Get out of my head, Serenity.
You sound a lot like me. People cannot believe my press is NOT a perm. I rarely wear my hair straight anymore (can't remember the last the time I did), but it's all good. I like fact that I CAN have my hair blowing in the wind if I want to. *lol* I don't choose to because 1.) I just don't like that look anymore and 2.) The idea of wearing my hair straight makes me think about how overly-sensitive black women are about their natural hair. It's like they are ashamed of it. I don't want to play into that.
The "versatility" reason has always interested me because I see it a different way. I can wear all the styles that I could when I was perming and PLUS all the hot new natural styles that won't work with straight hair. To me
that's versatility.
This year I came to the conclusion that perms are a trap. Not just physically, but mentally. Think about it:
1.) Perms are designed to break down the keratins in your hair making it weak. Women like to think that because their hair doesn't break off when you perm that it is healthy. But when your natural hair (the truly healthy hair) grows in, the permed part starts to break off. Why? The natural part is A LOT stronger then the broken down compounds in the permed hair. As a result permed hair cannot "stand up" to natural hair and falls off. That's why you see breakage when you miss a touch-up. They think that's what it will be like if they stop perming so they get scared and get more chemicals. That's the ROOT of the problem (pun intended).
2.) Some women go a month or two without perming and try and judge their "natural" hair by what's sitting at the roots. They think that it was they will be working with should they stop perming. It's not that easy people! Your hair texture WILL CHANGE over time. My hair was DREADFUL when it was just an inch at my scalp, but luckily I was patient enough to let it grow. Now it's baby soft around the edges/root while the length grows in a spiral pattern. How do you know that natural hair "would work" unless you tried. And I mean REALLY tried; tried to learn how to treat your hair like it is supposed to be treated...
3.) Why in the world would a black women need the courage to go natural? If one more person comes up to me and says that I will scream. I have never seen a white girl say that she is scared to grow out HER perm. It's embedded in many women's minds that they will look ugly in afros, bushes, locs, twists, dreads, or natural curls. That is why we always hear "It looks good on some people, but not on me."
4.) The issue: with not being able to get a comb through it. Most combs are made straight hair, not for kinky black hair. Besides, you can't treat natural hair as you would permed hair. It's totally different, but most people don't realize that. They try to go about their hair care routine as if they were permed. Sorry, that's impossible.