Rather, than risking looking DUMB, why not just ask the question?

Innnncredible.
:shaking my head:

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Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated...Every Finer Woman's Dream!

I think you may have missed the earlier part of this conversation. AKA_Monet asked non-AA if they could interpert her statements about 'touch ups" and other African American hair related statements. pbear and Jen are simply trying to answer HER question, rather than getting their own questions answered.

To Canadajen
I don't want you to think I am upset or anything but I was just wondering: Do you think that the majority of Black women have extensions in their hair? I mean if you see a Black woman with long hair, do you generally assume it is extensions? Honestly I'm not trying to be a smart butt, I'm just wondering what you think. If you don't feel comfortable posting your response then let me know and I will give you my e-mail address. Thank you.

[This message has been edited by DST Love (edited April 03, 2001).]

Eclipse - Thank you for your response.

Finer Woman10-A-91: Please read my post.

DST Love,

No worries ... your post did not offend me http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

As for your question, a few Black women that I know do have extensions, or weaves as they refer to them. I also know a number of non-Black women who have done the same thing to their hair as well. On the other hand, I also know a number of other Black women who have naturally long hair.

Hair is such an individual thing. Having said that, what I can say is that I don't generally assume that the majority of Black women have extensions when I see long hair.

I've learned the hard way just how unwise it is to be making assumptions. If I don't know, then I will tend to say so & ask.

Jen http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Can we have ONE racial discussion without panties getting bunched?

There are over 14,000 posts in this forum and to date, it hasn't happened. We are all college educated people. What is the problem? We all know that most caucasians know little or nothing about "our" hair. Can they learn something today? "We" are familiar with "their" hair texture because they are all over the television flinging their silky hair that has just been washed with Pantene or whatever else. How often do you see products for our hair being advertised on network television? Or "mainstream" magazines? Is it any wonder that they are unfamiliar with our hair? God forbid they should ask one of us, they would probably get their head bitten off.


How are we going to improve race relations in this country when we get upset over trivial issues like the differences between our hair and theirs?

Caucasian greekchatters, continue with your guesses.

I just want to return to the original topic and say:

ahhkbah,
thank you very much for that long post - truely interesting. Especially from an outsiders standpoint. Being European, I really enjoyed getting the insight. Thanks!!
Matthewg

Eclipse and Canadajen,
I did n't miss what was posted. It's okay to say..."I don't have the answer to that question." And if you are really sharp a simple, "Let me get back to you with that answer" will usually suffice. But, hey that's just one sistah's opinion.

Maybe I am wrong to assume that most of the people that frequent these boards are either college grads or in college. There is just NO need to "put yourself out there" with such culturally specific differences. I am sure there are a million phrases not specific to my experience, that I dare not guess answering. Sometimes we really need to just be quiet and let the answer come or ask a knowledgeable source. I am sure it was not AKAMonet's intention to put forth a the question as a "challenge". I would venture to say all if not the vast majority of the African American women on this site knew what she was talking about. It's not a big deal...really, I am not offended. However, I could n't help but to shake my head.

To Canadajen:
Thank you very much for your reply. I really was just curious as to what you might think and what you have encountered. So again, thanks http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif!!

To MIDWESTDIVA:
I completely agree with you which is why I wanted to know what Canadajen thought. You have to first know what someone thinks and why they think it before you can educate someone and that goes for any thing or any issue in life.

I think this forum is the awesome!! I grew up in a prodimenitly black community. I used to go to the beauty shop with my friends when they got their hair done. It was always a day long thing and I would run errands (like getting food for us!!!) and we would sit around and talk all day. It was always something I looked forward to. We moved when I turned 16 though.
The post about someone saying they knew about caucasian hair cracks me up too!! I have really curly hair that is REALLY dry. I have always had to do deep conditioning and I can't wash my hair every day (more like every other day). But hair is really long. It's funny though, cause I always wished I had my friend's hair. It always looked so healthy and shiny, and they always had cute things to do with it!! What can you do with dry frizy curls???
Just some insight from someone who grew up in a diverse culture as a child.

I just have to say that this discussion on hair has been very educational.

...I just wanted to share a little story that's related to this topic...

When I was in second grade one of my best friends Melissa had, in my opinion, the coolest hair ever. She would come to school with it in lots of twists sticking out all over fastened with a rainbow mix of barrettes or braided with colorful shiny beads at the ends.

I thought she was absolutely B E A U T I F U L!!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

I wanted to have hair like hers so badly. I remember asking my mom to "do my hair like Melissa's pleasepleaseplease!" We tried but my stick straight fine hair just wasn't up to it. And then when we tried to get all the barrettes out, my long hair got really tangled, ouch ouch ouch. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif

Somewhere I still have a picture of Melissa, Jen (another friend), and me with barrettes all over our hair. Melissa looks fabulous of course; Jen and I just look like total goofballs.

So, yes, while I may be able to flip my hair around like in the Pantene commercials, just think that I spent second grade just wanting "fun pretty hair" like Melissa. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Lots of wishes for good hair days for everyone,

G8Ralphaxi

G8Ralphaxi,

What a sweet story! It brings back my grammar school memories. Thanks http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Finer Woman,
I think this is one of those "agree to disagree" moments in life! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif I won't venture to guest AKA_Monet's true intentions, but I , like pbear and Jen viewed her 'challenge' as a legitimate question, not a retorical (sp?) one. They both felt like they had some information on the subject based on previous experiences/knowledge, so they thought they would share. I personally saw no harm, but as you said, it's really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things!

All the hair stuff had me laughing because it reminds me of conversations we used to have at work....I worked for a large company with a very culturally diverse employee base, and I had the most wonderful group of AA girlfriends....I used to try and tiptoe politely around my curiosities about such things as the hair differences, and finally one of my friends was like "Girl if there's things you want to know about just come out and ask!!!" So we had some really interesting frank discussions...
My question is, why is it so difficult to get the GLOs and the BGLOs together on anything? We used to try and get the BGLOs to join with us for various events, mixers, etc and it never happened. I would have loved the opportunity to learn more about the chapters and get to know some of the members.
Just a sideline, we had a really awesome girl who went through GLO rush and pledged XO.....just because she was black she took so much crap from a lot of other aa students (I don't know if they were bglos) that she dropped out. There were no other black girls coming through glo rush for a number of years, right now there is one black Delta Gamma who has stuck with it for the duration but that's it.

I like your post! You don't learn unless you ask! I can remember my freshman year, a couple of white girls (who are STILL my girls) sitting in my dorm room watching me do my hair. To say they were in awe is an understatement! To this day, I love our relationship because we can talk about ANYTHING, disagree, and still be the best of friends when it's all over! (Who's seen Remember the Titans??)

When I was in undergrad, there were a few Blacks in GLO's: 1 DG, 1 Phi Psi, 1 Beta Theta Pi, 1 Snake, and a Delta Sig. I don't think they received too much flack. To each his own.