Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!? Forum

Share experiences and seek insight regarding your experience as an underrepresented minority within the legal community.
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about bar exam prep. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
Fenorn

New
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2019 4:40 am

Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by Fenorn » Thu Apr 25, 2019 5:31 am

I have just realized that girls with very kinky hair (not just very curly) rarely wear natural styles. Even if they do wear braids, they often have extensions attached. Anyone wan't to discuss this topic?

User avatar
LSATWiz.com

Silver
Posts: 983
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 10:37 pm

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by LSATWiz.com » Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:38 am

Fenorn wrote:I have just realized that girls with very kinky hair (not just very curly) rarely wear natural styles. Even if they do wear braids, they often have extensions attached. Anyone wan't to discuss this topic?
Nobody cares how you wear your hair. Do whatever makes you comfortable and confident.

nixy

Gold
Posts: 4446
Joined: Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:58 am

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by nixy » Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:56 am

LSATWiz.com wrote:
Fenorn wrote:I have just realized that girls with very kinky hair (not just very curly) rarely wear natural styles. Even if they do wear braids, they often have extensions attached. Anyone wan't to discuss this topic?
Nobody cares how you wear your hair. Do whatever makes you comfortable and confident.
Eh, I don’t think this is entirely true. Like I don’t think there are a lot of dreadlocks in biglaw.

User avatar
LSATWiz.com

Silver
Posts: 983
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 10:37 pm

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by LSATWiz.com » Thu Apr 25, 2019 12:44 pm

nixy wrote:
LSATWiz.com wrote:
Fenorn wrote:I have just realized that girls with very kinky hair (not just very curly) rarely wear natural styles. Even if they do wear braids, they often have extensions attached. Anyone wan't to discuss this topic?
Nobody cares how you wear your hair. Do whatever makes you comfortable and confident.
Eh, I don’t think this is entirely true. Like I don’t think there are a lot of dreadlocks in biglaw.
Well, she said she's a woman so dreads didn't seem like a possibility. I guess a mohawk wouldn't fly either or shaving a picture into your head like you're a bush at Disney World. Regarding, logical hairstyles, I know someone with a perm who worked at a notoriously uptight firm and is in house counsel for a very conservative southern company.

I am also not positive dreadlocks won't fly. That sounds like a Title VII fiasco waiting to happen because that would obviously disproportionately impact certain demographics. Obviously, you want to avoid that but I do some litigation financing work and think that test case would be one worth investing in.

da.goat

New
Posts: 39
Joined: Wed Sep 27, 2017 8:05 pm

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by da.goat » Thu Apr 25, 2019 1:06 pm

LSATWiz.com wrote:
nixy wrote:
LSATWiz.com wrote:
Fenorn wrote:I have just realized that girls with very kinky hair (not just very curly) rarely wear natural styles. Even if they do wear braids, they often have extensions attached. Anyone wan't to discuss this topic?
Nobody cares how you wear your hair. Do whatever makes you comfortable and confident.
Eh, I don’t think this is entirely true. Like I don’t think there are a lot of dreadlocks in biglaw.
Well, she said she's a woman so dreads didn't seem like a possibility. I guess a mohawk wouldn't fly either or shaving a picture into your head like you're a bush at Disney World. Regarding, logical hairstyles, I know someone with a perm who worked at a notoriously uptight firm and is in house counsel for a very conservative southern company.

I am also not positive dreadlocks won't fly. That sounds like a Title VII fiasco waiting to happen because that would obviously disproportionately impact certain demographics. Obviously, you want to avoid that but I do some litigation financing work and think that test case would be one worth investing in.
I think the issue is that women of color often feel forced to comply with "professional" hair standards, and because biglaw has a lonnngggg way to go in terms of racial equity, "professional" to many people means "white" - straight, smooth hair. Obviously we want OP to wear whatever makes her feel her best, and don't want her to feel pressured to relax her hair to conform to outdated, racist standards, but I think it's too optimistic to say it doesn't matter at all. Women who wear their natural hair obviously won't be directly told to wear it differently, but if there are people at the firm that subscribe to the racist view of what professionalism looks like, then it could hurt them.

OP, sorry this doesn't answer your question. Anecdotally, most black women at my firm wear their hair relaxed or wear a wig/weave, but there are a couple that have a short, natural do.

Suits47

New
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:03 am

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by Suits47 » Thu Apr 25, 2019 3:05 pm

LSATWiz.com wrote:
nixy wrote:
LSATWiz.com wrote:
Fenorn wrote:I have just realized that girls with very kinky hair (not just very curly) rarely wear natural styles. Even if they do wear braids, they often have extensions attached. Anyone wan't to discuss this topic?
Nobody cares how you wear your hair. Do whatever makes you comfortable and confident.
Eh, I don’t think this is entirely true. Like I don’t think there are a lot of dreadlocks in biglaw.
Well, she said she's a woman so dreads didn't seem like a possibility. I guess a mohawk wouldn't fly either or shaving a picture into your head like you're a bush at Disney World. Regarding, logical hairstyles, I know someone with a perm who worked at a notoriously uptight firm and is in house counsel for a very conservative southern company.

