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Breaking Stereotypes: An Afro Hair Doesn’t Define a Rascal

Cameroon Oyee! Clap for wuna sef.

From a young age, boys and girls visit the barber weekly or once every two weeks, especially when they are about to start school. It’s neat. It always puzzled me why girls shave their hair too, especially as they get older and go to middle school (secondary school). We saw other people from other races who would send their kids to school with their long hair but most mothers in Cameroon would insist the girl shave like she was one of the Black Panther’s female soldiers.

Photo by Ben Masora on Unsplash

Of course, it is a person’s choice to do so as an adult from a place of love like the picture above. Her beauty radiates, and her smile emerges from a wellspring of resilience.

To me, the first reason for this mentality was the fact that some mothers were lazy. They hated the fact that they had to care for their kids. Every weekend they will plait their kid’s hair, preparing them for school. It is tedious. As a result, they shaved the hair of their female kids, which somehow contributed to the females hating their hair. Our spongy hair is considered ugly by some Africans anywhere in the world. Haha. My question is, has it ever been different? A friend told me to shave because my hair didn’t look good. She was a Caribbean. I was shocked. I tried to debate it but it was to no avail. I think it has been a long trail of events through our lives to the extent we believe it.

The uniqueness of the afro is what makes it beautiful. The spongy hair is for you to treat it with love and embrace it. We all can not have “pussy hair”. Cameroonians call it cat hair. Pussy stands for pussycat. Same as the hazel eyes we call “pussy eyes”. Sorry, I went down the rabbit hole.

Also, depending on the amount kids each family has, it was about the money. Finance is a big part of the Cameroon society. It affects families in a very tiny but obvious way. You could see it walking the streets of Douala on a good day. A beautiful baby of 3 years old with nice hair will all be shaved because the mum hasn’t the means to take care of it or is lazy too. Thereby, creating a chaotic society of females who believe their hair is not nice enough. It’s even worse for boys as they grow older. If there is a boy with overgrown hair, he is considered a rascal. You are a bad guy, you have joined a bad group. You may have to receive advice from every corner of the street from your mum’s friends about your hair.

“u this pikin', weti dey wrong with you? try to shave, It makes you look like a thief. See handsome boy like you, this ya dirty hair na for weti?”

Thirdly, as I have already mentioned in pidgin English when quoting some of the insults. It’s believed to be dirty hair or not good-looking. Over the years I have seen kids go to school on the other side of the world with their long grown hair and it’s ok. Won’t it be better to make a considerable rule to curb the vices while allowing our society to keep its identity? Our forefathers made their mistakes because of how the society was in their days, today we don’t have to look up to anyone except ourselves.

Truthfully, shaving makes you look all groomed and well taken care of. But you can also keep a big afro or curls neat. Except you are applying for a government job or the military I don’t see why it’s so necessary to hate who we are especially something that grows back on our head the more we shave it. Besides not everyone would like a low cut.

The thieves today are wearing suits and keeping a low cut not the guy with a “pushback” or a “cornrows” or “rasta” or “dreadlocks”. Judging each other because of our appearance while we ask others not to judge us because of our appearance is hypocritical.

However, logic also allows me to believe that it is reasonable to save time, instead of taking care of their hair, a child can take the time to read his/her books. It also allows children from homes below the poverty line not to feel any sort of competition or pressure as they go to school. Hair may sometimes act as a distraction in class especially with a child with a big afro. With the African hot climate, the hair sweats and it’s itchy in the daytime when the sun is at its peak. That will make the kid less focused on the lesson for the day.

Nonetheless, my main concern is to eliminate this mindset from our society. How do we allow choice to mean being and not becoming? African brothers and sisters, big or small, I respect you anywhere you are and whatever place you hold in this society, it’s ok for your hair to grow. Let’s acknowledge that television didn’t reflect people like us while growing up, but it’s time to change that. We can learn even from our children. We can’t keep trying to look like others. This is not the apartheid period. We can do better. Hair doesn’t define whether a person is bad or good. It’s hair! He/she feels like it that’s why they are keeping it that way.

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