Yaaaas, I changed my hair, again!

If you are anything like me your hair changes constantly, one minute it is a blonde bob, the next its copper, and then before you know it is back in braids. I grew up changing my hair constantly, it has always been my thing.  For many girls of color managing our hair is a FULL TIME job. It is a delicate balance between the dopest styles and functionality.  Fridays in high school was the Haute Hair Debut, most of us got our hair done on Thursday night, because in high school there is not a whole lot to do but what little you do, your hair must be laid, fried, and dyed! I never really thought much about changing my hair, it was always me just doing me, but then I got a real job.

In Corporate America, my hair was an extension of my professionalism.  At work I did not get quite the same compliments that I did in high school.  The running comment was always the same from my co-workers, “You changed your hair?” Unsure of how to really take this comment I always just smiled and kept it moving.  I never got this comment from black women because we do edgy hair for the culture of it! I began to suspect that the comment meant more than I originally thought.  This was during a time it was considered unprofessional to wear braids to work.  As a matter of fact, many companies have policies that restrict the styles a woman can wear to work.  This is all done under the guise of professionalism.  The weird thing is most of the restricted styles are those worn by women of color, specifically black women.  What I quickly realized is that my constantly changing hair style made me seem unpredictable. The underlying assumption is that never changing your hair makes you professional, predictable, and stable. Corporate America has been waging a war against a woman's beauty for years, telling us how to groom ourselves, never really getting our input.  Women have been made to choose between their individuality and their professionalism as if the two are mutually exclusive.  

Women’s hair has become yet another avenue of institutional racism. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund took this issue head on, no pun intended. The NAACP testified before a New York City Commission of Human Rights in support of a proposed rule to further clarify a covered entities obligations to protect against racial and religion discrimination. The new rule would specifically prohibit workplaces, schools, or other places of public accommodation from enacting policies that attempt to ban people with certain hair textures, hairstyles, including hair length or head coverings due to speculations about health and safety, or claims of their hair being distracting or unprofessional—justifications long used to perpetuate institutional racism against people of color.  

The answer for the people in the back is Yes, I changed my hair, again! I guess you will just have to get to know me instead of relying on the predictability that comes from being boring. 

Tell us about your hair experiences in Corporate America. Does your company have a policy banning certain hairstyles? If so we want to know? Speak on it!