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Uncombable Hair Syndrome: The Plight of a White Parent with a Multiracial Child

https://www.facebook.com/DailyMailAust/videos/1921806078054453/

Child with so-called Uncombable Hair Syndrome.

Revised April 12, 2017: The father of Lyla-Grace Barlow contacted us through Facebook to tell us his daughter really has a genetic condition and is very upset because he feels we’ve implied his daughter is mixed race. At no time have we and we invited him to read the article in its entirety, and if he is so moved, write one in response.

Revised April 6, 2017: Although the various sources used to research this article never linked to a credible source indicating Uncombable Hair Syndrome is a real condition that is indeed rare, the editors of Multiracial Media have learned that Uncombable Hair Syndrome is in fact a real and rare genetic condition, and has nothing to do with race. Unfortunately the only people who are at fault here are the publications that never cited a credible source indicating this was indeed a rare genetic condition. We regret the unnecessary drama this has caused, however, the underlying message hasn’t changed. Many of the same issues the Barlow family deal with in their daughter are ones that people of color have dealt with for centuries.

This morning I came across this video in one of the Facebook groups I belong to for women who are multiracial with Black ancestry. The title of the video had me both annoyed and laughing at the same time: “She has Uncombable Hair Syndrome.” I had this feeling I was going to find myself knee-deep in some cult film from the 1950s and 1960s (also called B movies), like the “Creature From the Black Lagoon.”

At the center of this now-viral video is sweet Lyla-Grace Barlow, an English girl who “suffers” from this “genetic mutation.” The Sun, a daily periodical in England, ran this story two days ago and the title makes it seem like this poor child is suffering from an incurable disease:

Five-year-old’s rare condition means it’s AGONY to brush her untamed hair (and Albert Einstein was a sufferer): She is one of 100 living sufferers of Uncombable Hair Syndrome.

Did this newspaper just refer to this child as a sufferer? A little dramatic, no? Perhaps for some White people this is the end of the world. For someone who’s lived with frizzy hair since I hit puberty and my hair went from straight to wavy and eventually curly, I have just learned how to work with my hair. I admit it’s taken me a while to find the right products to use (which I had to re-evaluate when my husband and I moved to the tropics and the products I used in a dry, arid climate no longer worked), but I’d hardly characterize myself as suffering from anything. I certainly never imagined someone would dream up a name for this: Uncombable Hair Syndrome is really making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Once I stopped laughing, I thought about four things:

Welcome to the world of most PoC and Jewish people worldwide, as well as Mediterranean people

Maybe she’s got some sistah in her

Surely there are salons that cater to Black, Hispanic or Multiracial hair this girl’s parents can take her to. She lives in England, after all, where there are many Multiracial kids.

Ditch the comb and brush (that’s her parents’ first problem) and with the right products, this girl can transform that frizz into some gorgeous locks

Judging From the Comments, I’d Say Mine Aren’t the Only Ones to Suggest This Idea of Suffering From Uncombable Hair Syndrome Is Ridiculous

Nora is White and Jewish. I have known her for years and those beautiful curls are ones she’s figured out how to keep from frizzing.

From a Black friend of mine living in England who prefers to remain anonymous.

Tina, also from England, is White.

Thanks to this person who commented but prefers to remain anonymous, I now know that Mediterranean people deal with frizzy hair, too.

Nice for a man to weigh in, a White man at that.

It was my own comment that made me see the light of day on this topic.

Although people of color, Jewish and Mediterranean people have been dealing with this issue for as long as we’ve been alive, it’s not much of an issue for White people who frequently (not always) have straight hair. Looking at the products available in beauty supply stores and pharmacies for White people and PoC, it’s clear marketing is very different. For White people, shampoos that promise volume are wildly popular. Volume is the very last thing PoC, Mediterranean and Jewish people, with what friends of mine call their “Jew-Fro,” want. I like my hair to hang down not out, which is what my hair wants to do naturally.

