Curly girls, we get it. Your curly hair is amazing and sometimes it leads people to ask or worse yet, just touch your hair without permission. We aren’t sure what it is about curls that makes people feel as though they have the right to touch your hair whenever they feel like it, but author and comedian Phoebe Robinson has added her voice to the mix.
Her new collection of essays which covers a variety of topics from pop culture to the current political climate is aptly titled You Can’t Touch My Hair. Phoebe [explains the reasoning for the title](http://The pressures for women with natural curls to conform to standards of beauty put in black by society can be daunting.) by delving into the issues of race and identity surrounding black people with curly, kinky hair. As women with curly hair can relate, many people will be asking to touch your curls while their fingers are already in your hair. The violation of someone’s personal space and boundaries is something that needs to be challenged, and Phoebe is up for the task.
Phoebe delves into the issues of what’s considered “good hair” and the perceptions and expectations created for people with naturally kinky, coily curls. She relates being followed around in stores when she’s wearing her natural curls and feels many black women share this same experience. The pressures for women with natural curls to conform to standards of beauty put in black by society can be daunting. Many women feel pressured into altering their natural curls in order to be better perceived during job interviews, out in the workforce or even in schools, as highlighted with the recent banning of braids, dreadlocks or afros. Banning people’s naturally curly hair is another way of telling women they don’t look good as they naturally are, and Phoebe is over it (so are we.)
Let us know what you think, curlies and let those curls be free!