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No, I think they just sort of gave up because, technically, it complied with school rules. Boy's hair was fine as long as it didn't touch your collar, but my hair goes up and out, not down.Clever. So do you think your afro is suitable for a professional workplace?
Yeah, why not? It doesn't affect the way I work and it's never messy when I'm out. The only reason that question even comes up is ‘cause people aren't used to seeing afros all the time.True.
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No, just positive comments. I'd definitely be happier with it myself if it was a bit softer, though.Would you prefer your hair to be straight?
Not straight, just soft. The problem is manageability more than anything. I don't mind whether it's curly, straight, or in an afro, but, if I had to choose, I suppose I'd choose straight.
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People tell me my hair is really "funky" or "interesting," which doesn’t really fit into a business or professional category. Also, I'm the only one in my workplace with natural hair, or even curly hair of any kind, so I stick out among the straight, European ponytails. I've never been made to feel so uncomfortable that I'd want to change my hairstyle or use chemicals or anything, though.You wouldn't want straight hair?
No, I personally think a bad weave is far less professional looking than an afro.
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No, they're always positive. People come up to me in the street and ask to touch my hair and stuff, but they never say anything negative.Why do you think there aren’t so many people with natural hair in professional working environments?
It's a personal thing. People think they'll look untidy, but I’ve never heard anyone say, "You can’t have that kind of hairstyle in this kind of job." The only limitation I’ve seen was when I was looking at a job at Legoland that said you couldn't have gel in your hair or dreadlocks, but that's not specific to black people. I think there are more white people with locks at my college than black people.
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According to her, in Nigeria, only crazy bush people rock locks. Also, I know that people do have stereotyped ideas associated with dreads.So why do you think people have a problem with natural hair?
I haven’t found natural hair to be a problem, really. It's more about how well you maintain it. If your hair is nappy, dry, and dirty, don't expect folks to overlook it, but that's probably the same for all hair types, right? Although, I'd imagine it makes a bigger difference when you get into more corporate industries and dress codes are more formal.
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Yeah, there are two main reasons: there's a lack of knowledge about how to properly maintain natural afro hair, and there are countless new hairstyles emerging every day, meaning people have a load more options of what to do with their hair. Everyone wants beautiful hair, but they aren't always prepared to use their often unmanageable natural afro hair to achieve that.Previously - How Did Sandy Affect You?More on natural hair:Is Six Flags Racist Against Dreadlocks?We Analyzed Keith Morris's DreadlockHaircuts of the NBA Finals