A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the process of going natural. An OnyxLouisville reader emailed the following: “I have been told numerous times by my guy friends that the average Black man does not want a woman with natural hair…and that as long as I am natural, I will be single.” I wondered if this was true so I did some investigative work.
I talked with some natural females. One person said that a guy told her “if I wanted to see all that natural ish, I’d go to Africa”. Another woman was in a longterm relationship with a man and as soon as she cut her hair, he completely left the situation. Another person enjoyed her natural hair but ended up getting a relaxer because of the pressure from her boyfriend (and they are no longer together).
Some said they the haven’t had any trouble dating since they went natural. I remember last year we did a “Singled Out” event. I tabulated all of the matches. One female had a lot of men interested in her. I actually looked her up on Facebook to see who she was and she is someone that wears her hair natural in locks. That was a true indicator that the words love + natural can go together.
The men that commented had one general view. Many men said they like natural hairstyles that are nicely kept. One guy said “Men are very visible and I’ve seen some natural hair on woman that looks a hot mess.” So, it’s more about whether or not it’s natural – it’s more about how you keep it styled.
I also found that men seem to generally prefer long hair (either natural or relaxed). Many women with natural hair found that as their hair grew longer they started receiving more compliments from men. The great thing about the people in the discussion is that the majority of the women in the discussion are currently dating, engaged or married!! So love is definitely possible. Kevin Wigginton summed it up best – “Brothers and Sisters please keep in mind Natural hair is just that Natural. Some of our Sisters have hair that’s Straight, Curly, Kinky, and Wavy. We have to remember not only do we have different shades of beauty but different grades of hair. All of which are Beautiful Naturally. Be proud my Sisters no matter what your hair texture is or the amount melanin that’s in your skin because all of you are beautiful.”
CLICK HERE to read the discussion and give your view
MYT is Me! 