The b*tch in 6th grade (sorry, meant to post in last thread)

catthom

I grew up in the 60's, just after curly hair was out. In 6th grade I got my hair cut and styled for the first time (my mom's hairdresser, I got kind of a poodle cut), and when I got to school proud as can be, one of the queen bees (with long, straight shiny hair) asked where I got my hair cut. After I told her, she turned to all of the other girls and said "Remind me never to go there" in the most snide way possible. Everyone laughed, and I was crushed. Some of the snide comments include the ones mentioned, but there was another girl who always sang the "Curlfree" commercial song to me- "curlfree, the coool one". I'm white, and my grandfather used to pluck at my curls (3b) and call them "jigaboo curls" until I pointed out that I had inherited my hair from his side of the family, so what was he telling me? Boy, I wish during my Jr and high school years a site like this existed, I straightened, used huge rollers and bubble dryers, blow dryers and every new product on the market. I lived in fear of rain and humidity. Went curly in the late 70's, and am glad I did (and so is my hair).

MissConstrued

I'm sorry that you went through that. I'm sure many curlies went through similar situations (I was lucky I didn't, I had a volatile temper so no one would dare) even with this site. Thankfully despite the lack of support many receive this site offers enough to counteract the negative. I think maybe "the ****** from 6th grade" was jealous because she wished she had curly hair. There are plenty of women/girls who talk badly about curly hair then turn around get their hair flat ironed/relaxed/blown out straight and get spiral curls done on top of it. Do you have any pics of your hair back then? If so I'd love to see, I don't even know what a poodle cut is.

Yes, Still Paula

Yea, sorry you went through that. I guess we've all hit a point in time where straight hair is the norm. That said, my favorite period in time was the early 80's when I was in elementary school. This was shortly before the curly perm was the trendy style. Not that straight hair really ever went "out of style", but when I was that age, EVERYONE'S hair was seen as stylish and "good."

I went to a very, very ethnically diverse public school in Miami and from what I remember, all the girls in my class loved to play with each other's hair. Everyone had different hair colors, hair types, and different styles. It didn't matter if your hair was long, blond and straight, short and dark, red, or if you had coily braids. Didn't matter if it was what we know today as type 1, 2, 3, or 4. No one said anything bad about anyone else's hair. That the way it SHOULD be in an ideal world. No hair type or 'do should ever go out of style and everyone should be able to wear their hair the way they please without feeling like it's not acceptable.

Yes, those were the days. I can't say it's always been that way though and things have changed after I moved on.....

mdderm

Thats the worst, coming to school feeling so happy with your new hair, and then someone puts you down like that, especially in front of other people. Don't worry, don't even think about that now. You should turn it around and make people want to have your hair and when they ask you where you got your hair cut now it'll be because they want to get it cut there too! Growing up, my mom was really simple, and she would brush out all my curl (after attempting to blowdry it straight) and then she would braid it...so no one would be able to see the "poodle-ness" of it. I wish I too knew more about curls and how to take care of my hair then...Ah well, I guess we can be different to our own kids!

Curlie Locks

Paula wrote: »

Yea, sorry you went through that. I guess we've all hit a point in time where straight hair is the norm. That said, my favorite period in time was the early 80's when I was in elementary school. This was shortly before the curly perm was the trendy style. Not that straight hair really ever went "out of style", but when I was that age, EVERYONE'S hair was seen as stylish and "good."

I went to a very, very ethnically diverse public school in Miami and from what I remember, all the girls in my class loved to play with each other's hair. Everyone had different hair colors, hair types, and different styles. It didn't matter if your hair was long, blond and straight, short and dark, red, or if you had coily braids. Didn't matter if it was what we know today as type 1, 2, 3, or 4. No one said anything bad about anyone else's hair. That the way it SHOULD be in an ideal world. No hair type or 'do should ever go out of style and everyone should be able to wear their hair the way they please without feeling like it's not acceptable.

Yes, those were the days. I can't say it's always been that way though and things have changed after I moved on.....

Yeah I completely agree! But sadly it's not like that right now. :pale:

desert flower

Paula wrote: »

Yea, sorry you went through that. I guess we've all hit a point in time where straight hair is the norm. That said, my favorite period in time was the early 80's when I was in elementary school. This was shortly before the curly perm was the trendy style. Not that straight hair really ever went "out of style", but when I was that age, EVERYONE'S hair was seen as stylish and "good."

I went to a very, very ethnically diverse public school in Miami and from what I remember, all the girls in my class loved to play with each other's hair. Everyone had different hair colors, hair types, and different styles. It didn't matter if your hair was long, blond and straight, short and dark, red, or if you had coily braids. Didn't matter if it was what we know today as type 1, 2, 3, or 4. No one said anything bad about anyone else's hair. That the way it SHOULD be in an ideal world. No hair type or 'do should ever go out of style and everyone should be able to wear their hair the way they please without feeling like it's not acceptable.

Yes, those were the days. I can't say it's always been that way though and things have changed after I moved on.....

I grew up in a very ethnically diverse neighborhood in Southern California and had the same experience. I loved my curly hair and so did everyone else...and we also loved playing with each other's hair because it was all so different. We did have hilarious moments of attempting to change our hair textures...

I feel so sad when I read posts about people receiving horrible remarks about their hair - or anything else for that matter. Unless I have selective memory, I have never had a "bad curly hair" experience. People have always thought it was cool...I wonder if this is related to growing up in a diverse neighborhood where the "ideal of beauty" is a much wider category of possibilities than in a more homogenous area...