Acting White: Black Women Series, Hair Length, Quality and Attractiveness

Men and women are biologically pre-disposed to procreate, and to select mates on an innate and objective basis of increasing the odds of continuing the species. Synchronous male female attraction is the manifestation of this genetic programming. We look for the signals of greater health in potential mates, understanding that this comes most readily in youthful displays, including hair length and hair quality.

The association between hair length/quality and better health is a researched finding (exampled here). Regardless of ethnicity, average hair length decreases as age increases. Reproductive health follows overall health, and its correlation to youth, hair length and quality. Hair quality exists on a continuum of states reduced by chemical ‘processing’ straightening, heating, coloring or other visually enhancing, but also structurally distressing, procedures.

The history of American black women and their hair is one of social and biological misdirection. Black women, as varying admixtures of African and European ancestry, alter their hair in the attempt to have it appear longer and in a form similar to non-black (Euro-Asian) women, but in doing so they compromise both their hair’s quality and length. Chemical straightening (perming), frequent heat treatments (pressing), and extensions, over time make hair brittle, discolored, shorter, and less indicative of good health. Damaged hair is signaled as unattractive by our innate, health-seeking, senses.

Ironically, locking black hair into dreadlocks, a popularized multi-dimensioned style found in historical and present-day Africa and Eurasia, is one manner of growing tightly-curled hair into a longer style, while keeping it healthy. Contrary to misinformation, hair that is locked is washable, can be neatly styled, and must be conditioned similar to other more typical western styles, for best results. My own sister began wearing locks nearly ten years ago, after alternating between pressing and ‘perming’ for most of her adult life. Over the following years her hair has continued growing much longer than with previous ‘processed’ styles, making her more physically attractive (in my opinion).

It bears mentioning that the current pressing styles popular with black women increase the barriers to general exercise and weight management, wherein sweating counters the significant invested time and expense of hair-styling. Less exercise, in part, has the result of increasing the percentage of body fat and average weight of black women (a subject to be explored later in the series), in comparison to women without this exercise constraint.

When it comes to hair length, hair quality and attractiveness, black women may inadvertently detract from their overall physical desirability to all men, including black men, by choosing to pursue hair styles that sacrifice long-term hair length and hair quality. Black and non-black men alike seem to care most about length and quality (healthy appearance) within their similarly-wired ‘black-box’ mechanisms of what is attractive, in contrast to the belief that black women, to be more attractive, should have ‘white-looking’ hair, or vice-versa, ala Bo Derek in "10".

Up next in the series: Hair Color.

Link to Introduction.

James C. Collier

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