Nappy Hair - My Body Image Story

by Ameerah Lewis
(Ohio)

I am not quite a teenager anymore, but I wanted to share my story...

I have had lots of body image issues, but one that God has recently brought me through was with my hair.

I am black, and so I have kinky hair. Ever since I was a little girl I always thought that there was something wrong with that. Though all of the women in my family were black, none of them had kinky hair like mine - they had chemically straightened it. In fact 98% of the black women I saw on TV had chemically straightened their hair too. So, I always thought that the way black women's hair grew out of our head was somehow unacceptable.

When I was about 10, I had my hair chemically straightened for the first time. That meant that every 6 weeks, I had to let someone put more chemicals in my hair so people couldn't see the new hair that was growing in nappy. It became a way of life.

I spent most of my life thinking that my hair constantly had to be fixed for me to be pretty.

Well, about a year ago, I realized that God said He gave women their hair as a covering and a glory. I began to wonder, why am I trying to change the glory that God gave to me? If He designed me to have kinky hair, then that is what I am going to have!

Since then, I stopped chemically altering my hair. I admit, I was so self-conscious at first. I felt ugly and boyish. But, God showed me different things I could do with my own hair that was both feminine and unique. Now, everywhere I go, I get compliments on my hair. Yes, some people stare disapprovingly, but I know now that they are not disapproving of me, but of God's handiwork -and they will have to take that up with Him (-:

My husband loves the way it feels and the way it looks. And, I have the confidence of knowing that I am good enough, just how my Father made me!