There’s been a lot of excitement about the recent cover of O magazine because Oprah is wearing her “natural” hair. Here’s a picture in case you missed it.
While I admit that she looks great, I am doubting she is natural in the sense of being chemical free. In fact, I am 99 percent sure of it. Here’s my reasoning:
- Hollywood types use the term “natural” when referring to someone’s real hair,meaning no weave or wig. Oprah is known for sporting weaves and has admitted it on her show. Who can blame her ? I certainly wouldn’t want my real hair going through the abuse that must come with being on television daily. Andre Walker, who I will get to later, has stated this on his website: “You see, even relaxed hair can still be worn naturally.” See? They don’t use “natural” in the same way.
- Most people associate thick hair with natural hair. And Oprah has some thick hurrrrr! I know it, because I also have thick, dense hair. Even relaxed, her hair has a thickness that rivals some natural folks. It is not surprising that people thought her blowout picture was “proof” of her natural hair. When I was relaxed, my blowouts would look similar to this:
- If you’ve seen the episode of Oprah when Chris Rock was showcasing his movie “Good Hair”, then you may remember Oprah telling him that her hair was real and not a weave (at that taping). Around that time, there was a behind the scenes clip in which someone in the audience suggested that Oprah go natural as an example to other women (I can’t remember exactly what was said but that was the gist). This clip was on YouTube but I can’t find it now to save my life.
Anyway, Oprah was shaking her head before the audience member even finished what she was saying. I’ve seen that response to going natural too many times in real life to think she would’ve changed her way of thinking that fast.
- Andre, her stylist, clearly has issues about certain kinkier hair types himself. You may remember his quote from the interview with Elle magazine: “ I always recommend embracing your natural texture. Kinky hair can have limited styling options; that’s the only hair type that I suggest altering with professional relaxing.” There is a similar feel from his book “Andre Talks Hair” which I read a few years ago.
Anyway, back to Oprah (doesn’t it always come back to Oprah?
) In this short article from 2011, he mentions relaxing Oprah’s hair. I’m sorry, ya’ll. Oprah is a fantastic human being, but I don’t think even her hair could grow that fast.
It is my humble opinion that Oprah is relaxed. This “natural” style is probably Andre’s version of being “naturally” relaxed or what-ever-the-hell-he-was-talkin-bout. I’m thinking she is texlaxed (lightly relaxed).
You may be asking yourself why I care or why I’m calling Oprah out.
Don’t be mistaken.
I love Oprah. I am not trying to speak poorly about her in any way. Her hair is very thick and lush. However, I think it’s important that new naturals or people considering going natural be aware that “natural” means different things to different people.
I also have to wonder why we, the natural community, want Oprah to be natural so badly. And I know that for me, to have one of the most powerful and visible African American women (heck, women period), sport natural hair would be too totally awesome.
So, in case you need to whet your visual appetite for some successful natural hair, here’s a wonderful example that I heard about not too long ago.
From her Wiki:
Majora Carter (born October 27, 1966) is an economic consultant, public radio host, and environmental justice advocate from the South Bronx area of New York City. Carter founded the non-profit environmental justice solutions corporation Sustainable South Bronx[1] before entering the private sector.
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It never even occurred to me that people might have thought natural as in chemical-free. I simply thought they were saying natural meaning no heat.
I don’t think anyone would disagree with a word you’re saying since they only meant heat-free.
That’s my 2 cents.
Unlike you I don’t particularlly care for Oprah, between her and her hairdresser they know the the difference texurized an natural hair.
Thank you for this post! Some of the other natural hair blogs are posting about her “natural hair” without considering that she actually may not be chemical free. I love Oprah but I believe you are totally correct. Now that you mention it, I do remember watching a scene from Oprah 25 Behind the Scenes where she was about to get her hair done. Her and Gayle were joking about how much she needed what was in the box she was holding, and it was a relaxer kit. Whether she’s natural or not, it doesn’t change my opinion of her or my love for my natural hair.
You broke it down so clearly. A couple blogs I read questioned the natural aspect of her hair as well. Oprah’s a savvy business woman, but I’m neither particularly fond of her nor Andre who believes that my “4 something” hair needs to be tamed. I always wonder if he’ll ever retract such statements.
Yeah, you’re the first person who kind of acknowledged this that I’ve seen. Everyone else is congratulating Oprah, the country’s first (and only) self-made black female billionaire, who has the power to bring industries to their knees, for being “brave.”
The other thing is that Oprah had natural hair years ago and it wasn’t curly, so it’s kind of nuts that I’m supposed to believe that now she has wavy hair when her early 80′s hair was a non-curly afro, so maybe everyone else is too young to see that Oprah actually managed a lot of firsts and successes as a black woman with (short) natural hair. Sure, they tried to straighten it and made it fall out back in the day, but there are plenty of clips of Oprah on the air, with her little afro, and no the sky did not fall down and she did not get fired or fail to progress.
I think that a LOT of people are aspiring to have the kind of natural hair that Oprah is showing on her magazine cover. (And as much as Oprah photoshops her body on that cover, I don’t know why everyone is so quick to believe that the hair is 100% natural in a digital and literal sense) I also think some kinkier haired women want to believe that they can have curls and waves, so seeing Oprah’s hair magically becoming straighter becomes aspirational for them. They get upset b/c if you say that Oprah can’t suddenly have curly hair, then they will never have curly hair either, and it makes them mad or sad. Don’t tell a black woman that she won’t ever have curly, thick, or long hair. Things get ugly. Even though for some of us, it is just the truth.
Too many people are aspiring to be what they see in magazines or on blogs and You Tube rather than working with and loving what they have. I love my own hair the best. I think that’s important.
I agree that I think Oprah’s hair is either texturized or a braided-out relaxed style. I have hair that is really thick and it also was much thicker and bushier when relaxed than what a LOT of natural haired women have. I was regularly accused of having no relaxer by salons that said they didn’t do natural hair. I just don’t know why SHE needs to do this anymore than I understand why so many women need her or Michelle Obama or any other successful black women to have natural hair. Why not emulate their accomplishments and education and forget about their hair? Are there really so few people who think that what they’ve managed to do is diminished by the fact that they wear their hair straight? Seriously?