I swear I don’t make these things up. Apparently it’s a new trend on Instagram for white women to use the hashtag #NappyHair to describe their bad hair days… Please, don’t take my word for it, take a look for yourself. It’s very interesting to say the least. Disturbing and irksome to be completely honest.
The problem I have is the fact that there is seemingly no regard for the cultural meaning behind the term, and it’s simply being used and capitalized on for the sake of being “trendy”. The word “nappy”from its inception, has always had a negative, derogatory connotation attached to it, and it has taken many years to get to the point where Black women have now reclaimed the word and breathed new positive, prideful energy into it.
But if you are someone who doesn’t understand this part of Black American culture, how are you to fully appreciate the significance and symbolic meaning behind describing your bad hair day as #nappyhair?
If you have a straight texture of hair, your hair is NOT nor will it EVER BE NAPPY! Tangly? Sure. And if you don’t comb it for a long period of time it will even become matted. But that is NOT the same as NAPPY people! Now it seems like these women are using this term to describe their bad hair days when they feel as if their hair is looking ugly or dirty or unkempt, and the thing is, for most of us that in fact does constitute having a bad hair day. I get it.
That is NOT what it means to have NAPPY HAIR! And trust me when I say that when those of us with natural hair, loose or loc’d, when we describe our hair as nappy we do NOT mean it in a negative way. We are merely embracing our kinks, our tight or loose curls. We are embracing our hair in its natural state.
At the end of the day, people are free to say what they please and this is just one of many terms that has been taken from Black culture and made trendy. But come on now, if you’re gonna describe your hair as nappy, then I need you to know what it means to have nappy hair and to actually HAVE NAPPY HAIR. Jus sayin…
Dawn M. Edwards 
Wow. That’s ridiculous. I feel like the term “nappy hair” is known worldwide as a term to describe tightly textured hair, or African Ametican hair. I think that a lot of people (not just white people) but in this context, yes, they feel like being apart of the “black culture” is a way of being different. Just like Miley Cyrus twerking was trending for a while even though it had already been done before her many, many times. Smh it’s so stupid.
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Exactly! It’s really a shame.
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I appreciate your posting this. As someone who recently went natural and had to deal with that word from my own family, its interesting to read how this has been co-opted by others. I really feel some kind of way about this.
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Thank u and I feel u- I felt some kind of way too which is why I felt compelled to speak on it!
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Couldn’t have said it better love this blog! Is crazy how ignorant people can be.
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Thank u! It blew my mind too. I mean it’s just ridiculous when u think about it.
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This blows my mind! Thank you for voice. Don’t stop blogging about these touchy topics. We need to be the leaders of the conversations.
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Thank u, I appreciate the feedback! And I agree, if we don’t talk about the issues that really matter, the ones that truly affect us, how can we expect any progress to be made?
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Enough said.
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