If there is one thing my friends no about me it's that i have a stupid weekend obsession with infomercials. i love watching these mini-tv shows, where they try to sell you cheaply made items dirt cheap (or not so dirt cheap) with the promise of satisfaction.
Most of these infomercials rope me in pretty easily, but the main thing stopping me if i'm broke: how can i buy a $290 vacuum cleaner when my water bill is late??? and everyone i've told is quite relieved to hear that i've given up my dream if making a Thanksgiving turkey in a Nu-wave convection oven.
That being said, i must admit that the infomercial for the InStyler rotating flat-iron has really, really, really, REALLY harshed my buzz. and i was finally driven to my keyboard by the cosigning of Kimberly Locke of the wonders and magic of this $300.00 $89.00 $45.00 $14.95 for 30 days hair tool.
when i started this blog, i made it clear that i'm not part of the "if you relax or straighten your hair, you're lost" movement. i believe we should make the choices that make us happy with ourselves, but that we should also we aware of the history behind why certain beauty standards prevail and what kind of messages we received about our natural selves, which originally drove the straightening of hair in African American women. if you want straight hair, fine.
just understand that straight hair is NOT more beautiful than natural hair. don't fall for the oky-doke.
yet, the people shilling the Instyler apparently didn't get this message. throughout the infomercial, naturally kinky hair gets the slam. and I mean slam! Cue Kimberly Locke:
as she sits in the chair, about to have her hair styled with the tool, the stylist talks about how her natural hair is dry and very difficult to manage, saying he has spent hours in the past trying to get her hair straight. and then he proceeds to link straight hair with hair that is pretty, shiny, and healthy. he takes one section of her natural hair and says "look how when i drop it, it just falls in a clump!" but the hair he's straightened with the Rod of God? "it falls beautifully and softly! and look how healthy* it looks!!"
and the whole time he's dogging out the hair that grows naturally from her head, she's sitting there grinning like a mook! and camera shots of the other black women (yeah, both of them) in the audience showed them shaking their damn heads in agreement. for a second, i thought the one with the extra long hair was going to get the spirit and start doing the jesus dance around the stage!
sure, sure, i know what you're saying: "doesn't it make sense for someone selling a flat-iron to speak highly of straight hair, helllloooo?"
yeah, yes it does. but that doesn't mean you have portray hair that is not naturally straight as dry, lifeless, unruly, and hard to manage. that's the same message black women have been receiving about our hair since forever and frankly, i'm over it. and i'm really irritated they found a black woman willing to put her limited star power behind the message that straight hair is better hair.
there's an 80s song that i have been caught singing on more than one occasion that has a lyric line saying "just because you're right doesn't mean i'm wrong."
there's enough room at the Beauty Bar for everyone, quit trying to elbow me back.
*if anyone can show me actual proof that applying heat directly to AA women's hair makes it more healthy by changing the structure of the curl pattern, i'll tell you to quit smoking crack. applying direct heat like that over long periods of time is damaging, period.
Ps: duh.
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