I have my hair braided and I wear it braided to work. Every so often, I get a white person comment about it and ask to touch it. It’s uncomfortable for me but I usually politely oblige figuring it’s easier and faster than having the conversation that I’d like to. I’d like to know how to politely inform anyone that requests to touch my braided hair that this is not OK. I am Australian-African with dark pigmented skin and kinky hair.
Yup, file under things that never happened. This is the Guardian, after all. I’ve never, in all my years, seen or heard anyone ask to touch someone’s hair, braided or otherwise.
Well, I’m an Aussie and I’ve never asked to touch anyone’s hair; African, Asian or even White.
Maybe I’m just a bit old-fashioned?
“Can I touch your hair?”
“No”
Like you, I’ve never seen or heard of anyone ever asking to touch someone’s hair.
So. I can smell shite.
“I can smell shite”
That’d be the dreadlocks lol
Ha! Dreads do look as they’re harbouring all kinds of nasties.
Things that never happened, this never happened the most. I tried to come up with a funny anecdote from my own life related to the topic – and I drew a blank! That’s a first!
Of all the solipsistic black fantasies, this “touch my hair” one just creeps me out. Why would anybody want to and why would anybody fantasize about it?!
Touch dreadlocks? I’d rather touch cloth!
I grew up in Africa and as a late teen some of the girls wanted to touch my hair, I let them. They were all a bit jealous as I grew it long.
She must have a pretty cushy life if that’s all she has to worry about.
Whilst this whole touch hair thing has the smell of total bollocks, I am aware that women can have more physical bonding with their friends than men do.
Cooing over a new hair style can involve some element of physical contact between groups of women.
However this then takes us back to the catch 22 of modern racism.
Touch my hair: you are a racists
Don’t touch my hair: you are excluding me from your ingroup therefore you are a racist.
That ‘Mizzy’ black individual touched a white girl’s hair, without her permission. It was to be seen on Tic Toc. But then he’s socially maladjusted.
I can totally see this happening, almost certainly by women towards either men or women with braids. Touch and feel is a natural instinct and something we explore from a very early age – I wonder what that feels like? This is little different to women asking to touch another’s belly when pregnant; totally normal and some expectant mothers are happy to oblige whilst others give a polite ‘no’.
Exclusively white women doing the touching? I don’t see why that would be – anyone who has not experienced the feeling of braids may be interested so this is just more manufactured race bait.