One of the odd parallels between African-American experience and trans experience is the concept of “good hair.” So, without trying to appropriate the experience of African-Americans and “good hair,” let me talk about what good hair is to many trans women.

And too, let me add that the concept of good trans hair is mostly a concept of middle-aged, caucasian transsexual women. I haven’t heard this concept discussed in any other subset of trans people — I’ve not heard “good hair” being discussed by Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, or Asian-American trans women, for example, with the one exception of my Latina friend (my best friend!) Vicki Estrada.

So, what is “bad hair” to these trans women in question? It’s male pattern baldness in any form; it’s a high forehead hairline; it’s thin strands of hair that don’t look like full-bodied hair; it’s short hair one has early in transition left over from presenting as male. “Good hair” for the trans women in question is hair that would look natural on their heads, and appropriate woman of their visible age.

The answer to bad hair often involves weaves, extensions, and/or wigs/wiglets. Sometimes “fixing” one’s “bad hair” even involves surgery. For example, I personally know two friends who’ve had surgery to fix their high hairlines by having hair line surgically pulled down — forehead skin removed in the process — and two other trans friends who have had their hair moved densely haired regions of their heads to the bald/balding spot on the backs of their heads.

And, I believe it matters. Literally, trans women are judged by their hair, and civil rights are actually involved with the perception of trans hair. Quoting a recent example by Lindsey Douthit, in a piece for the Concerned Women For America (emphasis added):

The ENDA hearing should serve as a wake-up call to Christians that they must continue to fight for religious liberty. Legislation such as ENDA serves to normalize, and even glorify, in the guise of “progressive popular culture,” lifestyles that Biblical doctrine clearly teaches are wrong. Legislation like ENDA makes people think they can never be free from their sexual and other sins when in fact, Jesus Christ can save every person from all his sins, even homosexuality.      

Don’t be fooled — the radical implications of ENDA are as noticeable as the glossy wigs and deep voices of the hurting and desperate transgendered female activists at the hearing who so desperately need the life-changing Gospel message offering them freedom from sin.

I have been told I have “good hair” by transgender and cisgender people alike. Although my hair color is not longer my natural color (which is now pretty gray under the coloring), Autumn Sandeenmy hair is dyed pretty closely to the dark blond it was in my early twenties. That said, my hair is pretty thick, and the curls are natural. I don’t have to wear hats at all, but I like berets and beanies, so I wear berets and beanies.

Of course, I spend more money, as well as spend more time, on my hair now. For cash spent, coloring and cutting my hair once every eight weeks costs far more than getting my hair cut in that military style every two weeks back when I was in the Navy. In other words, four or five military style haircuts cost less than one cut and color.

And, when my hair was military length short hair, I went from just washing my hair every day — alternately with a coal tar activated shampoo (to control my seborrhea) and a standard shampoo — to washing my hair with two shampoos every other day — one hard-water shampoo to strip my hair of various hair products, and a second, prescription shampoo (again, issue is controlling my seborrhea). And now too, I’ve added the use of a conditioner and a separate detangler, as well as using a glaze for the top of my hair, and a serum for the sides and back of my hair — both of those to control the curly hair frizziness I didn’t experience when my hair was military length short.

So, by dying my hair and using multiple products — by expending money and time — I’m judged to have “good hair.” That is, I’m judged to have “good trans hair.”

Sometimes, understanding between people who belong to minority groups come from the understanding of parallels and commonalities. My point in this piece is to show that my trans community’s and my personal experiences with hair aren’t the same as African-American women have with their hair, but there are a lot of parallels and commonalities to the experience of our respective communities defining exactly what “good hair” is within our respective communities. The concept of “good hair” effects African-American women and trans women as individuals, and how it effects the separate (but overlapping), respective communities. In other words, the experiences of the two communities regarding hair aren’t the same at all, but there are analogies to be made between the two communities’ experiences with hair.

As John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying:

So, let us not be blind to our differences – but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved.

If a discussion of “good hair” is a something I can use as a tool to build bridges to others in other communities, where those who work on civil rights concerns of individual communities could see the issues as being about broader and overlapping communities, then hair is a means I’m going to use to start discussion about our common civil rights interests.

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Related:

* Hair And Black Self-Loathing

* Black women and Their Hair – Back in the Day

* Chris Rock takes on black hair pathology in the documentary ‘Good Hair’

* Hair pathology continues: Tyra ‘courageously’ shows her own locks on the air

* I’m Revolted: My Oldest Step-Daughter has Straightened Her Wavy Hair

* Pam’s Hair Page