimulus." And a humorous quote states," If an adult woman thinks she has excess hair... she has."
Accompanying that latter quote, is a case history of "Mary" who always had more hair on her face and legs than she liked and who is aghast when, at 30, she started to grow a moustache. Her condition is hirsutism.
This is only of the may diseases and conditions dealt with in a straightforward manner. The average reader will have no difficulty in understanding the treatments and instructions, even if she can't quite wrap her tongue around the Latin names like alopecia universalis and seborrhoea.
An appendix lists cosmetic treatments and medical treatments, including medicated shampoos, shaving powers and depilatories. There is a glossary for quick reference to particular areas and a respectable bibliography, which shows the author relies on more than his own extensive experience.
Publisher: N. Persadsingh
