Jamaican Fashion Model 2003, Cady-Ann Brown
Alicia Roache, Staff Reporter
FOR MANY years, when black women chose not to process their hair it was taken as a symbol of black consciousness or religious conviction. Today, natural black hairstyles have stepped outside the stereotypes of nonconformity and the church into beauty contests and down the catwalks of local and international fashion shows.
Natural hair, locked or not, is now being proudly flaunted on the streets, at schools and in offices by both men and women. Some believe that this phenomenon is not just another fashion trend, but a sign of black men and women accepting that black hair is beautiful.
Zandriann Maye, 26 years old and the current Miss Edna Manley College (of the Visual and Performing Arts) sports fiery honey gold dreadlocks. She is not a Rastafarian, but says she likes her hair 'natural'. Zandriann won the competition from four other contestants, all of whom were sporting natural hair.
"Most of us really do believe that beauty really lies in the eye of the beholder," Zandriann sums up this attitude of students of the college. Though the competition was not primarily a beauty contest, Zandriann says that the notions of beauty are changing. For her, wearing her hair in its natural state is a way of expressing her identity as a black woman as well as a symbol of the beauty of natural hair.
However her decision to lock her hair at age 18 was met with some resistance from at least one member of her family. She says her aunt, who is a Christian, thought 'Rasta' was 'dirty' and condemned her for wearing dreadlocks. Zandriann's attitude to responses such as this is simple. "What might be beautiful for you may not be beautiful for me," she says.
However, she found that her hair was considered 'beautiful' by many. According to Zandriann, friends, fellow students, and men and women who she met on the streets all commended her on her hairstyle. Contrary to popular belief, she says, Jamaican men really appreciate a woman who is natural.
NATURAL HAIRSTYLES, THE IN THING
However, women are not the only ones sporting natural hairstyles. Nowadays, almost everywhere you look there is at least one man with a puffy Afro or braided hair. Male Fashion Face of the Caribbean for 2003 and Saint Model, Dayne Facey, wears his hair big and "out loud". For him, it is the ultimate fashion statement and gives his image that little "extra boost". According to him, it grabs the attention. He too has received a lot of compliments on the natural beauty of his hair.
Female Fashion Face of the Caribbean for 2003 out of Saint, Arianne Coleman, sports natural hair; so too does Cady-Ann Brown, Jamaica Fashion Model 2003 from Pulse. Both won from a group of young women, the majority of whom processed their hair.
Natural beauty is not limited to title holders. There are myriad reasons for women and men going natural. For Joan, a 31- year-old mother who has been wearing natural hairstyles for over five years, it is about accepting who you are, which she finds is ultimately cheaper, "easier to maintain and healthy". For her there is no setting, no pressing and no hot curling, all aspects of relaxed hair which can be very expensive and time-consuming. Instead, Joan gets her hair washed, treated and styled every month. Even though Joan simply wanted to change her hairstyle at the time she chose the natural path, she says it has been liberating.
"After a time you become really comfortable in your own skin," she says.
Ethan Collins, a 23-year-old female student of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, says that her natural hairstyle is more appropriate for her area of study and lifestyle. "I think it goes with the field I'm in. Cultural people prefer to have natural looks. When you say 'drama' most people look for natural hair, shells, jewellery, bandanna and so on," says Ethan.
NATURAL HAIR IN BEAUTY CONTESTS
However, while the natural beauty of black people's hair is undeniable, there have been few black women who enter international beauty contests wearing their natural 'as is'.
Nadine Leon, hairstylist and pageant advisor for the Miss World Competition locally, says that since Joan McDonald won the Miss Jamaica World Competition in 1978, there have been no other winners who wore natural black hair and certainly no dreadlocked women. "Even people from African countries will come on stage (at the Miss World Competition) in their African dress and headwrap, but when they come on wearing their gowns their hair is straightened," she says.
According to Nadine, these women are just doing what they think the contest requires of them by identifying with Caucasians. However, she says, with the advent of natural-haired and dreadlocked models, it is "only a matter of time" before more natural-haired women begin entering these competitions. And perhaps winning? Maybe.
Nadine says that women who wear natural hairstyles are welcome in the competition. "The only thing that would hold them back from being accepted is if they are not groomed properly," she says.
In Jamaica grooming natural hairstyles should not be a problem, as there are many professional natural hairstylists. Nadine runs Definitions where, she says, many women come to get their natural hair styled. And according to Hyacinth Virgo, hairstylist at Hyacinth's Beauty Centre, there are many ways in which natural hair can be styled. Afro twists, rope twists, afro puffs, locks and lock extensions, braids and cornrows are just a few of the many hairstyles that are available to those who decide to go natural.
The most popular of these styles, Hyacinth says, is the Afro twist, which costs upwards of $2,000 and can last for up to three months, depending on how well it is maintained.
Whatever the reasons for the growing popularity of natural hairstyles, one thing is certain, the world is changing to become more accepting of the natural beauty of the black hair. "Even though the change is taking place slowly, changes do happen," says Zandriann.