I am also not positive dreadlocks won't fly. That sounds like a Title VII fiasco waiting to happen because that would obviously disproportionately impact certain demographics. Obviously, you want to avoid that but I do some litigation financing work and think that test case would be one worth investing in.
First, saying nobody cares how you wear your hair is patently false and diminishes the struggles that Black women in corporate law firms or companies deal with on a daily basis. Yes, there aren’t explicit polices regarding how a woman can wear her hair (that would be explicit discrimination and these are lawyers after all), however, there are many instances of implicit bias and indirect discrimination because of the type of hairstyle a Black woman chooses to wear. For example, I know Black women who have gotten less work and have been treated differently when they chose to wear braids or their natural hair. Also, that doesn’t include the touching and being looked at like a zoo animals when Black women change their hair. NYC just passed a law that bans discrimination in places of employment of hairstyles commonly worn by Black people. It’s the inky city I know of that has such a ban.

Second, plenty of Black women wear dreadlocks, so I don’t know where you get the idea that a woman wearing dreadlocks is not possible. It’s quite literally the opposite of not possible.

Suits47

New
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:03 am

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by Suits47 » Thu Apr 25, 2019 3:06 pm

da.goat wrote:
LSATWiz.com wrote:
nixy wrote:
LSATWiz.com wrote:
Fenorn wrote:I have just realized that girls with very kinky hair (not just very curly) rarely wear natural styles. Even if they do wear braids, they often have extensions attached. Anyone wan't to discuss this topic?
Nobody cares how you wear your hair. Do whatever makes you comfortable and confident.
Eh, I don’t think this is entirely true. Like I don’t think there are a lot of dreadlocks in biglaw.
Well, she said she's a woman so dreads didn't seem like a possibility. I guess a mohawk wouldn't fly either or shaving a picture into your head like you're a bush at Disney World. Regarding, logical hairstyles, I know someone with a perm who worked at a notoriously uptight firm and is in house counsel for a very conservative southern company.

I am also not positive dreadlocks won't fly. That sounds like a Title VII fiasco waiting to happen because that would obviously disproportionately impact certain demographics. Obviously, you want to avoid that but I do some litigation financing work and think that test case would be one worth investing in.
I think the issue is that women of color often feel forced to comply with "professional" hair standards, and because biglaw has a lonnngggg way to go in terms of racial equity, "professional" to many people means "white" - straight, smooth hair. Obviously we want OP to wear whatever makes her feel her best, and don't want her to feel pressured to relax her hair to conform to outdated, racist standards, but I think it's too optimistic to say it doesn't matter at all. Women who wear their natural hair obviously won't be directly told to wear it differently, but if there are people at the firm that subscribe to the racist view of what professionalism looks like, then it could hurt them.

OP, sorry this doesn't answer your question. Anecdotally, most black women at my firm wear their hair relaxed or wear a wig/weave, but there are a couple that have a short, natural do.
THIS!!!!!

nixy

Gold
Posts: 4446
Joined: Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:58 am

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by nixy » Thu Apr 25, 2019 5:13 pm

Co-sign everything da.goat and Suits said. I’m repeating them, but just because everyone should feel comfortable wearing their hair as they please doesn’t mean there won’t be repercussions. It’s not like biglaw is known as some kind of progressive institution. Sure, no one’s going to write down “wears dreads/an Afro/cornrows/other amazing braided hairstyle” as a reason not to hire out of OCI. They just might not hire them.

Like the idea that Black-favored hairstyles are comparable to a Mohawk or shaving a picture into your head are comparable is part of the problem.

(Also, women can’t have dreads? What? And what does someone with a perm have to do with this?)

LawGyal

New
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:26 pm

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by LawGyal » Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:35 pm

Fenorn wrote:I have just realized that girls with very kinky hair (not just very curly) rarely wear natural styles. Even if they do wear braids, they often have extensions attached. Anyone wan't to discuss this topic?
A lot of black women (such as myself) choose to wear protective styles that include weaves and extensions because (1) we simply don't have time to do our hair each day, and (2) our hair grows better and faster when we wear protective styles. However, when I did work at a big law firm, no one batted an eye when I wore my natural hair out. Do I think black women in corporate environments still face biases when it comes to their hair? Yes. Do I still think we have a long way to go? Yes. But I also believe that white folks won't get accustomed to our hair if we never wear it out.

As far as relaxed hair is concerned, some people just prefer it that way or don't think they'll have the time or energy to try wearing their hair out naturally. Either way, it's a personal choice.

futuresuccessstory

New
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:36 pm

Re: Black Girls, Weave and Relaxed Hair!?

Post by futuresuccessstory » Sat Apr 27, 2019 7:51 pm

I am natural and usually wear my hair in different buns. One week I had my hair in bantu knot out and many people at my firm were happy to actually happy to see my hair down. I got many compliments. No one was ignorant enough to try to pet me. During interview season I only wore my hair natural to make sure the firm I was going to prejudice against natural hair.

Honestly, i think most natural hair styles would be deemed professional. Check youtube for inspiration. I personally hate straight hair on me and hate the idea of having to straighten my hair or wear weave for a job.

Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Underrepresented Law Students”