I know we’ve all heard the phrase “messy hair day.” Hair is something a lot of people take very seriously: birthday hairstyles, back-to-school hairstyles, going-on-a-trip hairstyles, and even hairstyles for normal days. Hair is something important to all races and genders. We dye our hair, cut our hair, braid our hair, sew in extensions, and put on wigs.
Hair is a big part of our appearance and how we view ourselves. Sephora Louis (junior) stated “Hair makes or breaks you, hair is the start of all insecurities” Personally, I’ve even cried if a hairstyle doesn’t look how I want it to or if my hair is not cooperating. The big question is, “Does hair affect people’s mental health?” Hair loss is an example of how hair can affect people’s mental health. Hair loss can lead to lower self-esteem, making people feel embarrassed and even humiliated when around others, which leads to less social activity. The stress from hair loss can tie into depression, anxiety, and social phobia.
Social media is a big part of our lives. We see boys/girls on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, etc. with hairstyles we think look good or people who get their hair done all the time and we are not fortunate to have that same advantage and sometimes that causes a big insecurity in people thinking they wish they could look like someone else. Scrolling through social media I see a lot of videos of people crying because of the way they look after getting their hair done, even people spending money and taking out the hairstyle the first day of having it just because they don’t want to be seen with their hair looking in that particular way. People even go to school and hide themselves the whole day because their hair isn’t the way they want it to look. People feeling like they don’t look pretty or feel beautiful because their hair is in its natural state shouldn’t be the case, but unfortunately, that’s the world we live in right now.
Texturism is another big problem when it comes to hair. A lot of people who have curly hair or 4C hair have been told that their hair is a distraction when it’s out and that they also need to tame their hair. This can cause a lot of embarrassment to the person this is being told to because they can feel as if they don’t want their hair to look like that, and they don’t want to be singled out; they want to feel included and like they belong. We were all made to look and be different. Hair shouldn’t be what we used to feel pretty; we need to start caring about what’s inside a person’s heart instead of what’s on top of their head.