When White people encounter this anomaly, because products that are marketed to PoC, Mediterranean and Jewish aren’t marketed to White people, they’re lost. They’re traveling in uncharted territory. Of course I could go on the Internet, talk with a hair dresser or ask my friends to see if there’s a solution to my problem. Maybe it’s possible White people feel isolated. Not knowing other PoC, they’re left to their own devices. And in this family’s final frustrated hour, sharing their plight with news media was their way to deal.

So this got me thinking. If White people who’ve married another White person are at their wit’s end, what of the White mother who marries a Black man and who gives birth to a multiracial child with curly, frizzy, textured hair? If she doesn’t have friends or other family members to go to, maybe she’s embarrassed to walk in to a Black hair salon or a beauty supply place that caters to PoC and ask for help.

How Does the White Parent of a Multiracial Child Deal with Textured, Frizzy, Curly and So-Called Uncombable Hair Syndrome?

People the world over have been dealing with frizzy and what my mother used to call “unruly” hair for as long as there have been people. Before there were products lining the shelves of stores, indigenous people used products found in nature: Jojoba, coconut oil, olive oil, tea tree oil and myriad others. Nowadays companies have figured out that while they can synthetically manufacture some tincture to combat frizz, it’s useful to once again look to nature to tame the frizz.

I do have some suggestions that, no matter where in the world you live, can help.

First of all, ditch the comb and brush. Both cause static and with static, frizz is soon to follow.

Find a product that doesn’t weigh hair down, works with your child’s hair and brings out shine and curl, not dull frizz. For kids—even within the same family—with multiple ethnicities and at least two races inside them, there is no one-product-fits-all. What works for my older brother, who’s got an Afro, is too heavy on my hair.

Learn to braid your child’s hair (also referred to as corn rows and plaiting—pronounced platting). It’s one way to minimize frizz, which many PoC throughout the world, including England, Europe and the United States, have figured out. Looks like the parents of Lyla-Grace Barlow figured out this age-old trick now too.

Stop fighting Mother Nature. Accept what your child’s hair is and learn to work with it.

Stop using terms like “Good hair” and “Bad hair.” Nobody has either. These are common terms to describe straight and manageable (“good”) and textured and curly (“bad”) hair, and they’re extremely damaging to kids and will stigmatize your Multiracial child. When kids at school poke fun at your child’s hair, teach your child to love his or her hair and to take pride in how both his or her parents’ beautiful blending are represented in him or her.

Keep in mind Multiracial kids’ hair changes. Mine started out fine, straight and what my mother used to call “see through.” Until I reached puberty, my mother kept my hair very short because when it grew, it would break, it was so fine. I hit puberty and all those hormones curled my hair (very common for Multiracial people) and made it extremely thick. It was then I stopped using a comb or a brush. My mother tried getting both through my “unruly” hair, which she sometimes also called “a bird’s nest,” but all that happened is I’d end up in tears and she’d call me tender-headed.

Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to go to a salon that caters to other ethnicities for guidance. Nobody is expecting you to know how to work with your child’s hair if you have straight hair. 99 times out of a 100, both the people who work in the salon and the patrons will be happy to offer suggestions. Don’t be scared. Remember, we’re all people.

If you opt to chemically straighten your daughter’s hair, please read up on the pros and cons. Chemical relaxers come with prices: broken hair and unhealthy hair, for example, and there are also many political implications you’re exposing your daughter to.

I can’t stress this enough: please instill pride in your child. You married your spouse because you fell in love, and both of your genes will show up in your child/children. Don’t fall into the habit of referring to your child’s hair as good or bad, and don’t let relatives on either side do this. And if someone brings up the ridiculous notion of Uncombable Hair Syndrome, tell them, “Thanks! But I love my child’s hair and it’s beautiful.”

Uncombable Hair Syndrome: The Plight of a White Parent with a Multiracial Child if you want to check out other voices of the Multiracial Community click here Multiracial Media

#bad #good #hair #chemical relaxers #corn rows #Multiracial #plaiting hair #relaxing hair #Uncombable Hair Syndrome

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