This is Part 3 of a 3-part series reviewing the documentary film Good Hair written and directed by Chris Rock.
Note: I need to clarify a comment I made in Part 2 about a remark that Maya Angelou made in the film. She said that a black woman’s hair is her “crowning glory.” I originally interpreted Dr. Angelou’s comment to mean that a black woman’s hair was “her glory”—like the most special part of her. BUT—after hearing her speak in San Jose earlier this week I realize that I misunderstood her.
Now I think she meant that the hair ‘crowns the glory of a woman.’ I should have known better! Yeesh…
Now, on to the phenomenon of THE WEAVE. According to the film, this is a HUGE trend—with financial and social ramifications. The weave accounts for sixty to seventy percent of the $9 billion black hair care business,
For the unfamiliar, a weave is made from strands of human hair around twelve inches long. The strands are either attached directly to the woman’s own hair (gluing or sewing). OR the real hair is covered with a net and the weave is attached to the net. Depending on the type of weave, it lasts from one to two months, generally.
There are three factors that make the weave a complicated investment.
First is the installation process, which is lengthy—sometimes lasting up to six to eight hours. (Who can sit still that long?) There is also time spent on touch-ups.
Second is the cost, which starts at $1,000 and can go up to $5,000. (Yikes!) An actress (called “Video Vixen”) said she spends $18,000 per year on her hair weaves and to date has spent about $150,000. HOLY MOLY that’s a lot of dough! (And shoes and clothes and cars and housing payments!)
A beauty shop owner said the average everyday black workingwoman spends $1,000 to $3,500 on ONE weave. She said once a woman starts on them, she won’t go back. Chris Rock’s comment to her was that her clientele are more hooked than if they were on cocaine.
Black men are expected to help women pay for their weaves. Chris Rock joked that having a woman with a weave was like having a condo—you make the payments and pay for the upkeep. He also said for some, “one trip to the weavolologist can bankrupt you.”
In the film the Rev. Al Sharpton was HIGHLY critical of the weave trend taking place in the black community. He said things like:
- a woman shouldn’t pay for a weave if there’s no food in the house;
- a woman shouldn’t ask a man to subsidize her weave if the money could be used for educating children or a 401K plan;
- the hair costs more than some children and you can’t even write if off as a deduction!
Rev. Al’s biggest complaint was that there are only four black-owned hair care businesses out of the hundreds that exist. He said that if the black community can’t control what they use then it is “real economic retardation.” He said that black people get up every morning and “comb your exploitation…attach your exploitation to the back of your head…How are you going to think right when you wear exploitation all the time.”
Rev. Al said there is a “need for a real grass roots movement to control products on our head.” Makes sense to me.
The third factor involves the social aspect of having a weave. To me this was the most compelling part of the film as there are definitely emotional consequences if you have a weave.
I call it the WEAVE LOVE TRIANGLE.
A man loves the woman.
The woman loves the weave.
A weave DOES NOT love the man.
Instead, it screams, “Don’t touch me! Pay for me! But keep your hands off me!” (“And no, I can’t go swimming or take a shower with you either.”)
In the film, men expressed their animosity about the cost of the weave and their dissatisfaction with the “hands-off” rule. They said it interfered with the man/woman intimacy. Their expressions ranged from laissez-faire acceptance to dismay to real anger.
The women in the film acknowledged the loss of intimacy/physical closeness in relationships due to the weave.
This produces a dilemma.
All women have insecurities about their looks. How they look affects their psyche. The weave improves a woman’s looks. It makes her feel better. Consequently it boosts her self-esteem. Does she have to sacrifice that for a better physical relationship?
The answer might be a quote from Ice-T— my favorite one and saved for the very last line in the movie. Ice-T said:
“If a woman isn’t happy with herself, she’s going to bring nothing but pain to every ‘effing’body around her.”
So true!
Chris Rock and Nia Long (who makes great candid comments in the film) at the premiere of "Good Hair."
To Chris Rock: Superb job on this documentary. It speaks volumes about our society and what makes women tick.
P.S. I didn’t get in to the whole “who/when/why/where/how” of the human hair business. It’s fascinating and disturbing. I also did not write about the Bronner Brothers Hair Show and Hair Battle Royale event in Atlanta, GA. Maybe I need Blog #4 to cover this – or maybe y’all just need to watch the film?
